Brent Braun
Castagna | Portland, OR
APRIL 2018
In 2009, for Brent Braun, all signs pointed to Portland as he pursued a career in music. While playing the synthesizer for various dance-pop projects, he dabbled in wine but didn’t initially intend to make a career of it. Having studied history at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Braun began to see wine as a way to taste and interact with history. Once that idea drew him in, Braun and the juice just clicked.
At first, Braun battled with balancing nighttime music gigs and restaurant work, so he took a day job at Portland Wine Merchants. He eventually moved on to manage the tasting room at Thirst Wine Bar, where he formed relationships with producers. Next, Braun became manager at Blackbird Wine Shop,
Brent Braun where Chef Scott Snyder saw his performance on the floor and offered him a position at Levant. After deepening and expanding the wine program there, a referral landed Braun his dream job as the sommelier at Portland’s finedining mainstay Castagna.
At Castagna, he takes guests on an odyssey from Japan to Austria, Italy, France, and Spain and back again. As he joins fellow Rising Star, Chef Justin Woodward, in reinventing the more casual café adjoined to Castagna, he’ll introduce a new generation of drinkers to wine while also helping to build his city’s burgeoning sommelier community. Braun is certified by the Court of Master Sommeliers and was named Food & Wine’s “Sommelier of the Year” in 2017.
