Sommelier, Patrick Cappiello

An Experience as Extensive as Our Wine List

Patrick Cappiello brings over twenty-one years of industry experience to the sensational wine program at GILT. As Wine Director of the restaurant, Cappiello oversees a world-class wine list, all the while possessing a unique understanding of food and its delicate relationship to wine. With a prodigious palate and a true ability to assist guests in navigating GILT’s generous wine list, Cappiello, 36, brings a vast knowledge to one of New York City’s most respected restaurants as our on-site New York sommelier.  Under his expertise GILT has been honored as a recipient of Wine Spectator's prestigious 2011 Grand Award.  This is the publication's highest honor for excellence in restaurant wine selections. Only seven New York City restaurants have been given this award.

Cappiello is originally from Rochester, NY, where he spent some time in his teens and early twenties waiting tables and bartending before graduating from nearby Roberts Wesleyan College in 1996. Soon after, he relocated to Cleveland where he worked as a waiter at the renowned Italian eatery, The Baricelli Inn. It was here that Cappiello truly developed a passion for wine and was promoted to wine captain of the 125-seat restaurant. In 2001, he moved to New York City and became the sommelier at Tribeca Grill under the restaurant’s wine director, David Gordon. Here, Cappiello cultivated a list bringing the restaurant’s bottle count from 600 selections to an impressive 1,800 selections, further helping Tribeca Grill to win Wine Spectator’s “Grand Award” in 2002. The restaurant has managed to receive the award every year since. Tribeca Grill enabled Cappiello to build relationships in the wine industry and was soon being invited to visit vineyards in Tuscany, Piedmont, the Rhône Valley Burgundy, and the major wine regions of Germany.

In 2005 Cappiello made the move to become the NY sommelier at a restaurant well known for its wine program, Veritas. Here, he guided diners through a wine list of 3,500 selections while maintaining a strong familiarity with each and every bottle. Cappiello also traveled to Chile to tour select vineyards and meet some of the country’s finest winemakers, further broadening his reach and access to the world’s most distinguished wine regions.

Of his career and move to GILT in 2009, Cappiello has paid tribute to his years working with the best in the business and overseeing some of New York’s most celebrated wine programs. To bring his expertise and talents to GILT has been called by Cappiello “the highlight” of his career.