DARIUS ALLYN Master Sommelier
Darius Allyn began working in restaurant hospitality at the age of 15 for The Salish Lodge Inn at Snoqualmie Falls, Washington.
He actually started in the kitchen for a year until he moved to the front-of-the house server position in the fine dining atmosphere of the Inn. Committed and trained in the craft of tableside service, he became a captain server by the age of 19 and had developed a fundamental working knowledge of fine cuisine and beverage.
During his collegiate education, he worked for another fine dining restaurant in the area when he was offered a job to work on short (usually between 2 weeks – a month) voyages aboard a European Train traveling various countries serving upscale American clientele. For the next five years, he acted as the Head Server / manager and liaison purchaser of fine foods and wines throughout the cities in Europe in which he traveled upon the ‘Red Prussian’ luxury German train.
After a fair amount of European backpacking in between these voyages, Darius had learned a little more about wine through grape harvesting in Italy and Greece and had become hungered by the notion of finding a sommelier position back home in the Seattle area. He had his first opportunity as wine buyer / staff educator for Theoz restaurant and a few of James Beard award winning chef Tom Douglas’ restaurants including the Dahlia Lounge, Palace Kitchen, and Etta’s Seafood.
Shortly thereafter, Darius Allyn came “full circle” and began his first sommelier position at the age of 25 at the Salish Lodge Inn. The program boasted several Awards and acclaim; most notably as a multiple Wine Spectator Award of Excellence winner and as one of the Pacific Northwest’s largest and most diverse wine programs. Here is where Darius gained great knowledge, hosted several winemaker dinners and seminars, and even grew his execution of bartending and understanding of liquor, Beer, and other alcoholic beverage knowledge.
After a short stint learning with Dan McCarthy (identified as one of the most respected Wine Retailers in America), Darius was offered a job at the opening of Charlie Palmer’s Aureole Restaurant in Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. Under the expert tutelage and leadership of Master Sommelier Steven Geddes, Darius gained even greater understanding and salesmanship skills working as a sommelier for this renowned Wine Spectator Grand Award winning Program (to name one of many awards).
After 4 years of intense study, Darius Allyn passed the coveted Master Sommelier Exam, becoming the 60th American to hold the prestigious title. Also, he continued to teach for 6 years as a Professor of his own Wine Classes for the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He accounted for over 1,000 students over the span and has acted as mentor to several additional individuals regarding their own paths as professionals in the Hospitality industry across the USA. Additionally, he has acted as a mentor to several others working as sommeliers on their quest towards the Master Sommelier diploma.
He has recently begun his own Wine Consulting Business, as he truly appreciates the Challenge of Representing the World of Wine to others and has worked on several projects from conceiving and building a working beverage program for a local Restaurant, Locating rare wines for Private Collectors, and Offering educational Seminars for both Large and Small Hospitality Businesses in the Las Vegas and other markets in the USA.
When not busy, Darius also enjoys his first passion of playing music – mostly acoustic guitar, piano, and drums (the only one he was trained on). he also continues to spend much time traveling and researching the beverage industry amongst other hobbies of bike riding and snowboarding.