Affiliation : The RLB Wine Group / Robert Bath Imports
Location : St. Helena, CA, USA

 

A third generation Californian, Bob Bath was born and raised in Davis, a small, college town, sixty miles east of the Napa Valley. His interest in wine was sparked at the age of 19 while attending college at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and working summers in fine dining restaurants. Bob also played baseball at Cal Poly, alongside the St. Louis Cardinal legend and Hall of Fame inductee Ozzie Smith.

Bob received his Master Sommelier diploma in 1993 and has been a key member of the educational arm of the Court of Master Sommeliers, a board member and a mentor to many current Master Sommeliers.

Bob has over twenty five years of combined experience in the wine and food trade. Bob was personally involved in two renowned Wine Spectator Grand Award restaurant wine programs, the Sardine Factory Restaurant in Monterey, California and Starker's Restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri. Bob spent almost eight years as the National Sales Manager for the highly acclaimed Napa Valley winery, Shafer Vineyards. He continued to consult with restaurateurs around the country who were seeking to improve their wine programs and two of those restaurants ultimately won Wine Spectator Grand Awards for their wine lists.

In February of 2000, Bob started his own company, the RLB Wine Group. This multi faceted operation enabled Bob to capitalize on his broad background in the wine business. The RLB Wine Group has provided customized sales and marketing consulting for high profile, small production wineries like Dalla Valle Vineyards, Viader, Hartwell Vineyards, Arcadian Winery, Spring Mountain Vineyards and Barnett Vineyards.

In addition to his ongoing teaching of Master Sommelier classes, Bob also teaches advanced wine programs at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. He has developed educational seminars for wine distributors around the country, as well as Marriott Hotels, the Walt Disney Company and the Young Presidents Organization and consulted on wine programs like the Napa Valley's highly acclaimed French Laundry restaurant. In 2004, Bob and his wife Julie established Robert Bath Imports, a specialized portfolio of artisan wine producers from New Zealand.

In 2005 Bob began a series of educational programs for Kendall Jackson Wine Estates and has already steered more than 200 key sales and marketing staff through the Master Sommelier Introductory Program and now continues as a consultant to the company.

Bob writes about wine on occasion and his first article, published in Sante Magazine, was nominated for a James Beard Award in Magazine Journalism. He has been a speaker at numerous wine festivals and appeared with fellow Master Sommelier Andrea Immer on the Fine Living Network Channel's show "50 Wines in 50 States."