Wine Expert Interview: Guido Rossi Monti

by Kelvin Teo | Last Updated: November 16, 2020

Tell Us About Yourself.

Hi, My name is Guido Rossi Monti.

I am 28 years old and I was born in Florence, capital of Tuscany. I am a Sommelier and a lover of the world of fine wines and of the restaurant industry. I am constantly searching for new notions and stories about the world of wine.

Since I was a child, aromas and flavors have been a source of great fascination to me. I felt a lot of satisfaction in recognizing an aroma or in discovering a new flavor; evaluating its intensity, nuances and depth. Over the course of my life, wine has changed my view of things and has given me the opportunity to combine business with pleasure. None of this, however, would have been possible without the support of my family.

How Did You Venture Into The World of Wines?

In a fairly particular period of my life, at the age of 19, in conjunction with university studies, I started working for an important Florentine wine shop.

Every day I tidied up the bottles, arranged the warehouse and wondered what’s the stories of these bottles and where they came from. I started asking the owners of the wine shop questions. In just over two weeks, I had absorbed so much information that I found myself buying not only multiple books, but many bottles of wine to taste and evaluate. It was a bit like love at first sight!

From that moment on, I invested all of myself and my study skills in the field of oenology.

We Understand That You Manage One of The Biggest Wine Cellars in The World Since 2015. Tell Us More About it.

Managing Enoteca Pinchiorri is certainly one of the most exciting experiences of my life. I found myself dealing with important and professional figures from whom I learned everything I could.

The cellar had almost 80,000 bottles and more than 3,500 different labels. Working in such an environment is certainly stimulating. We tasted great wines, compared ourselves with colleagues, uncorked wines from vintages that are often almost impossible to find and we questioned every aspect of the sommelier profession, trying to improve constantly. I left a big part of me between those walls and those crates of wine. My mind will never erase those memories as old as I live.

What is Your Favorite Wine? And Why?

I don’t have a favorite wine. Instead, I have many wines that I prefer to drink on particular occasions or events – a romantic dinner, a holiday or a gathering with friends. However, I prefer one grape variety in particular: Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cabernet Sauvignon is a vine with a great sense of adaptation and a prodigious yield. It is a grape that challenges temperatures, has a sense of adaptability and camouflage in many areas of the planet, but above all it knows how to surprise with its varied and intriguing nature. In fact we find it in France in the Bordeaux area, under a multicolored and changing aromatic spectra; in the United States, in Napa Valley, where it offers wines of great power, elegance, rich, crunchy and fascinating; in Italy, in the area of Bolgheri (Tuscany), where it is often used in blends with other vines to shape and outline a unique style such as that of the Supertuscan and recently in China in the northern area of Yunnan, with vineyards close to the great Mekong river, where it surprises with its voracity, its balsamic nuances and extraordinary freshness.

It is a vine that represents me as it possesses great adaptability; but manages to express itself in a unique and recognizable way wherever it is placed and wherever it is given space to be itself.

Do You Agree That Proper Wine Storage is Essential To Keep Wines in Their Best Condition? And Why is That So?

Yes I do agree!

The conservation of wine has always been neglected over the past years. But I am pleased to note that today, anyone can buy a wine cellar that allows the storage of bottles in a horizontal position, away from strong lights and an adequate temperature. I think it is important to keep wine following the advice I have reported above, since it is a product that gives its best when it is free of any defects and therefore it is itself only when it has been stored correctly.

To understand each other: it would be like serving a cold soup to the table, to be eaten on a flat plate and with a fork instead of a hot soup, served in the right dish and with the right cutlery. Wine is a very sensitive product and deserves careful and scrupulous care.

Are You Storing Your Wine Wrongly?

If you want to enjoy your glass of wine to the fullest, proper storage is a must. This detailed guide reveals how you can store your prized bottles optimally.

The Ultimate Wine Storage Guide

What’s The Best Piece of Advice You’ve Every Received on Drinking Wine?

This is an interesting question!

There are many phrases that have stuck with me over the years. Surely among the many memories there is this:

“When you drink wine remember to dip your body in a dimension of colors, sensations, aromas and history. Don’t be afraid to lean out to observe more carefully, but always stay on the edge of the ravine and don’t fall down.”

This metaphor has certainly been illuminating as it leads to a careful and curious search for aromas, flavors and textures of wine. At the same time, however, it reminds us that we can only push ourselves to a certain limit, because we could “fall” — that is, fail — if we try or ask too much of a glass of wine. In short, it is always better to observe and plumb the ravine while remaining with your feet firmly planted on the ground.

What’s Next For You?

Every day for me is an opportunity to get to know and learn something new. In the last year I have been able to devote much more time to studying wine from a marketing and business point of view and I believe that one day, once I have achieved an important goal that I have set myself for some time, this could be my path.

Today I work as a full-time sommelier, wine consultant and operation manager for a prestigious wine company in Italy. I am satisfied even though I always think I can do better. I demand a lot from myself, but I am sure that this is my path and that wine is the passion that flows in my veins. Tomorrow is another day — we will see what it will bring.

Find Guido: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Kelvin Teo founded Filled With Wine™ because one summer night, he noticed that his glass of wine tasted funny. It was only after he discovered that he stored his bottle wrongly that he realised the importance of proper wine storage. Since then, he has taken the art of wine drinking seriously and is now on a quest to help fellow wine lovers achieve the best drinking experience possible.