Mike a proficient academic earned a bachelors in Psychology from Santa Clara University a masters in Social welfare from University of California Berkeley and completed a post masters clinical fellowship at Yale University. He then embarked on a 7 year career as a social worker. He left his career as a social worker in 1999 to officially pursue his interest in wine by taking a sales position at The Wine Club Santa Clara, the premiere wine shop of its time, in the Santa Clara Valley. Mike next took a sales position at K & L Wine Merchants in Redwood City, where he ended up serving as the Assistant Italian Wine Buyer.

Mike has leveraged his knowledge and passion to create and teach wine education curricula, develop food pairing programs, organize and lead wine education events, and lead both private and corporate tasting functions. Mike has been featured in articles in the San Jose Business Journal and San Jose Magazine and interviewed for segments on “In Wine Country,” and two different wine-related episodes on KRON-TV.

After cofounding Enoteca la Storia in 2010 with partner Joe Cannistraci he tapped in to his academic proficiency and achieved a Certified Italian Wine Professional credential, with honors through “Italian Wine Central” then received the Certified Specialist of Wine credential through the Society of Wine Educators, an Italian Wine Scholar credential with Highest honors and a French Wine Scholar Credential with highest honors through the Wine Scholar Guild. In July of 2019 Michael became one of approximately 1000 Advanced Sommelier’s in the world.

Mike works directly with our import partner, private labels sources and exclusive distributors to screen and choose the best price to quality wines and create the written material for your club(s). He has been curating wine clubs for over 16 year.

Randall “Randy” Bertao is of 100% Azorean descent and it was his maternal grandmother, an ethnic winemaker, who first introduced him to wine. In fact he bottled a barrel of her final vintage and is still in possession of a few bottles of it today.

It was the age old European tradition of sharing wine at the table with family and the people you love that first inspired his vinous pursuit’s. Later, a chance encounter with a bottle of 1961 Chateau Lafite Rothschild, with all its thought provoking complexity, inspired a lifelong career odyssey that included restaurant management, ownership and importing wine in England that eventually lead him to the Court of Master Sommeliers where he earned his Master Sommelier credential in 2005, one of only 269 worldwide.

Randy loves sharing his knowledge and expertise with savvy and novice tasters alike.  He currently lectures and proctors examinations for the Court of Master Sommeliers, and enjoys mentoring students as they advance through the program. He has endless curiosity and is always inspired to introduce wine lovers to new and interesting wines.

The Mission of Little Italy San Jose is to honor the contributions of Italian-American immigrants to Santa Clara County by maintaining a Neighborhood, Museum, and Cultural Center where people of all ethnicities can gather, and celebrate our rich Italian heritage & culture.

Little Italy San Jose celebrates our rich Italian culture through:

– Our Little Italy San Jose Cultural Center & Museum

– Annual Little Italy San Jose Street Festival

– Installation of the 31 foot Gateway Arch and Legacy Banners

– Numerous authentic Italian businesses located in Little Italy San Jose.