Peter Neptune

Peter Neptune, born July 10, 1956, in Newport Beach, California, is an American actor, Master Sommelier, and wine educator. He originated the role of Jeff Barry in the Off-Broadway production of Leader of the Pack in 1984 and reprised the role in the Broadway production in 1985. He also appeared as a featured actor in playwright Cynthia Heimel's A Girl's Guide to Chaos. Neptune studied acting with Wynn Handman at The American Place Theatre after relocating to New York City in 1979 to pursue a career in theater.

Alongside his stage work, Neptune appeared in a range of television productions filmed in both New York and Los Angeles. His television credits include the action film C.A.T. Squad: Python Wolf (1988), the biopic Rock Hudson (1990), and guest roles on L.A. Law (1988), Tour of Duty (1988), Hardball (1989), and Life Goes On (1989). He also appeared as Crewman Aron in the second-season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Dauphin" (1989). During his decade in the entertainment industry, Neptune supplemented his income by working in restaurants, where he began managing wine programs despite limited initial experience with wine.

Neptune returned to Orange County in 1989. Following an unsuccessful pursuit of a leading television role after multiple callbacks, he shifted his focus entirely to wine. His early exposure to food and wine had come through working at Tivoli Terrace, a Laguna Beach restaurant owned by his stepmother, June. Beginning in the mid-1990s as a wine salesman, he pursued formal wine education, eventually joining the Benicia, California–based Henry Wine Group, where he rose to senior vice president of corporate training.

In 2003, Neptune founded the Neptune School of Wine in Orange County, California, the first school in Southern California to teach the curriculum of the London-based Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET). The school also administers the French Wine Scholar program offered by the Washington, D.C.–based French Wine Society. Neptune passed the Master Sommelier examination in 2005, becoming one of 229 certified Master Sommeliers worldwide at that time and the first person in decades to do so while residing in Southern California. As of June 2015, he was one of 147 Master Sommeliers in North America, served as a teaching Master at the Court of Master Sommelier Intro and Advanced Courses, and acted as an examiner at the Certified, Advanced, and Master Sommelier Examinations.

Neptune's additional wine credentials include the Certified Wine Educator designation from the Society of Wine Educators, a WSET diploma in Wine and Spirits, the Associate of the Institute of Wines and Spirits title, and the French Wine Scholar credential with Highest Honors. As a wine consultant, he has worked with properties including the Fairmont San Francisco, the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, and One Pico at the Shutters on the Beach Hotel in Santa Monica, California. The wine list Neptune developed at One Pico earned Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence every year from 2009 through 2014.

Through his role as a Master Sommelier examiner, Neptune met director Jason Wise and helped secure permission to film portions of the Master Sommelier examination. The resulting documentary, SOMM (2013), followed four candidates through the examination process and featured Neptune as himself, alongside fellow Master Sommeliers Michael Jordan, Fred Dame, and Geoff Kruth.