MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE Introducing ACK’s Pocomo Wine Co

Message

IN A BOTTLE

INTRODUCING POCOMO WINE CO., A NEW WINE CONSULTATION/PRIVATE EVENT BUSINESS WITH OPERATIONS IN NANTUCKET AND MONTANA.

Engaging and disciplined, not to mention quite savvy with their social media and marketing campaigns, Pocomo Wine Co. founders Emily Dusseau and Gracie Schadt are ready to share their wine knowledge and skills with the world.

Having fostered careers in the wine and hospitality industries via restaurants such as Cru on Nantucket and Ming Tsai at the Yellowstone Club in Montana, the two ambitious and gregarious women are eager to take their restaurant floor knowledge and bring it into the homes of their clients through both in-house cellar consultations and private bespoke wine events. By moving off the floor and into a more personalized setting, the female sommeliers have forged a more intimate connection with their wine knowledge and the people they share it with.

WITH A MYRIAD OF OFFERINGS, from pop-up wine and chef-led dinners to wine-education events and fullcellar consultations, it can be a bit of a challenge to ensure people understand exactly what they do, explains Schadt. However, given that both women have high-level degrees from the Court of Sommeliers and the Wine Spirits Education Trust, which is no easy feat, not to mention that Dusseau grew up on her family’s winery helping to manage the tasting room, their level of knowledge and experience lends itself to their diversity of offerings. Ultimately, if it has to do with wine in a personal setting, these gals can help.

While the women are wise to initially develop their business where they reside, Nantucket in the summers and Montana in the winters, it’s no surprise their sights are set far wider, with global retreats already planned, including one this fall in Italy.

Ever the creative entrepreneurs, Schadt and Dusseau launched their first-ever series of six pop-up dinners with local Nantucket chef Dan Shaw this past summer. The six-course meal was paired with seven wines (including a glass of bubbles upon arrival) and held at the ultra-intimate sunken space Afterhouse on Broad Street. An impressive feat given the kitchen is more of a prep space than a full working kitchen, the menu was remarkable with fine ingredients such as scallops, lobster, Hamachi and Japanese Wagyu beef. The wines were equally impressive and robust, including an Anjou from the Loire Valley, two Premier Cru Burgundies and a Sagrantino di Montefalco from Umbria. The whole evening was an incredible demonstration of the level of private wine event these two women, alongside a talented chef, can orchestrate and deliver professionally. As they explained, “Learning about wine can be daunting,” so they are eager to share their knowledge in a more casual setting, “where the education feels less intense and less pretentious.”

Dusseau and Schadt have arranged everything from girls’ getaways with a private wine tasting to private cellar consultations where clients have requested such specific aid as how to add more champagne and whites to their collection since they drink those even more often than their flagship collection of Cabernet Sauvignons. “Our goal is to make the cellar more dynamic. We hope to make it more enticing with more wine that you can drink now, making it easier to entertain and more engaging,” says Dusseau. After all, as Schadt remarks, “The more wine you drink, the smarter you become about it.”

With clients who come from their networks on Nantucket and in Montana, they have already seen a fantastic response to their venture. In addition, they have attracted global hospitality providers like the private destination club Inspirato, which has brought them on to arrange private wine events for their clients on Nantucket. This summer they booked over 35 events, and their pop-up dinners were completely sold out. While the women are wise to initially develop their business where they reside, Nantucket in the summers and Montana in the winters, it’s no surprise their sights are set far wider, with global retreats already planned, including one this fall in Italy. They already have collaborations set with Champagne Billecart and Calvisius Caviar for the Nantucket Wine Festival in May, as well as Dana Estate out of Napa. They continue to offer private events and encourage people to book early if they’re on Nantucket during high season. As their motto aptly says, “We’ll take your passion and provide it space to grow.” And isn’t that just what we all want, if not need, in our lives?

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