Mark Oldman

Wine Expert, Pottery Barn

About This Expert

Passionate about helping wine enthusiasts jostle the jaded, slay the snooty, and drink bravely, Mark Oldman is one of the country’s leading wine personalities. He is the wine expert for Pottery Barn and wine columnist for the Food Network. His signature style was best summed up by Bon Appètit magazine as “winespeak without the geek” and byPublishers Weekly as “the ideal mix of wine connoisseur, showman, and everyday dude.” He has twice won the Georges Duboeuf Best Wine Book of the Year Award.

Mark is a lead judge in the PBS television series The Winemakers and is a regular on Martha Stewart Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio. In addition to his Food Network column, Mark has written for several publications, including Food & Wine, Departures, Travel & Leisure, and has chosen all of the wine picks for the 17-million annual readers of Everyday with Rachael Ray.

Mark’s latest book, Oldman’s Brave New World of Wine (W. W. Norton), is the ultimate antidote for those craving new taste sensations. It plots a course to pleasure, value, and adventure beyond wine’s usual suspects, focusing on that holy grail of wine lovers: insider wines of moderate cost and maximum appeal.

Mark regularly speaks to sold-out audiences at the country’s top gastronomic festivals, including the Aspen Food & Wine Classic, the Boston Wine Expo, the Food Network Wine & Food Festivals in New York City and South Beach. He recently headlined the Food & Wine Festival in Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mexico together with chefs Michael Symon and Marcus Samuelsson. He has also spoken at venues as diverse as the Smithsonian Institution, Harvard Business School, the 92th Street Y, and dozens of Fortune 500 companies.

Mark’s approach is pro-consumer, spirited, and a bit irreverent. The New York Times Style Magazine recently featured his victorious visit to New York criminal court to fight an open container summons that he received carrying an empty bottle of prized Bordeaux wine. The New York Times also covered his annual “Bring Your Own Truffle” ritual that he developed to counter restaurant truffle pricing. Read more about Mark’s perspective in this recentinterview on Austinist.com.

Mark began his wine journey in 1990 when as a student he founded Stanford Wine Circle, a popular university club hosting tastings with California wine legends, earning him the nickname “Bacchus on the Campus” in Wine Spectator magazine. Graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University with a B.A., M.A., and J.D., Mark has long been keenly interested in innovating in the areas of education and consumer advocacy. Mark co-founded the career portal Vault.com in 1997 and served as the company’s president through its successful sale in 2007 to a private equity firm. He has served on five major boards of Stanford, including the university’s Board of Trustees.