Beth Novak Milliken is the President and CEO of her family’s historic and deeply respected Spottswoode winery in Napa Valley. She was elected in 1998 as the youngest president of the Napa Valley Vintners Association and the first woman to hold that position, and she remains on the board of directors today.
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.
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.
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.
