Not all dynamic wine programs live in major cities and cover dozens of pages. Daniel Pernice, 33, left a vaunted Manhattan establishment when he got the opportunity to create a wine list of his own back in his hometown of Roswell, Ga., a vibrant suburb of Atlanta. He earned Osteria Mattone a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for its 130-selection list of handpicked, largely Italian quality leaders and up-and-comers.

In 2009, Pernice was about to pursue grad school while working as a server at the Modern, Danny Meyer's Best of Award of Excellence–winning restaurant adjoining New York's Museum of Modern Art. "Eventually I came to the realization that I don't want to go to school for another two more years, take out more loans from the bank, and postpone my career any longer," says Pernice, who had been attending wine tastings and classes. "I could get started with this right now, and I love it, so why not?" He was promoted to sommelier.

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Source: http://www.winespectator.com/