Chicago’s Douglas Kim is MGM sommelier overseeing 350,000 bottles of wine at Las Vegas resorts

Kim, a South Korea native who grew up in Chicago, now oversees close to 50 sommeliers at MGM bars and restaurants along the Las Vegas Strip. | Corutesy MGM Resorts International

LAS VEGAS — When he started at the Culinary Institute of America in 2004, Douglas Kim had every intention of becoming a chef.

That was before he discovered how fascinating the study of wine could be through a mandatory three-week course that put his career on a new trajectory.