Meet Abby | sommnights™ founder & sommelier

We had the good fortune of connecting with Abby and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Abby, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
After I discovered my passion for wine, I had a tasting at my home with some family and friends to celebrate my new certifications. It was such a success and so much fun. After that first at-home wine tasting with friends, I came up with the idea to start sommnights™. My goal was to share my knowledge during private at-home tastings to allow people to approach the world of wine in a relaxing and fun way.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

My career started mainly in corporate retail – spending most of my career at Macy’s Inc. in various jobs around a digital merchandising scope. I enjoyed the fast paced retail environment which gave me a strong foundation in prioritization and organization. In terms of sommnights™ I believe that my start in corporate retail set me up to start a successful business.

I think in every career, there are always challenging moments, where it is not easy. In my corporate career, I really leaned on mentors to help guide me when I needed to overcome difficult situations or moments. I applied that when it came to wine, in my early days of being involved in the business – I always bounced ideas off of my mentors to make sure I was taking my business in the right direction.

A lesson I learned along the way was to stop and think before making a decision to weigh out the possibilities of success or potential failures. I think that with sommnights™, it is a business rooted in my passion for wine so it’s easy to sometimes make a lot of decisions from the heart whereas it is always important to take a step back and think it through to ensure that I’m making the right choice.

I take everything that I’d want as a customer and apply it to the sommnights™ experience to ensure a 5-star experience. I want people to feel comfortable and excited when learning about wine. The brand is an extension of myself and my passion for learning about the history and place through a glass of wine.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I split my time in between NYC & Miami – but when I am in my southern home I’d want to make sure to show off Miami’s lesser known hot spots while also giving a nod to the vibrant south beach lifestyle. I love going down to the grove and catching a Hurricanes game at Monty’s or Barracuda, bet you didn’t think I’d lead off with a dive bar! But seriously the grove is incredibly underrated and I love letting her show off a little especially at Level 6 Rooftop which I grabbed a glass of champagne at the last time I was in town before having dinner over at Los Felix which has a cool wine list featuring smaller natural and biodynamic vineyards.

The next night out I think I’d probably make my way a little north and bring her to bounce around Little Havana – grab a cocktail at Terras for sunset before throwing our names in at Lung Yai Thai Tapas for dinner. I like to wait at Union Beer until my tables read at Lung Yai, where they play old wrestling footage on the TV. Ultimately we’ll end the night at Ball & Chain to salsa dance the thai food off with some locals.

Another night I’d be sure to show off Brickell where my apartment is. Brickell definitely reminds me the most of New York, everything is walking distance and easy to get to. I love walking around Brickell Key before hitting B Bistro for brunch, the River Oyster house for happy hour and a seafood fix, Sugar for sunset drinks and then Osaka for dinner. I would be mistaken to not mention stepping into Toscana Divino on a Wednesday as they host wine tastings for members and have an outstanding wine list featuring some amazing producers from Italy.

Next up on our Miami tour would be Wynwood and first stop would obviously be Lagniappe – probably the best wine bar in the city where you can make your own charcuterie board on the spot and enjoy live music every night, just be sure to get there early and leave before the bathroom lines get out of control. Ruka Winewood is another winebar down the street we’d make a pit stop at before heading to Higher Ground for sunset sips. Dinner would probably be at Le Chick, Uchi, Doya or Bakkan and calorie dancing burn off would take place at Dante’s HiFi or BOHO House.

Crossing over the causeway first stop would be in one of my favorite neighborhoods – Sunset Harbor. An ideal day here would be crushing a class at Barrys, grabbing an acai bowl at Dreamer Miami or Pura Vida before lounging at the Standard all day. Either way a drink at Lido Bayside would be a must before happy hour at Stittsville or Sushi Garage, heading to Casa Isola for dare I say better spicy rigatoni than Carbone and if it’s Thursday we are definitely ending the night at Bay Club for karaoke.

For some much needed R&R at this point you can catch me on my beach chair down on South of Fifth before heading over to Baia Beach Club for a late lunch or the bar at Smith & Wollensky to watch the sunset. To capture the true Miami spirit I would take my bestie over to Papi Steak where I usually swap my wine glass for a martini before swinging by the members only lounge at Mila or the Living Room up at the Faena, and if we really want to take the night late we are grooving to music at Medium Cool or Do Not Sit On The Furniture.

There are honestly so many good spots to eat and drink in Miami so it’s hard to nail down a one week itinerary but when I’m not studying wine and food pairings at the places I mentioned above you can find me at the pool, beach or on a boat because honestly who doesn’t love being in a bathing suit in February.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Marco Arconte, now the director of food and beverage at The Club at Admirals Cove in Jupiter, FL was the sommelier whom was my mentor in my early days of study and encouraged me to pursue this passion.

Richard Vayda, the Wine Essentials instructor at The Institute of Culinary Education in NYC. As my first teacher, he helped give me my foundation of wine knowledge before pursuing other certifications.

Website: https://sommnights.com/home

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sommnights/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sommnights

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sommnightswithabby

Image Credits
all of the images are my own!