Dominique DaCruz had a job many would envy.

As the wine director at Sierra Mar, a restaurant in Central California with cliff-side views of the Pacific Ocean, he helped curate a 22,000-bottle, award-winning wine cellar. He traveled the world in search of rare wines for clients. His wife, Lauren, was a pastry chef at the restaurant.

But after more than two decades at Sierra Mar, DaCruz and his wife recently struck out on their own, launching a novel online wine business. And last month, they moved into their new home in El Paso.

Opening a bottle of wine is much like opening a great novel. Each can spin a story rich in characters, culture and a sense of place.

Dominique DaCruz loves all the stories corked inside those bottled time capsules. As the longtime wine director/sommelier at world-renowned Sierra Mar restaurant at Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, DaCruz helped curate the restaurant’s 16,000-bottle cellar that routinely earned Wine Spectator magazine’s prestigious Grand Award and nods from the James Beard Foundation.

After more than two decades at Sierra Mar, DaCruz left in 2018. Today he and his wife Lauren — a former pastry chef at Sierra Mar and an oenophile herself — have joined forces to create a fresh, bespoke approach to online wine sales. Called Dezilu (www.deziluwineco.com), the husband-and-wife-run company (based in both Monterey and El Paso, Texas), sells limited-production wines through the guidance of the DaCruzes — just a click away.

I have been thoroughly impressed with Dezilu Wine Company. The unique selection and tailor-made variety of wines from all over the world makes for an incredible and unsurpassable experience. The quality of the curation truly demonstrates the years of experience. Best of all I love having his best picks on hand for entertaining every guest for all occasions.

Dezilu provided wine, notes and tasting suggestions for a large family gathering we hosted. Amazingly, they were able to pair their exceptional wines not only with a variety of foods but also the precise atmosphere we hoped to create as well as a perfect “rainbow” of tastes for the varied personalities and multiple levels of savvy regarding wine within our number. Their service is unique, remarkable, and their wine selection even better. Bravo! We encourage anyone who cares about their beverage experience to say, “Cheers!”

We subscribe to Dezilu, and it’s unlike every other wine club in all the best ways. Not only do they profile with awesome perception, but they also make a path to discovery of wine selections that we would never, ever stumble upon on our own. This is one of the best little luxuries we’ve ever chosen. Can’t say enough good about the service!

The service and selection from Dezilu is extraordinary. First, they alert you only to wines commensurate with your taste. Second, when they select wines for you, they are carefully hand-selected keeping your desires and your budget foremost in their minds. Proof of their concept is drinking the wines they select – the wines are wonderful. Finally, with every bottle they select for you they provide a QR code that allows you to access on your phone their review and tasting notes for the wine, as well as interesting facts about the winery’s history, the terroir, and winemakers. In sum, we love the wines from Dezilu and the people who select them.