Background
Thomas Calder
Before pursuing a career in the wine business, Thomas Calder was a PhD student in English Literature at the University of Virginia. His interest in wine developed while in college when he and a friend vowed to assemble the "perfect liquor cabinet". When they ran out of spirits to taste, Thomas' friend encouraged him to lead a wine tasting group.
He taught wine tasting classes while in graduate school, then took a job as a wine buyer at a gourmet shop and decided to work with wine and words. A few years after becoming the owner of the shop, he decided to increase his wine knowledge by apprenticing at a winery in the Loire Valley.
When he returned to the US nine months later, he worked as the wine buyer for a number of stores in Washington, DC, as a sommelier, taught wine tasting classes, and helped Fran Kysela start Kysela Père et Fils in 1994.
He returned to France on a regular basis, travelling with importers, taking a continuing education class in oenology and tasting at the University of Bordeaux, and working for a few months at Maison Chapoutier in 1990. He has picked grapes in the Maconnais and Champagne and vinified in the Jura.
He taught wine tasting classes while in graduate school, then took a job as a wine buyer at a gourmet shop and decided to work with wine and words. A few years after becoming the owner of the shop, he decided to increase his wine knowledge by apprenticing at a winery in the Loire Valley.
When he returned to the US nine months later, he worked as the wine buyer for a number of stores in Washington, DC, as a sommelier, taught wine tasting classes, and helped Fran Kysela start Kysela Père et Fils in 1994.
He returned to France on a regular basis, travelling with importers, taking a continuing education class in oenology and tasting at the University of Bordeaux, and working for a few months at Maison Chapoutier in 1990. He has picked grapes in the Maconnais and Champagne and vinified in the Jura.
The Birth of Thomas Calder Selections
Calder moved to Paris in 1996 to work with Peter Vezan, another broker who has been influential in bringing quality French wines to America and other markets. Thomas left to start his own brokerage, Thomas Calder Selections, in 2002, and currently manages a book of nearly 150 producers, exporting to over thirty importer/distributors in various U.S. markets.
"The chase, the pursuit, the discovery aspect is where the big thrill is for me," says Calder. "And then there's the courtship …and finally, maintaining a healthy, happy relationship for all involved"
Calder tastes an estimated 4,000 wines per year, but works with less than two percent of the domaines he encounters.
"The chase, the pursuit, the discovery aspect is where the big thrill is for me," says Calder. "And then there's the courtship …and finally, maintaining a healthy, happy relationship for all involved"
Calder tastes an estimated 4,000 wines per year, but works with less than two percent of the domaines he encounters.
