Q&A: Bobby Stuckey

All things considered, 2025 has been a banner year for master sommelier and acclaimed restaurateur Bobby Stuckey. In May, he became the 11th recipient of the prestigious Julia Child award, the first sommelier to do so, and in June his restaurant, Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado, collected its fourth James Beard award, this time for “Outstanding Restaurant.” We caught up with Stuckey to discuss what receiving the Julia Child award means to him, his current favorite bottles, and how wine culture has changed over the past three decades since he started.

Imbibe: How have you seen U.S. wine culture change throughout your career?

Bobby Stuckey: When I started as a sommelier over 30 years ago, I thought we had moved past the stereotypical “snooty, inhospitable” wine professional. Then, there was this beautiful moment of enlightened hospitality, where the guest came first and wine was a tool for connection. I truly believed that old stereotype was in the rearview mirror.

But in the last eight years, I’ve seen it creep back. It’s resurfaced in a new form: sommeliers who are more focused on putting their own point of view on a wine list than on serving the restaurant they work in or the guests they’re taking care of. That’s the overarching trend I’ve observed, and one I truly wish we could move past again. Wine has such a powerful ability to spread hospitality. That’s what it should always be about.

What does receiving the Julia Child award mean to you?

It means a lot, especially because I’m old enough to have actually taken care of Julia Child as a sommelier on multiple occasions in my career. She was such an icon in our household growing up—what she stood for in terms of accessibility, joy, and hospitality in food and wine. To receive an award in her name is incredibly meaningful.

What wine trends do you see coming down the pike?

It’s hard to keep up! In just a few years, we’ve gone from “everything must be natural wine” to people not even drinking at all. Now? Trends move fast. You have to stay curious and flexible, but grounded in what really matters—taking care of the guest … listening to their wants and needs. For example, it’s not about the sommelier’s favorite bottle on the list, it’s about what the guest is looking for. We have to meet them where they are, not where we are.

What do you think about generational shifts in wine attitudes and consumption?

Honestly? I think we’re making a bigger deal out of it than we need to. Thirty years ago, my parents were among the very few of their generation who drank wine. Most of my friends’ parents didn’t. And when I was a young wine professional, the people I grew up or went to college with weren’t going to restaurants or drinking wine. So the idea that people aren’t drinking wine now? We’ve got plenty of people drinking wine. The key is to take great care of them.

What wine region are you really loving right now?

I’m really excited about what’s happening in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. I’ve been an enormous fan of the region for a long time, but this new generation of winemakers, they’re bringing an energy and clarity that’s elevating the region to a whole new level. I’ve never seen it better.

And what’s your go-to summer bottle these days?

It depends on what I’m eating with my wife, but one bottle I’m really loving this summer is the Etna Bianco from Maugeri. Etna Bianco is crisp, mineral-driven, and has high acidity. I’d pair it with branzino. Ideally, I’m drinking it in a flowery Dries Van Noten shirt, on a patio, with [my wife] Danette. That’s the perfect summer moment.

How do you see the ever-shifting tariffs, currently 15% on EU goods (including wine and spirits), impacting wine in the U.S.?

I don’t mean this in a partisan way, just observationally, but most people don’t truly understand how tariffs work. They’re a bad thing. Not just for the wine industry, but for many areas of international trade. These tariffs have already cost us half a million dollars (for Scarpetta [Wine Company]). It feels reckless on the part of our administration. And the impact isn’t overseas, it’s right here. It’s on business owners, the people trying to keep things going in this country.

Shifting gears, what led you to create the scholarship fund at Northern Arizona University? Why was that important to you?

My parents, along with my wife and I, helped start the fund because NAU has a deep commitment to supporting first-generation college students. That mission really resonates with us. Both my wife and I have family members who were the first in their families to attend college, so this cause hits home. Every time I do a public speaking engagement, a portion of my fee goes directly to that scholarship fund—and now, thanks to the Julia Child Foundation, the $50,000 grant that comes with my Julia Child Award will benefit the scholarship fund as well. It’s one of the things I’m most proud of. 

Side story: I was actually out running the other day with [professional runner] Brent Vaughn, who was with his daughter, a student at NAU, and I had my NAU shirt on. She saw me and yelled, “Go Jacks!” and then thanked me for the scholarship fund. That meant everything.