Urbanite
Haley Guild Moore
Message In A Bottle
text by Gabriel Cothes
“Champagne and French fries, yes please!” Haley declares when
delving into her favorite food and wine pairing. “Old white burgundy paired with white truffles, also amazing,” she continues.
Haley Guild Moore can take you in any direction. She has affection for things that are at once playful, decadent, grand and often
rare. It is her deep understanding of taste that makes one listen
up when it is her turn to talk. Her accolades are endless and her
achievements are many. Mrs. Moore landed her first wine directing role at the tender age of 24. From this position at Bacar in San
Francisco she launched into a career that has not slowed for even
a breath. In 2009, as a lead sommelier for the renowned restaurant, Spruce, The Wine Spectator recognized her wine list of
2,800 selections with it’s ‘Best Award of Excellence.’ Currently
the wine and spirits director for Stock & Bones, Haley now
oversees five restaurants, all varied in concept and unique in
their needs. For Moore, this is more opportunity than challenge.
“Each restaurant is a chance to showcase something different.
Wine selections become puzzle pieces. You move around the
puzzle pieces and complete each picture.” Haley does not settle
for the trendy, crowd-pleasing wines that are readily available
to a top tier wine buyer. She searches for grapes of distinction,
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for wine that is unique and true to itself. Wine can always be an
accompaniment to food but when the bottle becomes a portal
into the culture of the people who produced it, then Haley Moore
will take notice.
Mrs. Moore tempers her love for the grape with an
equal affection for the actual experience of it all — when the
good stuff is all balled together. “Mind blowing moments,” she
declares. “All of the ‘ahha!’ moments.” These are the direct
result of staff, food, and wine swirling around in perfect harmony. Haley recalls New York’s Jean George and dinners at
Septime of Paris, places versed in the art of perfection. These
snapshots of the ideal serve as standard when training her staff
back home. Every year she takes part in multiple festivals and
symposiums — L.A. Food and Wine as well as Pebble Beach
to name a few. These events give exposure to the best of the
best. She encourages wine travel and education and insists that
these are a gateway to go beyond the surface of simply selling
wine. A bottle of wine can be truly unique. There are so many
ranges of style, and expressions of ideas that lie just within the
confines of glass and cork… and who better to let them out than
Haley Guild Moore.