Gabriel Bastos first “got the bug” after trying a glass of I Clivi RBL. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh wow. I understand none of this,” he said.
The self-described beer dork was just beginning to learn about wine, and on a path toward a PhD in organic chemistry. He started working as a host at the Tim Maslow-run Strip-Ts and Ribelle during a break from school one summer when he was first introduced to the sparkling Italian wine. The more questions he asked about grape varietals and winemaking, the more he wanted to fully understand it. He said, “I was in absolute awe of all those people in both of those places.”