michael green
founder & creative director
Michael Green can talk about food and wine in any language – the vernacular of investment banking, the idioms of attorneys, the lexicon of pharmaceutical executives. Like other epicurean educators, Michael's knowledge of all things edible and drinkable is extensive and comprehensive; but it is his ability to translate that knowledge into the vocabulary of his audience that sets him apart.
Born and raised in New York City, Michael has been a fixture in the beverage industry since the age of six when he first began accompanying his father to work at the venerable wine store Acker Merrall & Condit. He attended the High School of Performing Arts where he cultivated a passion for theater and its application outside the realm of the stage. After college, Michael explored Europe's culinary regions and, upon his return to the U.S., embarked on an aggressive self-education of the world's appellations. His passion for the grape resulted in a series of tastings performed at Acker Merrall & Condit and paved the way for his relationship with Gourmet magazine. At the age of 26, Michael began making pairing suggestions for the Gourmet Dining Room and, over the course of a decade, became the magazine's exclusive wine and spirits consultant, a position he continues to hold to this day. Also, in 1996, Michael co-founded Best Cellars, one of the first modern, consumer-driven wine shops.
With the incorporation of his marketing and brand-building company, Liquid Assets Consulting Group, Michael's wine-and-dine wizardry takes many forms, including designing customized corporate wine dinners, directing tasting programs for conferences, festivals and auctions, and building private wine collections. Harnessing the power of food and drink to build relationships, Michael has the unique ability to articulate a company's mission through the exploration of wine, making him a favorite talent for blue-chip companies nationwide who want to create memorable, brand-building events.
Going beyond the role of guide to food-and-wine pairings, he regularly develops themed presentations such as "Corks & Torts" about famous wines embroiled in litigation, created for a law firm's incoming summer associates; "Eye on Wine and Food," which helped a pharmaceutical company introduce new glaucoma treatments at an annual physicians convention; and "Wine By Design," formulated for a luxury textile company to strengthen its relationship with notoriously inaccessible A-list designers and architects. Michael's ability to impart a language that makes executives comfortable tasting wine and talking business is the key to his success with these customized experiential wine tastings.
His innate sense of charisma and flair for the dramatic have afforded him a recurring presence on both the Food Network and the Fine Living Network, as has his down-to-earth attitude to wine education: "You want to clear a room fast? Put a sentence together about a wine – leather, gooseberry, wet dog?!?" In direct contrast, Michael's lively style, clever wit and contagious warmth results in events that bring people together – whether socially or professionally – with wine as the common ground. As described by one reporter, "Listening to Michael Green speak about wine is like witnessing a sensory explosion."