Featured User: Michael Mathews

Michael Mathews is a SVP & Chief Information Officer for a publicly traded company in the Twin Cities, MN. At his core, he's an entrepreneur, a technologist and overall transformative leader who just loves getting things done and winning. He has held various executive positions throughout his career, including founding and serving as the CEO of The Infology Group, a boutique management consulting company. He has had the great life fortune to live and work in Sydney, Johannesburg, London and Geneva, as well as visit nearly every corner of the world. He is thankful because he and his family have countless experiences and memories enjoying the cultures, the people, the food and wines of the globe.…what a wonderfully small, yet so very expansive world. He’s been married to his wife, Michele, for 23 years and has two great young boys, Theo (12) and Chaz (8). They’re a golfing family and love to travel the world. He has a degree in business administration, marketing and decision sciences from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and it probably goes without saying, he loves to cook, entertain and share a glass of wine with family and friends! Delectable: What sparked your passion for wine? Michael Mathews: I grew up with a wonderful family, predominantly Italian, Sicilian to be specific. My love of family, food and wine was (and remains today) always a major theme in my life. I simply grew up in a house where real living and entertaining happened on a very regular cadence. Week nights, weekends, and most certainly Sundays were the days we enjoyed most. The table was never short for food, the glass never empty of wine and the entire house was filled with stories after stories. The spark, the passion for wine came to me as young boy, not as something to drink, but more as a signal of what was always to come without fail. Still today, I can see and hear my grandfather popping a cork from a bottle of wine, and I always knew within minutes of that sound, the glasses of the family and friends would clink, the pasta and meatballs would appear on the table, and the laughter and smiles would simply take over the room. D: What wine region are you wild about right now? MM: I’m really excited about Paso Robles . I’ve never been, but will be heading there in the fall with my wife and five other couples for a nice long weekend of some great tastings. We’re scheduled to see Epoch , Dauo , L’Aventure , Herman Story , Turley , Cordant/Nelle , Law Estate and a few more… D: What is the most unusual wine you’ve ever tried? MM: A Sparkling Shiraz - The Black NV from St. Hallet from the Barossa Valley of Australia. This is a wine made from their flagship, Old Block Shiraz vines — luxurious juice, but it is finished and bottled under pressure and created in the likeness of a champaign. Best served chilled, and while not for everyone, it’s a unique and decadent treat. D: What is your golden rule for wine? MM: Drink what you like! Don’t worry about labels, price or any of the stuff that really doesn’t matter — simply find something you enjoy, and enjoy it! D: Say you’re not allowed to have wine, what is your second option? MM: I’m fairly simply…a vodka soda with a little lemon and lime, on the rocks. D: Choose a movie, book, quote, or song and pair it with a wine MM: Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon and the Godfather - the original. No matter how many times you’ve had it, no matter how many times you see it, it’s always just as good as the first time! D: If you were a wine, what wine would you be? MM: I’d be a Cabernet Franc ….big, hearty, and fun…can surely stand on its own, but loves to be blended with others and hopefully always brings a little something special to everything it encounters!