Alto
NY

• Alto
• Veritas, NY
• L'Etoile, Madison, Wisconsin

Eric Zillier's wine career started innocently enough as a bet that resulted in several college students standing in a water fountain in the Centre Ville of Aix-en-Provence followed by a life-changing wine tasting that inspired Eric to pursue a career in wine.

Back in Madison, Wisconsin Eric was further inspired while working at L'Etoile with James Beard Award Winner for Best Chef in the Midwest, Odessa Piper. Eric then met Odessa's husband, Terry Theise, German wine importer extraordinaire. After toiling in the vineyards of Vacqueyras for two harvests and with the encouragement and advice of his mentors, Eric decided to continue his wine pursuit in New York.

After a year in New York, Eric started working as a sommelier at Veritas, a Wine Spectator's Grand Award Winner, for over four years. Under the tutelage of Tim Kopec, wine director of Veritas, Eric was regularly exposed to the greatest wines of the world.

In 2005, Eric Zillier created the wine list and currently serves as the wine director for northern-Italy inspired Alto. Alto's wine list offers over 2,400 selections from the great wine producing areas of the world and has been granted the Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence and Wine Enthusiast's Award of Ultimate Distinction.

Eric has studied at the International Wine Center (Wine and Spirits Education Trust) in New York and has served on tasting panels for Bordeaux Magazine, Wine and Spirits Magazine, and The Global Traveler and has been quoted in The New York Times, Wine and Spirits Magazine, The New York Sun and The Wine Spectator

In addition, Eric was a guest speaker at the New York Public Library's launch for its New York Eats Out exhibit, worked as a guest sommelier at La Paulee de New York, and has been a guest on the Restaurant Guys radio show. Eric continues to offer his services to private clients and restaurants in the greater New York area.