The wine whisperer

Family man, The Canyons resident and wine connoisseur Mark Rizzuto knows everything there is to know about wine. Beginning his career in advertising, Mark was a seller of wine on the east coast for almost two decades and moved with his wife to Colorado 11 years ago. (Inset) The Retreat residents Anthonette and David Klinkerman are tasting a red blend at Castle Pines North Wine & Spirits.

“Wine is bottled poetry,” said famed writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Family man, The Canyons resident and wine connoisseur Mark Rizzuto agrees. Talking with Mark about wine is an education. He has a self-taught PhD in grape varieties, wine regions, aromas, food pairings, the different palettes for red, white or sparkling–– and basically anything and everything there is to know about wine. Though not a sommelier, Mark was a seller of wine on the east coast for almost two decades and moved with his wife to Colorado 11 years ago. Mark is retired but remains a wine whisperer.

Born in Pearl River, New York, Mark grew up the eldest son in a traditional Italian family.
After college in the 1980s, Mark began working in advertising at a big firm on Madison Avenue. One of Mark’s accounts was a name-brand candy maker. His future wife, Katherine, was at Young Miss magazine and her boss wanted the candy business to advertise. Katherine took Mark to lunch; she did not get the business but they found each other. The couple got engaged at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival after a midnight Jimmy Buffett concert in 1988.

Mark and Katherine moved to Montclair, New Jersey, for the good public schools and diverse community. They welcomed children Tess, Jack and Luke within three and a half years of each other. “We did this purposefully so they would be tight,” explained Mark. “And they are today. Nothing makes me happier.”

After 10 years on the buying side of advertising, Mark realized he wanted to make more money and moved to the sales side. It only took Katherine a year and half to make the move. “It’s the story of our lives,” joked Mark. “I’m always one step behind her.”

Mark was working then at George magazine, while also building a wine rack at their home. When George shuttered its doors, Katherine asked Mark, “Did you ever think to get out of this rat race and sell what you love?”

Through one of Katherine’s connections, Mark went to work for a wine company selling in New York and New Jersey. He added that in 17 years, the company grew about 10% per year. “We sold the best wines in the world. I tried 1,500 wines every year for almost 20 years.”

Most of his sales were cold calls. Mark said he would stay up until midnight with paper maps and target the 30 stores he would visit the next day. “Within six months, I needed glasses,” he mused.

Early on, the Rizutto family discovered Telluride and made yearly trips, eventually buying a place there. In 2008, they sold it when they realized they would have three kids in college; but the Colorado bug remained.

In 2015, when their youngest graduated from high school, Katherine wanted to leave the magazine business and get into tech. “See, she’s always one step ahead,” laughed Mark.

Katherine loaded her car with the dogs and Mark loaded his with 14 cases of wine to drive to Denver. “Every night at the hotel, I would bring the wine inside because it was July and it would have cooked in the car,” said Mark.

As they made the Denver exit, Katherine received her job offer from Oracle and the couple settled in Washington Park. Mark worked for a Colorado wine company and had the southern territory, South Broadway to Castle Rock. He retired after a few years to painting, golf, pickleball and fly fishing.

Two years ago, Mark and Katherine decided to sell their four-story house, downsize a bit and landed in Castle Pines.

“But I missed the wine business,” Mark explained. Meeting Gary Torscher, co-owner of Castle Pines North Wine & Spirits, Mark asked him if he could use some help. Gary was game, and Mark began a part-time gig at the store, improving the inventory as well as selling to customers by hosting wine tastings.

“People tend to drink the same wine all the time when there are 800 types of grapes in Italy alone,” said Mark.

When they are not working or playing, Mark and Katherine travel to nontraditional locations around the globe: Mongolia, Bosnia, Croatia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.

If you want to meet Mark and improve your wine proficiency, visit the Castle Pines North Wine & Spirits at 7280 Lagae Road. Free wine tastings are every Thursday from 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Tips from Mark Rizzuto:

To remember a wine, take a picture of the back label, not the front. It will show who the importer is, which is the only way a retailer can find it.
Expand your palette by trying anything anyone will pour in your glass and pick wines in restaurants you’ve never had. It’s the best way to grow your palette and find dozens of new grape and blend options you might love.
Embrace screw caps. They ensure the wine isn’t “corked” (faulty in smell and or taste).
If you are ordering just one glass of wine at a restaurant, don’t order the most expensive glass. With the second-most expensive, you get better wine for the buck because they do not mark it up as much.
If you recognize or buy the same wine in every store, life’s too short to drink it. Please come see me.