Bruno Almeida, Wine and Spirits Educator, Portuguese Wine Advocate and Wine Director/Sommelier, New York (USA)

Years In Industry:
I was born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal. I landed in NYC by 2002 as a drummer with a rock band, but unfortunately arts don't pay rents, so I have been working in the hospitality scene since that time.  It has been a gratifying, long hard road from the dish pit to the Wine Director/Sommelier position I hold now at Tocqueville in Manhattan. I have been a Sommelier since 2008 and have worked at iconic restaurants throughout NYC. I am very active in the NYC Sommelier community, collaborating in various events and lecturing in many different seminars as a wine educator for many years. Currently I’m performing several Instagram virtual wine tastings, live wine interviews and educational wine reviews.
 
My Biggest Challenge To Wellness:
Working hard all these years, with long and demanding hours on the floor, have easily pushed me away from normalcy and of what's out there besides wine in the past few years. I have, and still work hard to achieve what I have done as a Sommelier and a Wine Educator. It has been a long hard road of being a father and pursuing my goals through racial discrimination, long hours and being off schedule from others.
It gets hard at times to fully disconnect from hospitality as I spend most of my time working. When close to others that are not from hospitality, it’s hard to turn off from my craft as my mind keeps spinning, even when I just want to go out with friends and have a beer instead of being “the wine guy”. Either me or people outside of work tend to always talk about all things wine at all times so it can be very challenging to disconnect from that mode in a simple setting or normal conversation with others.
 
How I Keep It Together To Stay Well:
As a father of an almost 12 years old son, I have always tried to be the closing Somm, Bartender or Manager, so that way, I can spend quality time raising him during the daytime, (mainly when he was little), and nowadays so I can pick him up from school before I head to another long shift. Walking the NYC streets back home late at night after that same long shift, with my earphones on, really calms me down and when actually my best ideas come to surface. I would say that having my kid close to me is what really keeps me together in order to have a grip of everything.
Also cooking for others helps me keep things together and being a drummer and a lover of music has helped me throughout these years. It gets along with my creative side on things.
 
You can connect with Bruno on Instagram @drummelier and @sommation_live