Jayme Kosar has been named Best Sommelier in Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay 2025 awards, adding another accolade to her long career in wine and hospitality.
This year’s finalists also included Adam Paul of The Black Pearl and Chris Ciarcia of Sauvignon Wine Locker, both respected figures in Tampa Bay’s wine community. Read more about this year’s Best Sommelier nominees in our nominee spotlight.
Kosar opened the original Ybor City Wine Bar in 2012 with a vision Tampa hadn’t yet seen: 200 wines by the glass. “Back then, there really wasn’t much of a wine scene here,” she recalls. “I wanted to expand the culture of wine in Tampa Bay.” That vision has since grown into Society Wine Bar, a franchise with locations in Ybor, Apollo Beach, and Naples, with plans to continue expanding across Florida.
A Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, Kosar also holds more than a dozen wine certifications and teaches advanced programs for the United States Sommelier Association. Harvest visits and vineyard tours are a key part of her curriculum. “When you know exactly how the wine gets in the glass, that’s a real somm to me,” she says.
This is not her first Best of the Bay recognition. Kosar has previously won in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2024. The 2020 award was especially meaningful, earned during the height of COVID closures: “That was a big win because it was such a difficult time. Restaurants were closed, the industry was struggling. I dedicated that award to everyone—front of house, back of house, the whole hospitality community.”
She also notes that Best of the Bay often puts her alongside sommeliers she has taught or mentored: “Sometimes I’m up against sommeliers I’ve trained, sommeliers who have worked for me—and that’s been a great nod to them.”
For Kosar, wine is about passion and connection: “I can suggest and be the best somm in the world; but if you don’t like the wine, it matters not. It’s your palate, your party.”
As Society Wine Bar continues to grow, Kosar remains committed to her original vision of expanding the culture of wine through education and accessibility.
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Links: ownawinebar.com