Sur Lucero

The Climb

Wine service is built on attention, and that is the throughline in Sur Lucero’s work: the kind that keeps a bottle in play long after the table is cleared. Trained at Napa Valley Cooking School, he entered the trade through hospitality discipline first, then moved deeper into wine and education, where precision matters as much as palate. Education became a second working language in roles that demanded translation as much as taste. As National Director of Education at Constellation and Jackson Family Wines, Sur Lucero was responsible for turning technical knowledge into something usable at the trade level. That combination—tasting, teaching, and evaluating—shaped a career built on clarity rather than flourish. Wine Access is where that background now reads most plainly. As Vice President of Wine, Sur Lucero works from the floor rather than above it, a posture reflected in the way he describes himself: “I’m in blue Dickies and tennis shoes selling wine on the floor.” The line is practical, and so is the job.

Today

Vice President of Wine Access is a title that fits a working style rooted in service. Sur Lucero’s approach stays close to the room, where wine has to be explained, sold, and understood in real time. The language he uses is direct because the work requires directness. The Master Sommelier credential sits within that same discipline. It marks long hours of study, tasting, and repetition, but it does not pull him away from the workbench mentality that defines his voice. For Sur Lucero, wine is something to hold in memory and return to with care: “I couldn’t stop thinking about that wine the whole night I was working.”

Signature

Sur's signature dishes include 1989 La Mouline.

In Their Words “I couldn’t stop thinking about that wine the whole night I was working.” “I’m in blue Dickies and tennis shoes selling wine on the floor.”

Recognition

Sur's honors include Remi Krug Cup (2012) and Best New Sommelier in the United States (2011).