John Rittmaster, Owner

John Rittmaster, Wine Director, Import Buyer

Nickname: PRIMA's Capo di Tutti Capo

John is the boss. He has been at PRIMA since 1994 and, though he has passed most of his buying responsibilities and sense of humor to the rest of the staff, he still buys wine from Italy (especially Barolo), Burgundy (the home of most of his disposable income), the Rhone Valley, Bordeaux and Spain for both the restaurant and PRIMA Vini. In addition to hiding behind the mountain of papers and wine on his desk, gleefully terrorizing suppliers, foisting music from his I-pod on his poor staff and looking after just a few long-term PRIMA customers, John still hand picks the wines and writes the newsletter for the Super Consorzio. His fifteen-year tenure at PRIMA is surpassed only by Keith's 28 in the kitchen and Heather's nearly 16 in the front of the house. John came to PRIMA after four years with Robert Mondavi and Opus One as their man in Asia, as part of a fifteen-year stay in Japan where he met Anne, his wife of 25 years and had two kids, now 22 and 17. When Pinot Noir or Nebbiolo are on your mind, call John.

What's On His I-Pod: Porcupine Tree, Buffalo Springfield, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, John Mayall and David Bromberg

Frank Rothstein, Wine Manager

Frank Rothstein, Wine Shop Manager, Wine Sales, Value Wine Buyer

Nickname: Panama Red (it's the hat, nothing else)

Few know that for a brief shining moment, Frank was actually John's boss when he was Assistant Manager at the old Draper & Esquin Wine Merchant in San Francisco. Though he still tries to boss John around, he has been at PRIMA six months less time. In addition to managing PRIMA Vini, because he's so damned cheap, Frank is PRIMA's Minister of Value, concentrating his buying and selling efforts on finding the best bang for buck the world over. He also has a special place in his heart for Riesling and other aromatic whites and makes sure our shelves are stocked with not only values in that category, but also the world's very best. Frank's palate is one of the best out there and his encyclopedic knowledge of wine and his background teaching wine for UC Berkeley make him uniquely suited to running PRIMA's Il Consorzio value-oriented wine club.

What's On His I-Pod: Miles Davis, Herb Albert, Thelonius Monk, Joe Pass, The Lennon Sisters

Franco Cassal, Wine Sales

Brandon Mueller-Kim, Domestic Buyer

Nickname:Brandy

Brandon has come a long way from selling Cameron Hughes at Costco in terms of wine knowledge and has developed, in a very short time, a very loyal following for the domestic gems he has been uncovering.

Brandon, and his husband Roger are two of the most avid foodies we know and we've never to invite them to a party unless a) you have a lot of really good wine on hand and b)you're asked Rog to make the dessert!

What's On His I-Pod:Show Tunes of course!

Mueller-Kim13620091, employee