Sir Peter Michael is the owner of the Peter Michael Winery in the Knights Valley appellation of Sonoma, California. Since it was founded in 1982, the Peter Michael winery has accrued dozens of accolades for its wines.
Will Harlan has been the Director of Promontory, the latest of his father Bill Harlan’s Napa Valley wine projects, since 2015.
Dennis and Judy Groth founded Groth Vineyards & Winery in 1981 in the heart of the Napa Valley in what is today the Oakville AVA. The 1985 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve was the first California wine ever to receive a 100-point score from wine critic Robert M. Parker.
Tim Mondavi is the winegrower and partner of Continuum Estate, founded in 2005 with his sister Marcia Mondavi Borger and late father Robert.
Carole Meredith was a professor in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California at Davis. She conducted ground-breaking research in grape genetics, using DNA typing to discover the origins of some of the greatest old wine varieties, including cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, syrah, and zinfandel.
Bret Lopez became a professional photographer at age fifteen. At age sixteen, a staff assignment with Contemporary Records led to portraits of jazz greats Ray Brown, Ornette Coleman, Art Pepper, Chick Corea and many others. In 2003, Bret moved to the family retreat and vineyard estate left to him by his late grandfather, Hollywood producer J.J. Cohn’s. In 2013, with his wife and creative partner, Mimi DeBlasio, Bret launched Scarecrow , one of the top wines of the Napa Valley.
Jeff Gargiulo is the founder of Gargiulo Vineyards, one of the top small producers of cabernet sauvignon in Oakville, in the Napa Valley. He was CEO of his family’s tomato business, Gargiulo Inc. and is now co-owner of Greenleaf SF, a purveyor of organic, locally grown produce in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jeff and his wife Valerie are founders of the Naples Winter Wine Festival in Naples, Florida.
Pam Starr established Crocker & Starr in 1997 with Charlie Crocker, great grandson of Charles Crocker, founder of the Central Pacific Railroad. Starr partnered with the San Francisco businessman to resurrect the 100-year-old vineyard he purchased in 1971. The winery’s 100-acre estate vineyard in St. Helena sits on land that has grown grapes since the 1870s
Philippe Bascaules began his career at the legendary Château Margaux, one of France’s five First Growth Bordeaux estates…
John Caldwell, founder and owner of Caldwell Vineyards in the Coombsville district of Napa Valley, was one of the first vintners to realize Coombsville’s potential for fine wine. He was at the forefront working with the French regulatory agency ENTAV (Établissement National Technique pour ‘Amélioration de la Viticulture) to import French clones into America.
Dan Petroski is the winemaker at Larkmead Vineyards, an historic estate in the Napa Valley, and the founder and owner of Massican, one of the few Napa wineries to focus on top-notch white wines exclusively.
Chris Carpenter is the winemaker for some of Napa Valley’s most prestigious wineries, including Cardinale, Lokoya, La Jota, and Mt. Brave — the grapes for which are grown on the mountains that ring the valley. Chris earned an undergraduate degree in biology
