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Sommelier Gillian Ballance
Plump JackRestaurant
Group
3127 Fillmore Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
Featured Sommelier
Gillian Ballance, PlumpJack Group, California
By Jim Clarke
March
2007
Wine may be serious business
in California, but that doesn’t mean you need to take
it too seriously. Gillian Balance, Wine Director for the PlumpJack
Group in the Bay Area, has put together a wine program for
their restaurants that keeps the focus on enjoying wine and
exploration. It all starts with prices: wines at Jack
Falstaff, PlumpJack Café, and the other
restaurants in the group come in at retail prices instead
of the usual markup. Wines by the glass are also a priority
at PlumpJack Café, which offers almost thirty selections.
Those who know the PlumpJack Group’s own wines will
not be surprised to hear that screwcap wines have their own
special place on the list, and at Jack Falstaff biodynamic
and organic wines are the focus.
Gillian started into wine at the Rainbow
Room in New York, where she was introduced to Andrea
Immer. That contact led to a position as Cellar Master at
the Window on the World restaurant. After time at
Cello and at Terrance Brennan’s Picholine,
Gillian decided to head west and took a position running the
wine program at the Bacara Resort and Spa in the
Santa Ynez Mountains. Her list there won the Wine Spectator’s
“Best of Award of Excellence,” as has the list
at Jack Falstaff.
Gillian herself won the Bronze Medal
at the Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs’
National Young Sommelier Competition. She has earned the Wine
and Spirits Educational Trust’s Diploma in Wine and
Spirits and Higher Certificate of Distinction, and last year
she completed the Advanced Sommelier level of the Court of
Master Sommeliers program. The pleasure she takes in her work
comes through in her wine lists and training, and is a perfect
match for the relaxed lifestyle concept that is central to
the PlumpJack company.
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