David Adelsheim is the founder of Adelsheim Vineyard, the Chehalem Mountains’ first winery, which he founded in 1971 with his former wife, Ginny Adelsheim. Adelsheim has no formal training in viticulture but got advice from Oregon’s other early vintners before purchasing his original 19-acre parcel in Yamhill County, becoming part of the ten families to make wine in the Willamette Valley before 1980.
Annette Alvarez-Peters recently retired from her tenure at the helm of Costco Wholesale Corp’s wine, beer and spirits division, one of the largest wine retail programs in the world with roughly $2 billion dollars in sales annually.
When asked what piece of advice she would give to the next generation of women in wine:
“…continue to pursue (their) values and strengths… I think our role is essential now and in the future.”… Watch and Read Interview
Bart and Daphne Araujo are the owners of Napa Valley’s Accendo Cellars which they began in 2014 after selling—for an undisclosed sum—their highly esteemed Araujo Estate and the iconic Eisele Vineyard to the Artemis Group, owners of Bordeaux’s Château Latour.
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Philippe Bascaules began his career at the legendary Château Margaux, one of France’s five First Growth Bordeaux estates…
Greg Brewer is Winemaker and Co-founder of Brewer-Clifton Wines in Santa Barbara, CA. As a pioneer vintner in the Sta. Rita Hills, he also helped to map, define and establish the appellation in 1997, which was granted AVA status in 2001.
Bartholomew Broadbent is the founder and CEO of Broadbent Selections, one of America’s leading wine importers, which he founded in 1996. One of the world’s foremost authorities on Port and Madeira, Bartholomew is credited with revitalizing the markets for both in the U.S. in the 1980s.
Melissa Burr is Vice President of Winemaking for Stoller Family Estate, overseeing two winemaking teams—one at each of two production facilities on the estate—focuses on blends, and supports marketing efforts.
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.
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
Clare Carver is co-proprietor with winemaker Brian Marcy, of Big Table Farm–a winery and working farm in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. In charge of winery marketing and hospitality, she also manages the 70-acre farm including a herd of Irish Dexter cattle and heritage breed pigs.
Laura Catena is a Harvard and Stanford-trained biologist and physician, and the founder of the Catena Institute of Wine in Argentina.
Sylvie Cazes is President of Bordeaux’s “Foundation for the Culture and Civilizations of Wine” and its showplace museum, la Cité du Vin, She is an active member of the French winemaking family that owns the famous Grand Cru Classé property Château Lynch-Bages.
Oz Clarke is a British wine writer, TV personality, and well-known authority on wine. His unpretentious style has made him one of the most recognized wine critics in the U.K.
Remi Cohen is the Chief Operating Officer of Lede Family Wines, which includes Cliff Lede Vineyards in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley and FEL Wines in California’s Anderson Valley. Remi studied molecular and cellular biology
“…know how to stand your ground when the going gets tough, but never give in on the essentials.”… Watch and Read Interview
Cathy Corison was the first woman winemaker-proprietor in the Napa Valley. She received her B.A. in Biology from Pomona College in Claremont, CA, followed by a master’s degree in Enology from University of California at Davis. Her first winemaking position at
Eileen Crane is the CEO and founding winemaker of Domaine Carneros—a joint venture of Taittinger Champagne and the Kopf family—and considered one of the top sparkling wine firms in California. Crane studied science and food before
Vanya Cullen is considered one of Australia’s top winemakers. She was named 2020 “Winemaker of the Year” at the Halliday Wine Companion Awards. She is Chief Winemaker at Cullen Estate, her family’s winery in Margaret River.
Naoko took over the reins of the company and has guided the winemaking for the past twenty-six years, during which time Dalla Valle has become one of Napa Valley’s most sought-after wines.
Maureen Downey is the foremost global authority on wine fraud, counterfeit wine and fine wine authentication.
Georges Duboeuf In 1964, well-known Beaujolais vintner Georges Duboeuf founded Les Vins Georges Duboeuf, a negotiant business devoted to selecting, bottling, and selling Beaujolais and Burgundy wines worldwide. Duboeuf has since become a symbol of… Read Interview
Nearly half a century ago, a handful of women quietly worked their way into the California wine industry. More than trailblazers, these pioneering women helped set the course of the industry for the next 50 years. Along the way, each has become an icon. No one more so than Merry Edwards.
Andy Erickson is the consulting winemaker for Dalla Valle, Arietta, Dancing Hares Vineyard, Mayacamas and Ovid and is the co-owner and winemaker for Favia Wines and Leviathan. After working his first harvest at
Michael Etzel is the founding owner and president of Beaux Frères Vineyards in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Michael started his wine career when he and his brother-in-law, the famous wine critic Robert Parker
Nick Farr is considered one of Australia’s top young winemakers, and a specialist in Australian in pinot noir. He is co-owner and winemaker of Wines by Farr, which he runs alongside his father, the legendary Gary Farr.
Jane Ferrari is an Australian National Treasure and one of the best wine storytellers around.
Dorothy J. Gaiter wrote the Wall Street Journal’s wine column, “Tastings,” from 1998 to 2010 with her husband, John Brecher. Her distinguished 30-year career includes stints as a reporter, editor, columnist and editorial writer at the Miami Herald and the New York Times, as well as at the Journal.
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.
Kate Goodman has been making wine for almost 30 years, currently as Chief Winemaker at Penley Estate in Coonawarra, Australia, as well as for her own brands Goodman and Nikkal in Victoria. She was awarded the 2018 Australian Women in Wine ‘Winemaker of the Year’.
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.
Over the span of a remarkable 50 year career, Ted Hall has been a cattle rancher, organic farmer, music executive, restaurateur, winery owner, sailor, and philanthropist. He is the President & CEO of Napa Valley’s Long Meadow Ranch (LMR), founded with his wife Laddie in 1989.
Bill Harlan is the founder and owner of Harlan Estate in Oakville, in the Napa Valley. The Harlan Estate wine a cabernet blend, is considered one of California’s greatest wines, and a wine highly sought after by collectors worldwide.
Will Harlan has been the Director of Promontory, the latest of his father Bill Harlan’s Napa Valley wine projects, since 2015.
Fritz Hatton is the nation’s most experienced wine auctioneer. He and his wife Caren own the Napa Valley winery Arietta, one of the region’s top producers of Bordeaux-style wines.
In honor of Australia Day, January 26, we bring you our interview with fifth-generation winemaker Stephen Carl Henschke. We sat down with Stephen last October, so our interview means all the more to us now as we’ve learned that several of his vineyards and the majority of the upcoming vintage were destroyed in the ongoing bush fires.
David Howell is a retired research geologist who spent 30 years with the U.S. Geological Survey. Since 1990, when he collaborated with fellow geologist and friend Jonathan Swinchatt on the video Earth Nectar, the Wines of Napa Valley and
For over thirty years Lee Hudson has grown premium grapes on over 200 acres in the Carneros AVA. Currently, he sells to 27 of Napa and Sonoma’s premier vintners, who bear the ‘Hudson Vineyards’ designation on their labels.
Geneviève Janssens is Chief Winemaker at Robert Mondavi Winery as well as the winemaker and co-owner, with her husband Luc, of Portfolio Limited Edition.
Hugh Johnson Hugh Johnson is one of the world’s best-selling wine writers, known for The World Atlas of Wine and his annual Pocket Wine Book, both of which were first published in the 1970s. Johnson… Read Interview
Eugenia Keegan is General Manager of Jackson Family Wines’s fast-growing Oregon winery portfolio in the Willamette Valley. Actively civic-minded, Keegan is the chair emerita of the board of directors of the Oregon Wine Board, and serves on the boards of the Oregon Winegrowers Association and the Willamette Valley Wineries Association.
Robin Lail is the founding winemaker and partner at Lail Vineyards. Her extensive background and history in the Napa Valley have given her a unique perspective on the valley and its wines.
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.
Tim Lovett has been the Senior Winemaker at Leeuwin Estates, one of the most prestigious wineries in the Margaret River region of Western Australia, since 2016.
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.
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.
“…This is another thing I love about wine: its ability to connect us as humans to nature, time, place and climate in infinite ways…”
Tim Mondavi is the winegrower and partner of Continuum Estate, founded in 2005 with his sister Marcia Mondavi Borger and late father Robert.
As a coach my job is to guide people, help them succeed and it really is the most exciting thing. It’s one of the reasons I wake up in the morning.
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.
Rajat “Raj” Parr is a James Beard award-winning sommelier and winemaker. He has been the Wine Director at the Fifth Floor as well as the Mina Group with over 25 restaurants around the world, and his wine lists have earned him four Grand Awards from Wine Spectator. Wine Spectator. He has co-founded Sandhi Wines and Domaine de la Côte in California’s Sta. Rita Hills, and Evening Land Vineyards in Oregon’s Eola-Amity Hills.
Françoise Peschon was the long-time winemaker for the famous Napa Valley winery Araujo and is now the consulting winemaker for three small, exclusive estates: Cornell, Vine Hill Ranch, and Accendo
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 Phelps is the founder and winemaker of Ad Vivum, a top cabernet producer in the Napa Valley. He studied viticulture and enology at the university of Bordeaux as well as the University of California at Davis. During the famous 1982 vintage, he lived and worked at Château Pétrus in Bordeaux.
“The continued focus on stewarding the remarkable agricultural and open space resources that comprise the Napa Valley appellation is truly remarkable in the face of continued development pressure. It is a longstanding generational, community supported commitment that continues to surprise me.”
After graduating from the University of California, Davis, with an enology degree, Aaron Pott attended the University of Burgundy where he received a master’s degree in viticulture. In 1990, he became the assistant winemaker at
Linda Reiff is President and CEO of the Napa Valley Vintners which celebrated its 75th anniversary last year. Reiff was named Wine Enthusiast’s Person of the Year for 2019—only the second woman to win the award since it was first given in 2000.
Jancis Robinson is one of the most globally renowned British wine writers. She has written multiple important encyclopedic wine books, including The Oxford Companion Guide to Wine, Wine Grapes (with Julia Harding), The World Atlas of Wine (with Hugh Johnson)
Louisa Rose is Head of Sustainability at Yalumba in the Barossa Valley, after recently retiring… Read Interview
In honor of July 4th, we are joined today by Daniel Shanks, former Director of Food and Beverage at the White House. Shanks has overseen food and beverage operations for multiple administrations since this time, creating wine and food pairings for state dinners for over 20 years.
Rick Small is the founder of Woodward Canyon Winery, one of the two pioneering wineries in Washington State’s Walla Walla Valley. As such, he is considered one of the “founding fathers” of Walla Walla’s dynamic wine industry.
Tony Soter is the founder, with his late wife Michelle, of Soter Vineyards at Mineral Springs Ranch in Yamhill-Carlton, Oregon. Soter is a Portland, Oregon, native who began his remarkable 40-year winemaking career in the Napa Valley.
Steven Spurrier is a legendary figure in the international world of wine: an author, educator, consultant, and wine merchant. He is perhaps best known for co-creating the tasting between top wines from California and France in May 1976, subsequently referred to as The Judgement of Paris.
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
Rupert Symington is the CEO of Symington Family Estates, which includes the famous Port shippers Graham’s, Dow’s, Warre’s, and Cockburn’s, among others. The Symington family has produced Port since 1882 when Rupert’s great-grandfather,
Terry Theise is an award-winning wine writer and an acclaimed and influential importer of—and expert on—boutique wines from Germany, Austria, and Champagne.
Ron Washam is one of the few satirists writing about the wine industry. His much loved and much feared blog TheHoseMasterofWine was published from 2008 until 2019.
Arnaud Weyrich is Winemaker and Vice President of Production at Roederer Estate in the Anderson… Read Interview
Karen Williams is the founder and owner of ACME Fine Wines in Saint Helena, Napa Valley, a gallery-style wine showroom with a focus on first-release Napa Valley wines plus highly regarded wines of the world.
Kevin Zraly may be best known as the wine director for the Windows on the World restaurant and founder of the Windows on the World Wine School on the top floors of the former 1 World Trade Center in New York, NY.
Someone is stealing the great grapes of Burgundy, according to the Burgundy wine bureau (BIVB).… Continue reading
