{{Short description|Indian-American sommelier and wine producer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}} {{Use Indian English|date=November 2018}} [[File:Rajat Parr at James Beard Awards 2010.jpg|300px|thumb|Parr interviewed at the James Beard Foundation Awards 2010]] '''Rajat ("Raj") Parr''' is an Indian-American sommelier turned winemaker who oversaw the Michael Mina restaurant group's wine program before launching his own wineries in Oregon and the Central Coast of California. Sandhi is his label of purchased grapes while Lompoc, Domaine de la Cote, and Evening Land are productions from his and Sashi Moorman's (his business partner) vineyards. He mainly produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, biodynamically and organically. His winemaking philosophy is based on little to no manipulation of the final product through never inoculating nor over-ripening. His latest project is an urban winemaking facility in DTLA that he shares with fellow winemaker Abe Schoener.
== Early life and education == Parr was born and raised in Calcutta, India.<ref name=ws>Molesworth, James, ''Wine Spectator'' (5 March 2007). [http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Features/0,1197,3680,00.html Sommelier Talk: Rajat Parr] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912071348/http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Features/0,1197,3680,00.html |date=12 September 2007 }}</ref> He grew up close to his cousin, who ran two restaurants in New Delhi.<ref name=mn>Jung, Carolyn, ''San Jose Mercury News'', (25 September 2002). [http://www.theauthenticvoice.org/SanJose_NewFaceOfWineService2.html Meet The Sommeliers Who Are Changing The Profession] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820063514/http://www.theauthenticvoice.org/SanJose_NewFaceOfWineService2.html |date=2007-08-20 }}</ref> Although he had read about wine, he had never tasted it (wine production and consumption in India is relatively limited) until age 20, in 1993, with an uncle living in London.<ref name=ws/>
Parr graduated from the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration in Manipal, Karnataka, India.<ref name=rp>{{cite web|url=http://www.rajatparr.com/|publisher=Rajat Parr|title=Rajat Parr|accessdate=2007-12-18}}</ref><!-- per WP:BLP, this is a self-published website used for uncontroversial neutral biographical information about the subject of the article--> He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, intending to become a chef<ref name=ws/> and externed at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore.{{fact|date=November 2018}}
== Career == Parr moved to San Francisco to become a food runner at Rubicon Restaurant,<ref name=rp/> on encouragement from his wine instructor, after reading a magazine article about the restaurant's celebrity-sommelier Larry Stone.<ref name=ws/><ref name=mn/><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.7x7.com/content/house-spirits|journal=7x7 Magazine|title=Rolling Stone: After 12 years at Rubicon, wine director Larry Stone has moved on|first=Jordan|last=Mackay|date=16 March 2006|archive-date=13 June 2009|access-date=22 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613024214/http://www.7x7.com/content/house-spirits|url-status=dead}}</ref> Parr, who visited vineyards on his days off to learn more about wine, impressed Stone with his persistence and determination.<ref name=mn/> Within six months he became assistant to Stone, who became his mentor.<ref name=mn/> After three years, Parr became sommelier of the Fifth Floor in San Francisco in 1999.<ref name=rp/> In 2003 Parr was appointed wine director all of the Michael Mina restaurants throughout the United States.<ref name=mn/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.winescore.com/sommelier/9/Rajat+Parr|accessdate=2007-12-19|title=Somellier Profiles:Rajat Parr|publisher=Winescore.com |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20071021234315/http://winescore.com/sommelier/9/Rajat%20Parr <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-10-21}}</ref>
In 2007 he, along with Michael Mina, were hired to develop and run a food and wine program by the developers of San Francisco's Millennium Tower, who called him "one of the most celebrated sommeliers in the world".<ref>Finz, Stacy, ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (19 December 2007). [https://www.sfgate.com/restaurants/article/As-upscale-home-complexes-add-great-chefs-more-3299791.php As upscale home complexes add great chefs, more buyers are biting]</ref> The restaurant, RN74, had a $4.5 million budget and opened in May 2009 with an 84-page wine list.<ref>Bonné, Jon, ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (16 April 2009). [https://www.sfgate.com/restaurants/article/mina-s-latest-rn74-a-wine-bar-with-fine-food-3244640.php Mina's latest, RN74, a wine bar with fine food]</ref> RN74 closed in October 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/wine/article/RN74-was-a-revolution-for-the-wine-world-12230028.php|title=RN74 was a revolution for the wine world. Here's why it's closing|last=Mobley|first=Esther|date=26 September 2017|website=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=24 March 2020}}</ref>
In October 2010, Parr in collaboration with Jordan Mackay published ''Secrets of the Sommeliers'', which won the 2011 James Beard Cookbook Award - Beverage Category.<ref>Lucchesi, Paolo, ''San Francisco Chronicle'': Inside Scoop (28 September 2010). [http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/paololucchesi/2010/09/28/rajat-parr-would-very-much-like-to-educate-sommeliers-and-drinkers-alike-in-his-new-book/ Rajat Parr would very much like to educate sommeliers and drinkers alike in his new book]</ref><ref>Adler, Sarah, ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (1 October 2010). [http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-10-01/living/24102050_1_sommeliers-sophisticated-wine-drinkers-fine-wine Wine masters spill secrets of sommeliers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007064340/http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-10-01/living/24102050_1_sommeliers-sophisticated-wine-drinkers-fine-wine |date=2010-10-07 }}</ref> Parr and Mackay later co-authored ''The Sommelier's Atlas of Taste: A Field Guide to the Great Wines of Europe'' ({{ISBN|0399578234}}), released in October 2018.
== See also == * List of wine personalities
== References == {{reflist}} <!-- ==External links== *[http://www.rajatparr.com rajatparr.com] - official site -->
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Parr, Rajat}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Cuisine of the San Francisco Bay Area Category:American sommeliers Category:Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park alumni Category:Indian emigrants to the United States Category:Manipal Academy of Higher Education alumni Category:American businesspeople