GILLIAN BALLANCE
Gillian is a 15+ year veteran of the fine dining and hospitality industry and is the current Wine Director at the Cavallo Point Resort in Sausalito. In 2012, Gillian earned the prestigious worldwide recognition of Master Sommelier, which is considered the highest professional ranking in the fine wine and beverage industry. Globally, there are just under 200 people who have earned this title, only 18 of whom are American women.
After growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and studying fine arts at NYU, Gillian decided to pursue her passion for wine and earned her Diploma from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust as well studying with the Court of Sommeliers on her path to becoming an MS. Gillian’s talent, passion and enthusiasm for the world of wine is clearly demonstrated each time she takes the stage to teach a wine class. In addition to frequently conducting wine seminars and lectures, she is a guest judge for several important wine competitions.
Throughout her career, Gillian has worked at world-renowned restaurants in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and New York. While in the Big Apple she worked at Picholine, Cello Restaurant, and Windows on the World. After her east coast adventures she decided to move to Santa Barbara where she became the opening Wine and Beverage Director at Bacara Resort and oversaw a beverage program that included the 20,000-bottle wine cellar for the resort’s restaurant Miró.
After finally making her way up the coast and into the Bay Area’s food and wine scene, she spent several years as the Wine Director for the prestigious PlumpJack Hotel & Restaurant Group. She also worked as the Wine Director for the famous Dining Room at the Pacific-Union Club on Nob Hill in San Francisco and at Bottega in Napa Valley. In 2005, she received Food & Wine Magazine’s “Best New Restaurant Wine List” for the restaurant Jack Falstaff , one of the PlumpJack Group eateries in San Francisco.