The Partnership
Wine expertise.
Business precision.
One firm.
The combination
nobody else offers.
Most wine consultants are sommeliers who understand the glass but not the P&L. Most business consultants understand the numbers but not what makes a wine program perform. Port & Stilton was built on the belief that separating those two disciplines is why so many wine programs underperform.
Lindsay brings the MW credential, nineteen years of wine education and program development, and a palate trained at the highest level. Hayes brings the analytical framework of enterprise business strategy, direct experience as a restaurant investor, and the client-side perspective of someone who has sat at thousands of tables as a guest.
Together, they see the wine program as what it actually is: a profit center with measurable inputs, manageable variables, and a clear return on investment when built and managed with intention.
01 / Partner
Lindsay Pomeroy, MW
Principal, Wine Strategy, Port Lover
One of fewer than 500 Masters of Wine in the world.
Lindsay's path to wine began in Italy, where living within the culture of the table shaped her understanding of hospitality as both ritual and responsibility. When she returned to the United States, she brought that European sensibility to San Diego and founded the region's first dedicated wine education company in 2006, becoming the exclusive instructor for WSET and French Wine Scholar programs locally.
In 2018, she earned the Master of Wine title, one of fewer than 500 worldwide, and was awarded the Bollinger Medal for Excellence in Tasting and the Austrian Wine Marketing Board Outstanding Achievement Award. Her credentials span the full architecture of wine education: WSET Diploma, French Wine Scholar certificate, and Certified Wine Educator designation. Her regional expertise covers Austria, Bordeaux, California, Germany, Mosel, Rioja, and Hawke's Bay, with deep specialization in fortified wines including Port, Madeira, and Sherry. She has been featured in the San Diego Union Tribune, NPR, NBC, the Huffington Post, and Chef's Roll, and was a finalist for San Diego Magazine's Women Who Move the City Award.
At Port & Stilton, Lindsay applies that authority to one focus: engineering wine programs that perform. She helps restaurants understand what their wine list is truly worth, and builds the structure, pricing strategy, and execution systems required to close the gap between current performance and full potential.
02 / Partner
Hayes Gorecki
Principal, Business Strategy
The business mind behind the bottle.
Hayes' relationship with wine began at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, when his parents joined a wine club during a weekend of wine tasting in Paso Robles to celebrate his 21st birthday. His mother added Hayes' name to the membership so he could take his college friends tasting for free. What started as an elevated perk quickly became something more, planting a seed for a lasting curiosity for wine.
In his professional life, Hayes serves as a Client Director for a global technology company, traveling extensively across Europe, North America, and Asia. He spends a significant amount of time dining abroad and hosting client dinners, experiences that have quietly deepened his understanding of hospitality, service, and the role wine plays in a meal. As his relationship with food and wine grew, Hayes became a restaurant investor, working directly with operators and sommeliers. He subsequently earned his WSET Level 1, 2, and 3 certifications through Lindsay's evening courses, grounding his enthusiasm in wine education.
Wine, for Hayes, is inseparable from food and memory. His cellar is built from bottles purchased abroad and carried home, each one tied to a specific place, a meal, and a story. He recreates dishes from his travels at home, using cooking as a way to further explore technique and flavor. His favorite dining cities include Mexico City, Tokyo, and New York, along with the hawker centers of Singapore, where his appreciation for food extends beyond fine dining to street food, tradition, and everyday expressions of culture.
As a restaurant Investor and WSET Level 3 certified, Hayes bridges the commercial acumen with wine industry insight. At Port & Stilton, he leads the strategy, operations, and tooling, building the systems that turn consulting insight into measurable, repeatable outcomes for restaurant operators.
“Wine, for us, is inseparable from food and memory. Every program we touch should feel that way to the guest.”
Port & Stilton Wine Advisory
Between the two of us, we have sat at tables in restaurants and wineries across the world as guests, as students, and as investors. That experience shapes how we see wine programs: not as lists, but as the hospitality expression of a place.
We built Port & Stilton because we kept seeing the same gap: wine programs with extraordinary potential that nobody was measuring, engineering, or taking seriously as a profit center. That gap is where we work.
Work With Us
Ready to find out what
your program is worth?
Every engagement starts with a 30-minute discovery call. No pitch, just an honest conversation about your wine program and where the opportunity is.
Request a Diagnostic