Chip hearts wine. Passing his sommelier certification with the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2011 was one of the more stressful and gratifying experiences he’s had. The gift it gave him is a lifelong passion for wine: its history, geology, geography, the people that make it and the delicious juice that is the end result of all these contributing forces. His favorites range from Chablis to Vouvray and Eola-Amity Hills to Red Mountain. As well as most in between!  Bringing his passion for wine to Ray’s has been the biggest treat of his career. The culture of family, friendship and camaraderie at Ray’s is so real and genuine.

Before getting into wine he received his MA in Social Anthropology from Queens University in 2005 but passed on his chance to go for his PhD to work in restaurants professionally, a decision that brought him to Seattle. He’s a self-proclaimed music nerd and has played in an acoustic Tool cover band and has seen Phish more times than he should probably admit.

When he’s not crafting our award-winning wine list (or his own personal wine cellar) he’s scouring bourbon blogs and collecting American whiskey. He’s been known as Max Power previously, Duff gardens is his favorite holiday spot and he once carved a spoon from a bigger spoon.