The leader of a prominent Bay Area wine organization has resigned after allegations of sexual misconduct.
The New York Times reported that Geoff Kruth, the master sommelier who has been the president of GuildSomm, a wine-education nonprofit, since 2008, made unwanted sexual advances toward at least six female sommeliers.
“Shortly after the GuildSomm board of directors learned of the allegations, (Kruth) voluntarily resigned,” Chris Tanghe, GuildSomm’s chief instructor, said in a statement to The Chronicle. Tanghe said the board was “deeply disturbed by the reported allegations” and that “the kind of behavior alleged by the women in the report cannot be tolerated, condoned, or excused in any way.”
The allegations against Kruth include claims that he slid his fingers inside a woman’s underwear at a dinner and that he greeted a professional acquaintance into his hotel room while he was naked. One sommelier, Victoria James, alleges in the report that she had sex with Kruth because he had promised to write her a recommendation letter in exchange.
Kruth denied the allegations that the encounters had been nonconsensual, according to the Times. He did not respond to a request for comment from The Chronicle.
Twenty-one women involved in the sommelier world detailed accounts of sexual harassment to Times reporter Julia Moskin about Kruth and other master sommeliers. Not all are connected with GuildSomm. The master sommelier title is a prestigious designation awarded to those who pass a notoriously grueling examination process; only 155 people have passed it in the Court of Master Sommeliers’ Americas chapter. Just 24 of those who passed are women.
Several of the accused men are based in the Bay Area, including Kruth, who until recently lived in Petaluma; Robert Bath, a professor at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena; Matt Stamp, owner of Compline restaurant in Napa; and Fred Dame, a San Francisco resident who works for Daou Vineyards in Paso Robles.
GuildSomm is not officially affiliated with the Court of Master Sommeliers. (The Times article describes it as a “separate educational spinoff.”) The educational nonprofit provides online study guides, in-person wine classes and community-building events for professional sommeliers. Some of its staff are master sommeliers, including Kruth and Tanghe. Stamp is a former staff member of GuildSomm.
The Times report seemed to indict not simply these two individual organizations, but the culture of the elite sommelier world more broadly, a culture where most positions of power are still held by men. It echoed a 2019 article by Moskin in which several female wine professionals accused New York sommelier Anthony Cailan, who is not affiliated with the Court, of sexual misconduct.
“The Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas does not condone the actions of any individuals described in the New York Times article,” said Devon Broglie, a master sommelier and the chairman of the board of directors of the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas, in a statement to The Chronicle. “This Board upholds any discipline already handed down and will investigate all accusations outlined in the article. The Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas is committed to receiving, investigating, and resolving all instances of misconduct involving the organization.”
Broglie outlined several steps that his organization is taking to address misconduct, including the formation of an ethics committee, a diversity committee, a reporting hotline and various inclusivity trainings. He emphasized that the Court and GuildSomm are “separate, unrelated entities” and that “Geoff Kruth is not a leading educator” for the Court.
Tanghe said GuildSomm will “investigate any reports of improper behavior.”
This is not the first time that the culture within the Court of Master Sommeliers has come under scrutiny this year. In June, several people accused the Court of racist practices. Wine professional Tahiirah Habibi, who is Black, recalled that she had been asked to address white exam proctors as “master.” The organization subsequently announced that it would no longer require exam takers to use that address. Meanwhile, several master sommeliers abdicated their titles out of frustration that the Court had not done enough to promote racial justice.
The Court had also come under fire for a cheating scandal in 2018, admitting that a master sommelier had shared confidential information with test takers in advance of the test. As a result, 23 newly minted master sommeliers lost their titles.
Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicle’s wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob
October 30, 2020 at 07:39AM
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Head of prominent Bay Area wine nonprofit resigns after sexual misconduct allegations - San Francisco Chronicle
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