Somm-antic Drift
Brian Freedman is a wine, spirits, travel, and food writer, restaurant and beverage consultant, wine and spirits educator, and event host and speaker. He writes the Wines of the Week column at Forbes.com and also covers spirits there, regularly contributes to Food & Wine digital and Departures online, has contributed to Travel + Leisure online, Whisky Advocate and Wine Enthusiast print and online, and more. He also hosted wine and spirit pairing segments on the CNN Airport Network. In 2019, Brian was awarded one of 30 fellowships to attend The Symposium for Professional Wine Writers in Napa Valley. He has traveled to more than 50 countries and territories around the world, and extensively throughout the United States, to experience the food, drink, and culture for his work. He has worked as a consulting sommelier for many restaurant projects and wine dinners, and has consulted on the wine lists for three meals at New York’s James Beard House. He also has had relationships with private collectors as a personal wine consultant, and consulted on the wine list at, among others, Top Chef Season Seven winner Kevin Sbraga’s former flagship Philadelphia restaurant Sbraga, Talula’s Daily, and Talula’s Garden, which was named one of the 10 best new restaurants in America 2011 by Bon Appetit Magazine and one of “America’s 100 Best Wine Restaurants” by Wine Enthusiast in 2012, 2013, and 2014. Brian also regularly hosts virtual tastings for corporate clients around the country.