Jon Kearns is the award-winning sommelier at the critically acclaimed restaurant Carne Mare Nashville. The contemporary Italian chophouse is located within the W Nashville and has been honored for its outstanding wine program led by Beverage Director Jon Kearns in Wine Spectator’s 2024 Restaurant Awards, which celebrate the world’s best restaurants for wine.
Born and raised on Long Island, Jon spent his days post-graduation in New York City working in music journalism while also serving at a local restaurant. With nearly two-and-a-half thousand different wines on their menu, Jon was fascinated by the restaurant’s sommeliers and decided he wanted to learn more about their jobs and wine, in general. This ultimately led to him working in the cellar before officially becoming a sommelier at the same restaurant two years later.
“I remember when I first started, and they told me they had a big wine program that I would have to learn about,” Jon recalls, reminiscing about how he first became acquainted with the beverage. “I remember having to kind of research ‘what is wine?’ so I could get some kind of basis for my interview.”
Following Carne Mare Nashville’s recent recognition of Best of Award of Excellence by Wine Spectator – an honor received by only seven recipients in Nashville – the city hotspot now offers Friday evening wine-tasting experiences! Jon oversees the construction of the full wine list at Carne Mare and will lead participants through a wine tasting alongside artisanal cheese, warm bread, and marinated olives in the bar area. The intimate, ticketed event began in August and will run through the end of October.
This program emphasizes a culture of education within the restaurant to demystify wine and present a quality selection in a way that’s approachable and exciting for each guest. The wine list primarily focuses on Italy’s indigenous varietals, including selections from the Piedmont, Sicily, Tuscany, and Campania regions, with some North American and French wines offering a supporting role. In addition, Carne Mare offers their “Now Pouring” experience, where guests have the opportunity to get an exclusive taste of rare finds and highly sought-after wines featured by the glass.
“You’re going to find something a little different,” Jon shares on what guests can expect to learn in one of his classes. “If we’re in a major region, I’m going to try to not necessarily do the classics but find you something a little more interesting with a lot of value. In addition to just learning more about wine, I want to introduce you to wines that you can take home and have with your meal – something you can find at a local shop that’s new and different to create great wine and food experiences for yourself.”
Carne Mare’s menu begins with fine seafood, oysters, traditional antipasti, salads and carpaccio. Entrées include house-made pasta, seafood, and, of course, the main attraction: prime-aged beef, wagyu, and prime rib, served with a selection of steakhouse contorni. Jon notes that while the whole wine program is developed to accompany foods on their menu, he likes to focus on steak-friendly wines in addition to ones that would work well with their seafood. He also enjoys talking to the individual guests to see what their preferences are and what they’re having “because sometimes it’s about pairing the wine with the food and sometimes it’s about what the guests want.”
Jon’s advice for someone who has never dabbled in wine but wants to gain knowledge would be to start focusing on what parts of certain wines you do and do not like. From there, he suggests understanding the verbiage – whether it be with a sommelier or with your wine store professional – to learn the vocabulary to express what your preferences are.
When asked what his favorite part of his job is, Jon says, “Getting people excited about something new and about having a great experience” is a highlight. He also mentions how much he values creating those experiences for people and seeing them enjoy them.
For more information on their upcoming classes, check out their website.
carnemarenashville.com
“One thing about wine professionals is we love to share new things with people.”
"Getting people excited about something new and about having a great experience is a highlight."