When thinking of the qualities that make a “great” sommelier — meticulous knowledge of regions, grapes, soils; familiarity with the world’s top producers; and hospitable service — one attribute that often goes overlooked is curiosity. But flipping through the dense wine book at New York City’s Lei, bound in brown leather, embossed with lime-green text, and filled with eclectic bottles from across the globe, it’s clear that wine director Matt Turner is driven by curiosity above all else.
Turner’s eagerness to explore different topics didn’t necessarily start with wine. As a college student in Florida he dabbled in genetics, trumpet performance, and ancient Greek literature before selecting finance as his major. But when Turner was finally introduced to the world of wine in college, he was instantly hooked. For him, popular culture had always painted wine as a historic, artisanal product, but looking around on store shelves, all he would see was mass-produced, commercially scaled brands. This dichotomy spurred a quest to find the wines that spoke to the heart of the tradition, leading him to a friendly wine bar and shop near campus in Tampa.
“Whenever I had free time outside of school,” Turner recalls, “I would sit at the bar and get to know various people and talk to the staff.” These connections became Turner’s entryway into the industry, first with a gig in distribution and then picking up shifts at that same bar, where he eventually landed a full time job by the time he graduated college.
At work, every day was an opportunity to taste and learn. “The goal was to taste as much wine as possible,” Turner says. Riesling from the Rheinhessen, Northern Rhône Syrah, Willamette Valley Chardonnay, obscure skin-contact wines from the Czech Republic — he wanted to try it all. Though endless tasting might seem tiresome to most, Turner’s interest never waned, it only grew more intense. Looking to grow his career, the natural next step was moving to a bigger market — one like New York City.
Turner arrived in the Big Apple in mid-2020. Breaking into the wine scene during the pandemic was a little touch and go, until an enlightening dinner at the now-closed Niche Niche changed his course. The restaurant was known for hosting pop-ups featuring different wine personalities each night, with an ever-changing menu and accompanying wine pours. Amid lively discussions about the evening’s wines, Turner found himself chatting with Niche Niche owner Ariel Arce, an encounter that resulted in him joining the team at sister restaurant Air’s Champagne Parlor. Turner moved up through the ranks among the group, from trailing to somming at Air’s to taking on the head sommelier role at Niche Niche, and later opening Roscioli, Heroes, and Pearl Box, eventually becoming the beverage director for the latter.
Managing the beverage program and working with cocktails at Pearl Box, Turner felt an itch to get back to what he loved most about the industry — working hands-on to help customers explore the expansive world of wine. And what better setting could there be for interacting with guests than a small, 28-seat wine bar? With this goal, Turner joined owner Annie Shi and chef Patty Lee to open Lei, a wine bar and restaurant in Chinatown.
The team set out to create a space where diners feel welcome to drink what they want. “We thought, let’s make an interesting list that provides everything for everyone,” Turner says. “Affordable, accessible wines that are all quality at all price ranges.” This ethos was immediately evident when the warm, candlelit space started welcoming in customers in June 2025. Posts flooded in across social media platforms: collectors raving about Lei’s exceptional Burgundy and Champagne program; novices thrilled to find an approachable skin-contact by-the-glass pour from Greece; and fellow curious drinkers squealing with excitement to try bottles from China and Japan.
Though Turner acts as the wine director (which might be a hands-off role in most restaurants), Lei’s tight-knit structure allows each member of the team to be highly involved with guests. Sommeliers are servers, servers are sommeliers. Each person working the floor can tell you about the obscure Portuguese blend on the list, or walk you through six different cuvées from a top Burgundy producer. Because of this, the passion for wine reverberates through every corner of Lei.
For Shi, two of the central tenants for Lei’s wine program were to have a dynamic, broad-reaching list that provides access to all, and to feature wines that are always showing well at the table. To achieve this, Turner and the team are constantly tasting wine and discovering new gems to fill the list with. “The most important part is the enthusiasm of the people in the program to taste new wine,” he says.
Turner’s fervor for uncovering new, interesting producers and sharing them with the guests at Lei has also manifested as a series of pop-ups. Whether it be a by-the-glass takeover from Spain’s hot upstart winemaker Jorge Olivera or a meet and greet with wine pros spanning from smaller producers like Chile’s Roberto Henriquez to the export director for posh labels like Champagne Salon and Champagne Delamotte. He even recently organized a tasting exploring how wine evolves over time — pouring a Riesling from Kissinger-Bähr opened that day alongside the same bottle opened three, five, and seven days prior.
“I don’t always advertise these events a lot for a reason,” Turner admits. “Part of that is because I want people who are coming to Lei naturally to be confronted by a new, unexpected thing. To be encouraged to try something new, to meet a winemaker you might have never thought you would meet.”
In an industry that seems to funnel all interested drinkers to the same few regions and producers, Turner loves to push the guests at Lei to try more. But he emphasizes that the essential counterpart to curiosity is trust. The freedom to host these pop-ups comes from time establishing a relationship with the guests at Lei, building trust that the team will always be able to find the right wine for you.
