Aaron Von Rock

After 30 years working as a Wine Director in New York City Restaurants, Aaron Von Rock joined Master Sommelier Dana Gaiser on the boutique wine division Domaine & Estates, the cutting edge importer/distribution arm of Southern Glazers New York. A two-time Winner of Food & Wine Magazine Best New Wine List, Aaron helped to open over a dozen restaurants in the city, and still maintains the perspective of the restaurant sommelier.

Despite stomping grapes from ages 5-8 years old for his Mother’s Concord Grape wines, He got his first paying job in the field at a barely legal age buying wines for the Baltimore Hilton Hotel. It was his experience there that introduced him to fine wines, and more importantly, the winemakers for whom he would later become an ambassador. He took a degree in Finance and Accounting at Boston University but found his way back to the wine cellar when he worked at Verbena as the wine director for Diane Forley, and together they opened the Bar Demi (his first winner of the Food & Wine Magazine, Best New Wine List-New York). Later, he would head up the Patina Restaurant Group as the East Coast Wine Director, helping them to expand to 77 restaurants.

A member of the American Sommelier’s Association since 1998, Aaron also has a consulting business called Vinoceros, assisting restaurants and private clients in developing their cellars. He travels often to the estates and regions from which most of his wines are sourced, and participates in events around the world as a guest sommelier.