Our Story

Steve’s Biography and the Story of The Fuzzy Cork

My interest in wine frankly began when I was around the age of 13. At that time, my stepfather, George, was a Wine Salesman for Young’s Market Company, and his main territory was in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. George had an adequate working knowledge of many wines, so accordingly, he brought many of those wines to my attention, as I was often allowed to have a glass of wine during dinner (when it was being served). As time progressed, I always enjoyed wine but I started to realize that I wished to pursue the same path as my father, and so I later became a police officer in the City of Desert Hot Springs in Riverside County. I continued my career in law enforcement for approximately 17 years; however, during the last three years of my career, I noticed that I was beginning to remember my past and I had become very interested in continuing my education about wine.

So, George and I cooked up a plan to open our own wine store, but in doing so, I realized that I did not have near the breadth and depth of knowledge that George possessed, so…I enrolled in classes with the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), which was taught by Master Sommelier, Peter Neptune. It was at this point that I had rekindled my love of wine; and, simultaneously learned that I possessed much less education than previously believed.

In November 2012, after 17 years of service, I was medically retired from my police job due to numerous back and neck injuries. Simultaneously, my beloved stepfather, George, had been diagnosed with stage IV Mantle Cell Lymphoma cancer. Within the year, George had passed away and with it, my passion for wine. However, as time passed and my heart began to heal, I rekindled my love of wine. In fact, I realized that aside from my amazing wife and wonderful son, that wine was the one thing I had come to really enjoy after my career as a police officer had come to its conclusion. Accordingly, I resumed my wine studies, but something had changed: I began to study wine with great fervency and renewed passion.

Shortly thereafter, I completed my level II and Level III WSET courses – passing both with distinction – and then I subsequently completed my Certified Sommelier test to gain recognition as a ‘Certified Sommelier.’ Afterward, I worked as a wine salesman (just like George) for approximately one year, at which time I transitioned from sales to procure a job as the General Manager of Versai the Wine Bar in the city of Yorba Linda. Employment at Versai was a wonderful experience, and I was fortunate enough to meet several outstanding customers who eventually fostered and kindled my desire to form my own business. Having been requested on numerous occasions to teach wine, I finally realized my true calling since retirement from my police career: I wanted to teach and share my passion for wine with others.

So finally, where did I get the name of ‘The Fuzzy Cork,’ you ask? Okay, I’ll tell you. While working for Versai, I had the fortune of collecting numerous corks, and I was doing so because my wife enjoyed making birdhouses out of those wine corks. We also had a Cairn Terrier mix for which my wife had named Orville-Dean, and as you can see, he was extremely cute and we loved him dearly. Because of his fuzzy fur, we began to call him the “Fuzzy-Wuzzy, or the Fuzzel-Wuzzle.” Since Fuzzy was lovingly attached to my wife, no matter what the event, he was always by her side. So the story goes that on one occasion we were using a band saw to cut our wine corks in half. Par for the course, Fuzzy was standing below mama and therefore his fur had become riddled with cork dust and debris. As I looked down at him, I said to my wife that our dog was now a “Fuzzy Cork,” and the name of our future company was born! Sadly, Fuzzy passed away from old age as his heart began to fail, but not a day goes by that my wife and I do not miss him dearly. Here’s to you, Fuzzy! You’re forever in our hearts!

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