Wine Director
Gillian Ballance
Ms. Ballance has spent 20 years in the fine dining and hospitality industry with previous positions in well-known Bay Area, Santa Barbara and New York City restaurants.
Ms. Ballance comes to Cavallo Point after serving as a wine consultant for the Pacific-Union Club in San Francisco and Bottega Restaurant in Napa Valley. Formerly the PlumpJack Group's wine director between 2004 and 2009, she received Food & Wine magazine's "Best New Restaurant Wine List 2005" for the newly opened Jack Falstaff restaurant.
Prior to her move to the Bay Area, Ms. Ballance was the opening wine and beverage director at Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara. There she created and oversaw the beverage program, including maintaining the 20,000-bottle wine cellar for Miro Restaurant, recipient of the Wine Spectator's "Best of Award of Excellence."
Ms. Ballance came to Santa Barbara from New York City, where she worked at Picholine, Cello Restaurant and Windows on the World. She also has acted as a guest judge for several wine competitions and conducted wine seminars and lectures. In 2012, she passed the esteemed Master Sommelier Diploma Exam through the Court of Master Sommeliers, representing one of 18 women currently in the United States. She received her Higher Certificate of Distinction as well as her Diploma in Wines & Spirits from the British Wine and Spirits Education Trust. Ms. Ballance has a BFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Murray Circle at Cavallo Point – the Lodge at the Golden Gate
601 Murray Circle | Fort Baker | Sausalito, California 94965
Phone: 415.339.4750 | online reservations
