Beverage Director
Miles White
Beverage Service Professional
- Discipline
- Beverage Director
- Based in
- Charleston, South Carolina, United States
i. Biography
Miles White’s work sits at the point where wine service, buying, and room control meet. As co-owner and sommelier at Graft Wine Shop in Charleston, South Carolina, he moves between selection, service, and the less visible work of ownership. Retail is part of the job; so is the hospitality that lives in repeated conversations, steady recommendations, and the pacing of a room built around bottles. Food & Wine named him Sommelier of the Year in 2019, a clean recognition of the precision and judgment the role demands. Clarity is the other defining tool in White’s profile. The language he uses is direct and without flourish, and that plainness tracks with how he talks about the business itself: decisions, responsibility, and what it means to hold a place open for a community. “Femi and I had to decide what we wanted to do, as opposed to somebody making the decision [to close] for us.” The line reads like an operating principle: in a trade where a shop can also function as a social anchor, control over the work matters.
The Essentials The core of the work is the shop floor: wine selection, service, and ownership operating as one practice. At Graft Wine Shop in Charleston, South Carolina, White’s day-to-day is shaped by matching bottles to people, and people to bottles, while helping define the character of the room as a co-owner. Food & Wine named him Sommelier of the Year in 2019, a distinction that reflects years of tasting, listening, and calibration. In wine service, that kind of recognition usually follows consistency more than display. On local rules, he has put it plainly: "There’s no rules and regulations [locally] against that." The statement is characteristically unadorned, but its meaning is broader than the syntax suggests. It reflects a working knowledge of how things operate in Charleston, and a willingness to speak without hedging when the subject calls for it.
In Their Words “There’s no rules and regulations [locally] against that.” In that single sentence, White’s manner comes through: concise, unsentimental, and rooted in the practical realities of running a wine business. It is the kind of remark that does not seek to impress so much as to clarify, which may be the most revealing thing of all about the way he works.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Miles
What is Miles White known for?
He is known for wine service and for being named Food & Wine Sommelier of the Year in 2019.
Where does Miles White work?
He works at Graft Wine Shop in Charleston, South Carolina.
Who is Miles White?
He is a co-owner and sommelier.
Explore
In the same rooms
Similar Beverage Directors
