Meet Wilfred Wong
Wilfred Wong is a wine professional with over 50 years of experience, a lifelong storyteller of the vine, and a trusted voice in the world of wine. Beginning in his family’s Ashbury Market in San Francisco, he developed his palate and passion at street level—hand-selling wines and learning directly from customers and producers alike.
His journey carried him through influential roles at BevMo! and, most recently, to Wine.com, where he serves as Chief Storyteller. Along the way, he has tasted tens of thousands of wines, judged in major international competitions, and built lasting relationships across the global wine community.
Today, Wilfred continues to share his insights through writing, photography, and personal storytelling—bringing wine to life with clarity, experience, and heart.
He currently lives in San Francisco with his wife, Alice, and their dog, Riley.
For Wilfred, every bottle tells a story—and every story is meant to be shared.
Experience in the Wine Industry
Wilfred’s first memorable wine experience was tasting a Beaulieu Vineyard 1968 red wine and a 1971 German Riesling. That moment took place in a friend of the family’s wine cellar. In 1971, he started managing the beverage inventory at Ashbury Market, his family’s business. He grew the wine business from a typical “mom ‘n pop” grocery store limited selection to extensive hand-picked wine offerings, including some of the first vintages of Caymus Vineyard, Chappellet, Chateau Montelena, as well as a fine selection of imported wines. One can say that the wine bug had bitten him.
In 1995, he joined a six-store chain, Beverages & more (the company changed to BevMo), as the company’s import wine buyer. During his tenure at BevMo, he tasted around 8,000 wines a year.
Wilfred brought his 100-point rating system to the company, and his job changed to Cellar Master, working between the merchandising and marketing departments.
In addition, he became in charge of the company’s wine signage. He left in 2014 to join Wine.com in much of the same capacity and became the company’s first Chief Storyteller.
During his professional career, Wilfred participated in wine competitions throughout the world (France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States). In addition, he was Executive Director of the San Francisco Fair & Exposition Wine Competition (later changed to the San Francisco International Wine Competition). Wilfred is now focused on his writing and photography as he brings them together in one cohesive package: Beverages, Food, and Travel.
