Meet the Staff Series: Kaj Stromer Edition

Next up in our Meet the Staff series is Kaj Stromer, the Southern California half of the Domestic Buy Team Powerhouse Duo. His story involves following your dreams and taking big leaps, the stuff of all great modern tales. His love for Burgundy runs deep, and he’s on a never-ending mission to uncover what’s cool, unique, and utterly delicious about wine from the U.S.

Kate: How did you get into wine?

Kaj: I turned 21!

But seriously....

Growing up, my parents (though of modest means) did enjoy eating out and always took my brother and me along to good restaurants. Over time I developed a taste for things that tasted good. It started to seem important. Though my career after college took me far away from wine (Corporate World), I was always reading the wine & food mags.

Kate: Did your parents have wine at the dinner table? They were/are Swedish, right?

Kaj: The whole family is from Sweden. We moved to the U.S. when I was 4. We were only supposed to be here for a year but it turned into forever! Mom was a great cook, but we always had milk on the table. Mom did not care for "drinks," but dad did. So it was more my own evolution that started me off as a food guy. Eventually I realized you needed wine with dinner. I began to dive into that on my own by spending time in wine shops, asking questions, and reading the wine mags. As a corporate cog I made enough money to indulge my new curiosity.

Kate: How did you decide to make the leap from Corporate Cog to Wine Geek?

Kaj: My final step along the corporate ladder was as the Consumer Marketing Manager for the Scandinavian countries living in Stockholm. While there, the company started to offer buy-out packages to incentivize us leave. The money just made sense. I decided to cash out. Travel around Europe for a few months. Then return to the States and resume my corporate career. However, as a burgeoning wine enthusiast I decided to visit Burgundy for a few days while touring around. It was in a cellar in Beaune that I met a man (the cellar master) who told me about life and work in wine. After spending some time listening to him I knew I needed to switch my career. I wanted to feel about my job they way he did... with passion. After 16 years in corporate I vowed to find a career in the wine world. That was the spring of 1998.

With Laurent Lignier of Hubert Lignier.

Kate: Wow that sounds amazing! Do you remember what cellar it was?

Kaj: I certainly do...Patriarche et Fils...though not known for great wine, what I tasted in their cellar wowed me. Also, the gentleman’s name was Jean Michel Gillete. More importantly, his words "I hope to someday die in this cellar" resounded with me.

Kate: Yeah, I can't imagine saying, "I hope to die at this desk" in the corporate sector.

Kaj: Haha. No... but death was certainly an option!

Kate: So you wanted to find that same passion in your work?

Kaj: Yes indeed.

Kate: And where did you go from there?

Kaj: As we continued our travels around Europe, my now ex-wife got a job offer in L.A. So, without anything holding us back, we decided to move to L.A.... sight unseen. I figured California would be as good a place as any to start my new career in wine.

Kate: And was it?

Kaj: It took me awhile to land a job. Fortunately I made friends with an importer of Champagne who introduced me to the rght people. One of them had the good sense to hire me! So, I went from being a European Marketing Manager for a Fortune 500 company to slicing bread, cleaning glasses, and making cheese plates at a shop that had a weekend wine bar. I figured, just let me in the door, and I'll figure out the rest later. I never looked back.

With Burgundy heroes/enthusiasts Becky Wasserman and Allen Meadows.

Kate: Did you know what you wanted to do in the business? Did you think about making wine?

Kaj: Pretty sure I knew that making wine wasn't for me. It seemed that winemakers had it all pretty well figured out. I've always been drawn to retail. It seems like such an American thing to be a local merchant and get to know your community as you sell them wine. My new friend, the Champagne importer, told me: "You'll spend two years in retail, two years in wholesale, then you'll become a supplier." So that seemed to me to be the career path. However, he called only two years after I started to offer me a job on the supplier level. I turned him down. I really enjoyed being a retailer. Now it's 20+ years and three stores later... I'm still a retailer.

Kate: What kept you on the retail side?

Kaj: I just like the idea of a store. Where the locals come and shop. You get to know some really great people. Wine drinkers tend to be interesting people with a certain sensibility that appeals to me. Plus, as a retailer we're exposed to such a wide swath of wines. I've had the chance to taste most everything from everywhere and the travel to wine country has been far and wide. I truly consider that journey to be my great fortune. The experiences and memories to me are priceless.

With Aubert de Villaine, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

Kate: Burgundy has been your passion for most of that journey, right? Is it still?

Kaj: My first job was at a store that focused hard on California Cab. At the time, nothing was hotter. But I was still curious about that place that changed the course of my life. Gradually I started to build an import section with an area dedicated to Burgundy. After seven years there I moved on to my next wine shop, whose specialty was Burgundy. That's where I really got exposed to so many great properties and amazing wines. I'm so lucky to have been a part of that for the better part of a decade.

Kate: How do you like buying for the Domestic category now? Any epiphanies during this experience?

Kaj: Absolutely! When the opportunity came up to join the mightly K&L as a buyer focusing on Domestic wines, I figured "no problem, I did that about 10 years ago." How wrong I was. It turned out that the Domestic wine world had morphed dramatically with all kinds of new wineries and producers that I was only vaguely famiilar with. Suddenly, it became a real challlege to get to know all the new "who's hot" and interesting off-the-radar producers. There was a whole new world of people and styles of wines. I've been absolutely floored by how much diversity we now have in our local, homegrown world of wine.

Kate: Anything in particular that is really exciting to you in the Domestic scene?

Kaj: While Napa and Sonoma continue to make top-flight wines at the level of the Grand Crus of Europe, Santa Barbara, the Central Coast, Monterey, and the Western Sierras have all evolved into serious wine regions offering such a wide array of wines and varietals and many at very attractive price points. Wine should be for everyone. So whether it's Nebbiolo from Paso, Carignane from Lodi, or Syrah from Santa Barbara, there's an amazing bounty for everyone to partake and enjoy. I love the democratization of wine.

Kate: What do you like to drink personally?

Kaj: I've always been an equal opportunity drinker but forced to chose.... a great bottle of red Burgundy is hard to beat. For reds I love Pinot Noir and for whites, I prefer crisp, mineral whites that are savory and refreshing: Chablis, Savoie whites, Muscadet, Sancerre.

Kate: Was there an epiphany bottle for you that really opened your eyes to the possibilities of wine?

Kaj: I do remember buying a 1990 Ridge Geyserville from my local wine merchant in N.J. Having mostly drunk inexpensive Bordeaux and Châteauneuf-du-Pape I just wasnt prepared for this explosion of ripe California fruit, the likes of which I'd never seen before. I filed that memory away but never lost track of it. So it's kinda karmic that I'd wind up buying (and loving) Domestic wine.

Kate: I bet Ridge has been many a person's epiphany wine.

Kaj: I think you're 100% correct. Visiting Ridge a couple months ago with my colleague Ryan was really like a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Kate: What do you like to do when you're not "wining"?

The Catalina 50-Mile Ultra Marathon.

Kaj: Well, as we all know—wine, food, and the good life can catch up with a person as we age. Somehow, at the age of 43 I decided to run the L.A. Marathon. Truth be told I didn't believe it was a thing could do, but it seemed noble to try. After crossing that finish line I was on a high the likes of which I'd never experienced. I began to wonder, how would I do if I actually trained and tried? From there I became a running enthusiast, which ultimately led to me running nine marathons, three ultra marathons, and countless half marathons, 10Ks, and 5 Ks. Also, I do an annual week-long backpacking trip through the high Sierras. That really helps to relieve the stress of city living and help reconnect with nature.

In the High Sierras.

Kate: Wow I didn't know that this all started when you were 43... makes me feel like I should get my butt in gear!

Kaj: Haha! I hear that a lot. It's never too late. I was active in sports growing up but from my early 20s to to early 40s not so much.

Kate: What about desert island wines or wine destinations?

Kaj: My desert island wines would be a cache of Liger-Belair Burgundy's from the best vintages... or in their case... any vintage. And I'd need a lot of Champagne; Perhaps some Salon Clos de Mesnil.

Kate: Oooh i would enjoy that island.

Kaj: Did I mention that the waters surrounding the island was filled with lobsters?

Kate: Oof that seals the deal.

Kate: Anything we missed about your wine journey?

Kaj: I consider my self to be incredibly fortunate to have had such a rewarding third career. For me, life is journey, and the experience this job brings is priceless. By the way, in 2015 I was in Burgundy on a buying trip. Kinda like my triumphant return after that early epiphany visit in '98. After a hearty luncheon in Beaune I decided to take a solo walk back to my hotel. It just so happens that I fatefully walk past the Patriarche Père et Fils building. I decided to pay the 5 euro fee to take the self-guided tour in those cellars once again for old time’s sake. At the end of the cellar I met a woman who asked me about my visit. So I recanted my tale about being there so many years ago and meeting a man whose words changed my life for the better. I assumed he was long gone. However, she informed me that he was in fact now the General Manager and wondered if I'd like to meet him again. Which of course I did. I told him the story, and, after, we both got a little weepy. Perhaps me more than him. We hugged it out, shook hands, and went off on our ways. Things really had come full circle.

Kate: Wow that's absolutely amazing! Do you happen to have a picture of him?

Kaj: In fact, at first we did not take a photo but I realized it as I walked away, and I ran back just to get a photo of us together

With Jean-Michel Gillet, whose passion for his life in wine changed Kaj’s life forever.

Kate: Do you feel like you found that passion in your work you set out to find?

Kaj: No looking back! It's been the journey of a lifetime.

- Kate Soto, Social Media Manager