“I like to see a parcel of land or vineyard and if it has potential to make it better, take something that is perfect soil, perfect location – and know that you can turn it into something that’s world-class.”
-Barbara R. Banke

One of the wine industry’s female pioneers, Jackson Family Wines Chairman & Proprietor Barbara R. Banke has spent the last two decades helping lead the company she founded with her late husband, wine icon Jess Jackson, while building and expanding some of the most beloved wine brands in the nation.

The UCLA and Hastings Law School graduate is no stranger to juggling diverse workloads. A former land use and constitutional law attorney, Banke spent more than a decade arguing cases before the United States Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal, and raised three children with Jess (Katie, Julia and Christopher Jackson).

In addition to the flagship Kendall-Jackson and La Crema wineries, Banke and Jackson developed nearly two dozen small, high-image wineries located across Sonoma, Napa, Monterey, Santa Maria and Mendocino counties, including Arrowood, Byron, Cambria, Carmel Road, Edmeades, Freemark Abbey, Hartford, La Jota, Matanzas Creek and Stonestreet. The Jackson family portfolio also includes the international properties of Chateau Lassègue in Bordeaux, Tenuta di Arceno in Tuscany, Calina in Chile and Yangarra Estates in Australia.

Banke takes a hands-on role in the development and promotion of various Jackson Family Wine estates, with a special focus on the company’s ultra-luxury wineries such as Lokoya, Cardinale, and Vérité, as well as new vineyard acquisitions, and a broad range of other business initiatives. In addition to the family’s wine holdings, Banke shares Jackson’s love of equestrian racing – their acclaimed stables, Stonestreet Farms in Kentucky, have produced several award-winning yearlings including Curlin, Rachel Alexandra and My Miss Aurelia.

A well-known philanthropist, Banke and the Jackson family are passionate advocates for education in California. She co-founded the Sonoma Paradiso Wine Auction, the third largest wine country charity in the United States, and helped build the Sonoma Country Day School in Santa Rosa. She and Jackson also committed $3 million to found the Jess S. Jackson Sustainable Winery Building at UC-Davis, a national center of excellence in oenology education, which broke ground in late 2011. Today she serves as a founding board member for Sonoma Academy, a Santa Rosa-based independent college-prep high school recognized for its rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum.

Tom Bonomi is President of Classic Wines LLC and a Member of Kistler Vineyards LLC. Tom and Bill Price established Classic Wines during 2007 and became partners with Steve Kistler during 2008. Since their initial partnership, Tom and Bill have worked with Steve to ensure Kistler remains a world class producer of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir using old world Burgundian techniques applied to new world vineyards.

Tom spearheaded the acquisition of Kistler’s Trenton Roadhouse property and the conversion of the on-site historical residence to a hospitality site, ushering in a new era of hospitality for Kistler Vineyards.

In addition to Kistler Vineyards, Classic Wines and its affiliates also owns Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery, LUTUM and Three Sticks. Price Family Vineyards, a Classic affiliate, owns Durell Vineyards, Gap’s Crown Vineyard, Walala Vineyard and four other properties in Sonoma County totaling 400 planted acres.

Prior to co-founding Classic Wines with Bill, Tom was Managing Director with Global Wine Partners. Tom started his wine career with Jackson Family Wines. Upon graduating from University of San Francisco, Tom earned his CPA while working with KPMG. Tom currently serves on the Pride Mountain Vineyards Board of Managers and Sonoma State University Wine Business Institute Board of Directors.

GREG BREWER – WINEMAKER

Greg Brewer’s primary focus in the winery is the pursuit of refinement. He is engaged in every aspect of his work, from vineyard to market, and every level of the process is given equal priority. To him, a mindful approach where strategic and efficient actions are taken to incorporate the needs of the entire ecosystem creates a confident and calming environment, a space where everyone and everything is appreciated. The goal is the beauty and synchronicity of the system. The result is wine that is honest and driven, expressive of the place and the team who collectively steward them.

Greg has always followed a distinct and deliberate arc in his work, where the priority is service, subtracting extraneous elements and minimizing the insertion of self. He reveres the repetitive and monastic nature of the winemaking craft, and after 25 years in the business is firmly committed to the immediate task at hand. This focus shifts the motivation behind the wine from ego towards humility. For Greg, it is only along this path that the resultant product conveys the sincerity and vulnerability that is his goal, both personally and professionally.

Greg started his career as a French instructor at UC Santa Barbara before being trained in wine production at Santa Barbara Winery starting in 1991. He created his eponymous label, Brewer-Clifton, with original partner Steve Clifton in 1996 and later designed Melville where he worked as winemaker from its inception in 1997 through the end of 2015. Greg additionally created diatom focusing on starkly raised Chardonnay, as well as Ch.igai Takaha, which is marketed predominantly in Japan. The entirety of his career has been committed to the Sta. Rita Hills appellation, which he helped to map, define and establish in 1997.

Biography of Alejandro P. Bulgheroni

Alejandro P. Bulgheroni is an Argentinian-Italian entrepreneur with an extensive background in agriculture and the energy sector. Since 1965, he has developed many agro-industrial projects guided by the principles of environmental preservation, investment in people and job development, the blending innovation and tradition, and the creation of healthy, high-quality products.

In 1999, he and his wife, Bettina, discovered the village of Garzón near Punta del Este in Uruguay and conceived of a unique ranching concept; one that would contribute to the development of Uruguay and its economy and enrich the lives of its people. There, they transformed the region through high technology agriculture and livestock businesses and developed a self-sustaining 10,000-acre ranch dedicated to wine growing, olive oil production, nut orchards, apiculture, forestry, cattle raising and alternative energy projects. The couple’s Colinas de Garzón olive mill, recognized internationally as one of the world’s best, produces the most awarded extra virgin olive oils in the region.

Bodega Garzón represents the first winegrowing estate established by Mr. Bulgheroni. He then became a partner in the celebrated Vistalba winery in Mendoza, founded by Carlos Pulenta, a renowned innovator in the Argentine wine industry. His presence in the wine industry has grown since then with the addition of Bodega Brisas in Uruguay and the acquisition of Mendoza-based Bodega Argento, Tuscan producers Dievole (Chianti Classico), Podere Brizio and Poggio Landi (Brunello de Montalcino) and Le Colonne (Bolgheri), Bordeaux producers Chateau Suau and Chateau Langalerie, and Renwood in California’s gold country. His portfolio also includes a vineyard in Australia’s Barossa Valley and the world’s southernmost vineyard in Patagonia, Argentina. In 2017, he  launched Alejandro Bulgheroni Estate in Napa Valley and released their first limited production Cabernet Sauvignon wine.

Mr. Bulgheroni continues to develop his focused wine portfolio that represents the authentic expression of the most emblematic terroirs around the world. All the wineries share a common philosophy while maintaining their identity and individual approach to achieve that goal.

ALEJANDRO BULGHERONI ESTATE
500 MEADOWOOD LANE
ST. HELENA, CALIFORNIA 94574
707.963.6015

Laura Catena is a fourth generation Argentine vintner, biologist, physician and author. Dr. Catena graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1988 and has a Medical Doctor degree from Stanford University. In 1995, she founded the Catena Institute of Wine, which is dedicated to elevating Argentine wine. Dr. Catena is currently managing director of Bodega Catena Zapata and her own Luca Winery in Mendoza, Argentina, as well as a practicing Emergency Medicine physician in San Francisco.

Catena has been called the “face” of Argentine wine for her active role in studying and promoting the Mendoza wine region and Argentine Malbec.

In 2010 Laura Catena released her book Vino Argentino: An Insider’s Guide to the Wines and Wine Country of Argentina (Chronicle Books). Spanish and Portuguese translations followed in 2011. She appeared in Oprah Magazine as one of the World’s Top Women Vintners. Her work has been featured in the NYT, the Wall Street Journal, Food and Wine Magazine, La Nación, Decanter and The Economist 1843 Magazine in an article about the Catena Institute titled “Argentine Wine’s Premier Crew.”

Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, born in 1971, is the younger son of Baroness Philippine de Rothschild (1933-2014) from her second marriage with the scholar and writer Jean-Pierre de Beaumarchais.

With his brother and sister, Philippe and Camille Sereys de Rothschild, he is co-owner of Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Clerc Milon and Château d’Armailhac and, with his brother, of Domaine de Baronarques. He has been a member of the Supervisory Board of the family company, Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA, since 2001.

After studying art history he worked for Artemis Fine Arts, a Franco-British gallery specialising in Old Master drawings. Having gained valuable experience with them, in 2004 he teamed up with two leading art experts to create Salamander Fine Arts, a dealer in high-quality old prints and drawings. Salamander’s clients soon included international collectors and major museums such as the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Increasingly taken up by Mouton and the family company, however, he decided in 2009 to devote the bulk of his time to them while continuing to act as an independent broker.

The intimate link between wine and art had been revealed to him as a young child by his grandfather, Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988). It was in tribute to him that, in 2003, with Sandrine Herman, he co-authored Mouton Rothschild: The Museum of Wine in Art (Imprimerie Nationale), a richly illustrated reference work on one of the major attractions at Mouton, created by Baron Philippe in 1962.

From the early 2000s, as a member of the Supervisory Board then chaired by his mother (with his uncle Jacques Thierry as vice-chair) and subsequently by his brother, he frequently represented the family company at prestigious events in France and around the world. He is also the family’s official delegate in PFV, an association of major family-owned wine businesses.

In 2007, Baroness Philippine asked him to join her on the committee in charge of the major projects to renovate Château Clerc Milon and Château Mouton Rothschild, magnificently brought to completion in 2013.

Since Baroness Philippine’s death in 2014, Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, with his brother and sister, has sought to perpetuate the same quest for excellence in both Château wines and branded wines, including the famous Mouton Cadet. More specifically, he nurtures and enhances the singular relationship between wine and art at Mouton. Thus, he now has the responsibility, formerly his mother’s prerogative, of choosing and accompanying the artist commissioned each year to illustrate the label for the legendary Château Mouton Rothschild.

Mary Dewane, Co-Founder and General Manager of Benovia Winery

A visionary CEO-turned-vintner, Mary Dewane grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, driving a tractor with her father when she was 7, and was already developing the instincts uniquely suited to her role as co-founder and General Manager of Benovia Winery. Dewane has a deep appreciation for how things are grown and developed a love for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as a college student in France, while earning a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Communications from the University of Wisconsin.

Mary and her husband, Joe, share a commitment to serving the underserved, a passion she has been able to integrate throughout her career. She began working as a budget and management analyst in Wisconsin state government, and then became the Director of Medicaid Managed Care in the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services. She managed the Wisconsin Medicaid HMO program, which served approximately 130,000 members. She then became COO of U-Care, the HMO sponsored by the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinic in Madison.

Moving east, Dewane’s career took her to a national post in Baltimore where she served as the Director of the Office of Medicaid Managed Care for the Health Care Financing Administration, then responsible for five million Medicaid beneficiaries.

Dewane championed the effort to protect and provide assistance to children, low income families and people with disabilities in California’s Orange County, when she became the founding CEO of CalOptima, a $1.5 billion/year health plan and one of the largest Medicaid managed care organizations in the country. At the time, CalOptima served 330,000 members, including 55,000 disabled patients and seniors. As the founding CEO, Dewane secured $6 million in start-up funds and was responsible for the creation and administration of all operations, finances and medical management. She hired and managed a staff of 225 people and reported to a publicly appointed board of directors. A tribute to her pivotal work in Orange County, CalOptima now gives an award annually that was named in honor of Mary. The Mary K. Dewane Award is bestowed on organizations in Orange County that enhance access to quality health care for vulnerable populations.

After establishing CalOptima, Mary joined Schaller Anderson, as Vice President for Medicare and Medicaid Programs. She led Schaller Anderson’s efforts in developing Medicaid strategies for managed care, care management, and state and provider financing. She worked with senior officials in federal government and elected state officials to craft meaningful Medicaid quality and cost-containment initiatives.

Dewane has brought the same drive and determination that made her a successful CEO to Benovia. As General Manager, she ensures that the family’s vineyard management and winemaking teams have all the innovative resources they need to make the best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Before they established Benovia, Dewane and Anderson volunteered at a friend’s winery for several harvests. Getting down to the details at the sorting table, they loved being a part of the creative process of winemaking. When they founded Benovia in 2002, Dewane and Anderson assembled a team of advisors specializing in soil and viticulture, with more than 100 years of experience in the winemaking industry, showing their commitment to build an enduring brand, with patience and persistence. In 2016, Mary and Joe were honored as Winery Owners of the Year by the North Bay Business Journal, which is located in Northern California and covers the wine industry in Sonoma and Napa extensively. The honor was especially gratifying because they had to learn a new industry from the ground up.

Devoted to family, Dewane and Anderson created the distinctive name for Benovia by blending the names of their fathers, Ben and Novian. They say their fathers imparted an enduring work ethic and the uncompromising core value that “if something is worth doing, then it’s worth doing well,” which has become a touchstone for the Benovia team. Similarly, the family’s Martaella vineyard is a tribute to Mary and Joe’s mothers, Martha and Eleanor, described by their children as compassionate, strong and ahead of their time – characteristics that continue to guide Dewane and Anderson.

In her second career as a vintner, Dewane finds that Mother Nature is the common thread through both industries, and serving the underserved remains a priority through her community work. As co-chairs of the Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction, Dewane and Anderson raised $4.5 million (a record at the time) to support literacy programs in Sonoma County.

Dewane is a gifted athlete and excels at swimming, skiing and cycling. She has taken several cycling trips through Europe and the United States, including the California AIDS Bike Ride on two occasions, from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Media contacts: Casey Shaughnessy, Evan Nicholson and Rachel Sutton, Glodow Nead Communications, BenoviaPR@glodownead.com or 415-394-6500

Joe Anderson, Co-Founder and Proprietor of Benovia Winery

Along with his wife, Mary Dewane, Joe Anderson founded Benovia in 2002 with the purchase of the legendary Cohn Vineyard, the oldest Pinot Noir vineyard in the Russian River Valley. Anderson bought the vineyard at the urging of Burt Williams, the co-founder of Williams-Selyem, who is widely regarded as the godfather of Russian River Pinot Noir. That fortuitous transaction led to Anderson’s third career as a vintner and typifies his business acumen. A graduate of Arizona State University, Anderson worked in Arizona state government for 17 years. While he was working in Arizona’s Department of Administration, he was recognized for his excellent organizational and analytical skills, and was tapped by the governor Bruce Babbitt, to address the state’s failing Medicaid system. Working with Dr. Donald F. Schaller, Anderson rebuilt Arizona’s health plan for the poor and created a new model of managed health care that cut costs while providing high quality care. They also extended coverage to pregnant women and children who lived below the federal poverty level. The AHCCCS program became a model for other states.

Community service and helping those less fortunate have always been important to Anderson. His personal interest in serving the underserved and his talent for business found common ground when he and Dr. Schaller co-founded the consultancy Schaller Anderson in 1986. Based on their Medical, operational and financial expertise Schaller Anderson developed care management systems for large employers, state Medicaid Programs and other organizations assuming risk for health care costs. These programs focused on serving the complex and high cost members of these organizations across seven states. Schaller Anderson became a huge success and was purchased by Aetna, one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, in 2007. At the time, Schaller Anderson had more than 1,700 employees nationwide and served 1.3 million people. Anderson stepped down as CEO of Schaller Anderson the following year.

While he was building his incredibly successful first and second careers, Anderson and his wife, Mary Dewane, found balance by relaxing in Wine Country. While biking through the Russian River region, they fell in love with the area and volunteered at a friend’s winery for several harvests before establishing Benovia. In 2016, Mary and Joe were honored as Winery Owners of the Year by the North Bay Business Journal, which is located in Northern California and covers the wine industry in Sonoma and Napa extensively. The honor was especially gratifying because they had to learn a new industry from the ground up. Community service remains an important part of Joe’s life and he and Mary were the co-chairs of the 2015 Sonoma Wine Country Weekend, which raised $4.5 million (a record at the time) to support literacy programs in Sonoma County. United Cerebral Palsy of Central Arizona honored Joe in 2005 with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work of more than 20 years benefiting people with disabilities. In 2006 he was honored by his alma mater, when he received the Stuart A. Westbury, Jr. Community Leadership Award for outstanding leadership in the healthcare industry from the Arizona State University W. P. Carey School of Business. Joe is a past member of the Dean’s Council of 100, a select group of prominent business leaders who provide support for W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

He is also a past president and current advisory board member of Central Arizona Shelter Services, Arizona’s largest shelter and service center for the homeless. Joe is also past president and current board member of the Monsignor Edward J. Ryle Fund, Inc., an organization that supports and promotes changes to improve lives in Arizona. He was also on the Board of Directors and a current advisory board member of the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute, which continues the work of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to solve important social, economic and political issues. Extending his generosity beyond his home state, Joe served as a member of the ArchCare Board of Trustees from 2009 – 2013. The ArchCare Board of Trustees fulfills the healthcare mission of the Archdiocese of New York.

Anderson is an avid collector and owns a 1938 Packard that was once owned by racing legend Phil Hill, a 1965 DB5 Aston Martin, Steve McQueen’s 1950 Hudson Custom Commodore, and a World War II-era DC3 airplane called “The Spirit of Benovia.” Once an avid pilot, Joe served on the City of Phoenix Aviation Advisory Board from 2012 – 2013.

Joe has three children and seven grandchildren and he and Mary split their time between their home in Phoenix and their home in the heart of the Cohn Vineyard, just outside Healdsburg.

Media contacts: Casey Shaughnessy, Evan Nicholson and Rachel Sutton at Glodow Nead Communications, BenoviaPR@glodownead.com or 415-394-6500

Moët Hennessy Estates & Wines. Born and raised in le Sauternais, Maxence Dulou was initiated into the traditional Bordeaux techniques of winemaking and vineyard management at the University of Bordeaux. During his studies, he also had the opportunity to learn from some of the best consultants while conducting various short-term missions (vinification) in some of Bordeaux’s most prestigious properties. After graduating in 2001 with a National Oenology Diploma (DNO), he joined a Bordeaux-based oenology laboratory, where he provided customized support to more than 30 domains in the region. He was then recruited as the head of a South African oenology laboratory.

Eager to continuously develop his winemaking knowledge, his next move took him to Burgundy where he wanted to challenge his Bordeaux skills: during the 2002 vintage in Meursault he was exposed to the specific varietals and techniques that have made Burgundy wines famous all over the world. This enabled him to become winemaker for a family-owned property in Chili in 2003, where he further developed his international experience further over the next two years. He then had the opportunity to work directly under Michel Rolland while making wine at his South African winery, before moving back to France in 2005.

At this point, Maxence joined Saint Emilion Château Quinault, where he was responsible for both winemaking and viticulture. The Château was acquired in 2008 and its management was handed over to the Château Cheval Blanc team. While learning the excellent techniques of Cheval Blanc, Maxence took up studies again in parallel to become an agronomic engineer, in order to extend his skillset beyond winemaking and vineyard management and into business management. Passionate about nature, terroir, and culture, Maxence enthusiastically accepted the challenge to move with his family to the breathtaking region of Yunnan in 2013. He took over the responsibility for the winemaking and viticulture teams at the Moët Hennessy Estate, located in the beautiful village of Adong.

At the beginning of 2015 he was appointed Estate Manager and greatly enjoys the adventure of discovering more every day about the amazing terroir including culture of the region.

David R. Duncan

President and CEO of Silver Oak & Twomey since 2002, David R. Duncan has emerged as an industry leader. One of America’s most renowned and recognized wine brands, Silver Oak & Twomey’s relentless pursuit of excellence – “we have yet to make our best bottle of wine” – has propelled the company to forefront of innovation in the industry and beyond.

David’s commitment to quality and continuous improvement is a constant driving force at Silver Oak & Twomey – from identifying new vineyard sites, to encouraging employee innovation, to developing a sustainability ethos that permeates the company’s culture. Silver Oak’s Oakville Winery is one of the most visible examples to date. Rebuilt under David’s leadership in 2008 with advanced energy, water-saving and winemaking technologies, in 2016 the winery became LEED Platinum certified – the first commercial winery in the world to gain Platinum status.

In 2015, David’s forward-thinking was a leading factor in the company’s decision to purchase The Oak Cooperage in Higbee, Missouri, making Silver Oak the first North American winery to own and operate an American oak barrel cooperage. Owning a cooperage gives Silver Oak complete control over the quality and supply of the American oak barrels that are a key factor in the style – aroma, flavor and texture – of Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon.

Never resting on his laurels, David has his eyes set on the future of the company, most notably the building of Silver Oak’s new winery in Alexander Valley, opening in 2017. Inspired by the re-build of the Oakville winery, David set out to find the perfect site to grow exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon and provide a first-rate, unrivaled customer experience. Like Oakville, the new winery will use cutting-edge technologies and seek Platinum LEED certification. David’s goal is to build the most sustainable winery in the world, a vision driven by wine quality and business ethics.

An industry spokesman, David appears on behalf of Silver Oak & Twomey and the California wine industry on CBS This Morning, CNBC, Bloomberg News, and FOX News. His quotes appear in national publications including Entrepreneur, Associated Press, and Wine Spectator. Even with his hands-on commitment to Silver Oak & Twomey, David chairs and participates on various industry and community boards including the Napa Valley Vintners, Auction Napa Valley, and the St. Helena Hospital Foundation.

David lives in St. Helena with his wife Kary, an MD with a private dermatology practice, and their three children.

Karynne O. Duncan, MD

An accomplished medical professional with a private dermatology practice in the Napa Valley, Dr. Kary Duncan has been actively involved in serving her community both as a physician and as a volunteer. For more than a decade she served on the Board of Directors at OLE Health, a non-profit community health center that serves one in four residents in the Napa Valley. In 2014, she and her husband, David, co-chaired Auction Napa Valley with Jeff and Valerie Gargiulo, raising the most money at a wine auction in U.S. history. Kary and David were also co-chairs of the capital campaign at the St. Helena Montessori School and were instrumental in propelling the school from a one-room-schoolhouse to a state-of-the-art campus that now provides education from the toddler years through eighth grade. Lastly, Kary and David have been ardent supporters of the St. Helena Hospital and in 2016 the “Kary and David Duncan Endowed Chair for Medical Innovation” was established.

Dr. Duncan is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Dermatology. Before moving to the Napa Valley, she was on faculty at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the departments of Internal Medicine and Dermatology. She also served as the Assistant Chief of Medicine at the University of Colorado Hospital. In addition to running her own private practice in St. Helena, Dr. Duncan remains active in the world of academic dermatology. She a clinical instructor at the Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Dermatology and is a member of the test writing committee for the American Board of Dermatology. She has published numerous papers and book chapters and in 2014 co-authored, with 3 other colleagues, a dermatology textbook entitled Dermatology Essentials.

At Silver Oak and Twomey Cellars, she was instrumental in the rebuild of the Napa Valley winery as a key advisor on architecture and design issues and serves as a “family ambassador” at winery events, including those that support the philanthropic organizations with which she and David are closely involved. Kary lives in St. Helena with her husband and three children, Connor, Maeve, and Jack.

Grace and Ken Evenstad founded Domaine Serene in the Dundee Hills of Oregon in 1989. The Evenstads had faith and confidence in Oregon early on, before there was a national market for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the region.

Today, Domaine Serene produces wines from six individual vineyard estates, planted exclusively to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Each estate offers a diversity of soils, clones, rootstocks, microclimates, slopes and elevations that add distinguishing complexity and elegance to the wines.

In 2001, the Evenstads completed construction of their current state-of-the art, five-level, gravity flow Pinot Noir winery. They broke ground in 2017 for their Chardonnay and Sparkling winery, the first dedicated white winery of its kind in Oregon, and will debut their new Sparkling Wine program that is scheduled for release in the summer of 2018. The wineries, located on the prestigious Winery Hill Estate, were built as a statement to the quality of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that can be produced from the world-class Dundee Hills AVA.
In 2015, Ken and Grace acquired Château de la Crée, the respected wine estate located in the birthplace of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the renowned Côte d’Or. This made them the first Oregon-based vintners to own land and produce wines in Burgundy, France.

In total, the Evenstads own 730 total acres of land in the hills of Yamhill County, with 275 acres planted to vine, and 25 acres, comprised of over forty percent Premier Cru vineyards, in the Côte de Beaune region of Burgundy. Finally, in 2017 Domaine Serene opened a new best-in-class hospitality center, the Clubhouse at Domaine Serene, that is changing the landscape of fine wine hospitality in the Pacific Northwest.

For the past 25 years, Domaine Serene, under the guidance of the Evenstads, has been focused on excellence in a never-ending quest to produce world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Their mission is to produce outstanding quality through continuous improvement and a commitment to extremely high internal standards. Domaine Serene’s wines represent the achievement that is possible in Oregon, one of the finest regions in the world for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

2016 Accolades:

Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines named Domaine Serene’s 2014 Evenstad Reserve Chardonnay the best white wine in the world.

London’s Decanter magazine named Domaine Serene’s 2012 Winery Hill Pinot Noir the top Pinot Noir in the world at the Decanter World Wine Awards.

Kelly Fleming

A native of Oregon, Kelly came to wine with deep experience in fine restaurants, a love of farming, and a solid background in art, engineering and architecture. As a restaurateur she visited Napa Valley often, and in 1998 she purchased the 300-acre Calistoga property that would become Kelly Fleming Wines as a family home. Over the next twenty years she oversaw the development of the site’s 12-acre vineyard and the construction of caves and a winery, overcoming obstacles such as water scarcity, fire danger, red tape, and even a persistent wild bear. An avid gardener, beekeeper and animal lover – as comfortable with a forklift as an adding machine – Kelly has turned a precious piece of land into a Napa Valley oasis, a place where the wild and the tamed, the undeveloped and the cultivated, live comfortably side by side.

As a lifetime farmer, Jeff Gargiulo has always been passionate about the land and agriculture, and today that passion is focused on grape growing and fine wine making. Thirty years ago, he and his wife Valerie dreamed of one day building a premier wine estate. That dream took shape in the early 1980s when Jeff and Valerie and their young family traveled to Napa Valley to visit Valerie’s cousins, Barney and Belle Rhodes. Napa Valley icons, Barney and Belle Rhodes had been in the Napa Valley since the late 1960s growing grapes in Rutherford at Bella Oaks Vineyard. Jeff and Valerie were inspired by their cousin’s Napa Valley lifestyle and confident that with their help and Jeff’s agricultural knowledge they could achieve their dream and make some of the finest wines in the world. Twelve years later and with countless hours of coaching from Barney and Belle, Jeff and Valerie purchased their first vineyard in Oakville, Napa Valley, Money Road Ranch in 1992. Seven years later they purchased their second Oakville property, 575 OVX.

From the beginning, the Gargiulo’s were committed to creating a world class Cabernet Sauvignon wine estate. From his years spent farming, Jeff Gargiulo, knew that if he didn’t start with the very best land, he could never expect to grow the best grapes. For this reason, the Gargiulo’s chose Oakville to establish their namesake winery. Then, like today, Oakville was considered to be amongst the preeminent places to grow Cabernet Sauvignon in the world. The very first vintage of Gargiulo Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon was 2000, and since then Gargiulo Vineyards has quietly taken its place among the most highly regarded Cabernet Sauvignon producers in Napa Valley. Not ones to rest on their laurels, Jeff, Valerie, daughter, April and the entire Gargiulo Vineyards’ team continue to strive to make Gargiulo wines the most pure and breathtaking expressions of their two esteemed Oakville vineyards.

1993: the last take!

Yes. From that moment I changed my life. From that last take I abandoned my activity as cinema producer, collaborating with Luca Barbareschi. Up until then my only relationship with wine had been drinking it and my passion for the country, the vineyard and the earth was merely “bucolic”. In time, I approached wine in another fashion. I got to know it from a different angle and in the last four or five years have realized what a splendid universe it entails. In this universe there exists strong, deeply rooted values, unlike those present in the world of cinema in which I had worked. Here it is possible to follow the slow passage of the seasons and to watch your own dreams blossom and mature, from September to September and, once again, nurture new goals and hopes. Contact with the countryside and the soil implies an authenticity that has vanished elsewhere.
The country can fascinate and enthuse you like nothing else in the world, and for this reason I have become part of the world of wine, with passion and total dedication. I gave vent to my creativity when I came to the Caparzo estate, near Montalcino; here I liberated my curiosity and desire to learn, personally following all of the phases of wine production.
In Caparzo I learned a lot, from the application of projects to expand the vineyard surface, which covers 93 hectares today, to the restructuring of the cellar in dimensions adequate for our future business needs.

1998: a new beginning

This is another important date for me, as I liquidated the other partners in the Caparzo Estate and remained the sole owner. I also acquired another important farm, Borgo Scopeto, not far from Vagliagli, in the heart of Chianti Classico, north of Castelnuovo Berardenga.
It was a great moment that stimulated a new period of growth, goals and emotions and I consider it a bullseye, given the magnificence of this medieval village, which is fully intact and has a tower dating back 1000 AD. Here, too, we have begun to modernize. The work has been concluded and now I’m able to enjoy Borgo Scopeto, complete with its 172 productive acres of vineyard on an estate consisting of 1235 acres.

2002: looking to the future

In these past few years my relationship with wine has become more impassioned; my complete involvement brings out emotions that renew themselves with each wine tasting and harvest and I must admit that my dream is increasingly materializing, a dream that began with my desire to become a “vine dresser” and that becomes even more concrete today, with my purchase of Doga Delle Clavule Estate in Maremma, not far from Grosseto. As a result of this purchase, I may one day attain my chimera and produce great Tuscan wines like Brunello, Chianti Classico or Morellino and the great Supertuscans. Year after year, dream after dream, one day I know it might just happen.

Dick Grace’s personal values and commitments have shaped not only his own little life, but also the lives of countless other people worldwide.

First as a United States Marine Corps Officer, and then as a Senior Vice President for Smith Barney, Dick spent over thirty-five years cultivating his professional and financial success. According to Dick however, the real story of his true success began when he turned his focus outward and embarked on the path of compassionate action.

In the late 1970’s, Dick and his wife Ann started a small winery in the Napa Valley of California. Although the family began their venture with virtually no experience in wine making, the Insider’s Wine Line says “the Cabernet Sauvignons that have evolved from the original one-acre vineyard on the property have now become legend.”

It is charity and compassionate action that is at the heart of Dick’s personal transformation and the mission of Grace Family Vineyards. Known as much for its mission statement, “Wine as a catalyst towards healing our planet” as for its prized wine, Grace Family Vineyards raises well over a million dollars annually for various charitable causes. Among those who have benefited from the profits of the vineyard are organizations caring for children with cancer, pediatric AIDS, abused children, and organizations serving the children of China, Tibet, India, Nepal, Mexico, and of course, America.

Dick commits a significant portion of his time and resources to raising awareness about the need to act compassionately. He uses every tour of his winery, every speaking engagement, and every possible encounter to share his stories and remind people that active participation in the lives of people in need can be as spiritually rewarding as inward-focused religious or meditative practice. Although his own spiritual path is centered in Buddhism, Dick focuses his practice on the universal importance of caring and compassionate action that unites all religions and spiritual teachings. He incents all whose lives he touches to participate in the opportunity, if not the obligation, of decreasing the suffering of sentient beings around the world.

Pamela and George Hamel, Jr.
Vintners & Proprietors
Hamel Family Wines

George, Jr. and Pam met during their junior year in high school in Virginia, when Pam transferred to the high school that George was attending. In fact, they double dated at their high school junior prom (albeit with different dates). George’s first wine memory with Pam occurred while he was courting her in their mid-20’s. He took Pam to a “fancy” restaurant in VA. Trying to impress Pam, George looked at the wine selections “strategically” placed around the restaurant, and quickly ordered a white wine, simply because it was in a bottle shaped like a fish. Pam eventually married him anyway.

Open since 2014, Hamel Family Wines (“HFW”) is located at the base of the Mayacamas Mountains in the heart of Sonoma Valley. The winemaking team includes acclaimed director of winemaking, Martha McClellan and winemaker, John Hamel, with George Hamel, III leading the sales and financial operations. HFW focuses on crafting limited production estate-grown, organically farmed Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-style blends, Zinfandel, Grenache, and Sauvignon Blanc.

Amanda Harlan

From a young age, Amanda Harlan pursued her passion for riding horses, which led her to spend years riding Dressage and progressing to join the U.S. Junior Olympic team, for whom she earned both silver and gold medals. Prior to graduating from the University of Southern California, Amanda spent her college years working for Wally’s Wine & Spirits, as well as LVMH, deepening her knowledge of wine. Amanda formally joined the family business in 2014 by working harvest in the BOND cellar. Amanda has now taken on the role of Client Relations and Director of Sales in Southern California for The Mascot, marking the full involvement of the Harlan family domain.

Cory Empting

A native of Napa Valley, Cory Empting was immersed in the tradition and culture of the wine world from an early stage. At age 15, while working harvest with longtime family friend and esteemed winemaker Ric Forman, Cory began what was to become his chosen profession.

As a student at California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, Cory spent his summers in Oakville serving as a harvest intern at Harlan Estate and BOND. This apprenticeship provided him the opportunity to work alongside Bob Levy, who further expanded Cory’s knowledge and deepened his resolve to become a winemaker. Driven to experience various approaches to winemaking, Cory pursued opportunities to work in cellars in a variety of winegrowing regions, with a particular focus on Europe.

In 2007, Cory was appointed Winemaker of Harlan Estate and BOND, while his mentor, Bob Levy, assumed the position of the estates’ Director of Winegrowing. With the emergence of Promontory, Cory extended his winemaking expertise to Bill Harlan’s most recent wine venture. Cory’s 14 year tenure at Harlan Estate and BOND is testament to his passion, creativity, and relentless desire to learn.

Darioush Khaledi’s life story has inspired the creation of Darioush and continues to shape it today. Darioush is a man dedicated to wine and the ideals of the American dream – a deeply rooted belief in individualism and opportunity. Born and raised in Iran, trained as a civil engineer, and a lifelong entrepreneur, his fascination with wine was instilled at an early age by his father’s winemaking efforts and the cultural history of winemaking in Shiraz. Darioush immigrated to the United States seeking opportunity, reinventing his career by building what became at one point the largest family-owned grocery business in California through determination, experimentation and a commitment to pursue opportunities others overlook. Together with his wife, Shahpar, he founded Darioush in 1997, and set out to produce wines that celebrate individualism and craftsmanship. The winery is Darioush’s realization of his American dream.

The eldest of Henri Krug’s five children, Olivier Krug grew up right beside the Krug cellars in Reims. He then went on to study economics and finance in Paris, the city where he was born. In 1989, as he was about to accept his first job in a Paris-based company, his father proposed that he join the family business. At that moment, Olivier became the sixth generation of the Krug family to perpetuate Joseph Krug’s vision when he founded the House of Krug in 1843.

Krug was practically unknown in Japan when Olivier decided to travel there. He would stay for two years and quickly came to understand the culture and mindset of the Japanese nation. One after the other Olivier met Krug’s main distributors, sommeliers, journalists and of course, Krug Lovers. He won them over with his charming personality. He succeeded in opening the way for Krug’s thriving expansion in Japan.

Over the years, the Land of the Rising Sun went on to become Krug’s prime market.

Olivier has since then occupied several positions, while continuing to work in close cooperation with the winemaking team and with his father, who passed on his tasting expertise to him. Today, as Director of Krug, Olivier is part of the tasting committee and continues to foster very special relations between Krug and the winegrowers, when he is not travelling all over the world, spreading the Krug message.

Cliff Lede

Since founding his namesake winery in 2002, Cliff Lede (pronounced lay-dee) has put every emphasis towards creating a modern and diversified world-class estate. A strategic thinker and visionary, Lede is the driving force of a company that at once holds the values of the great Old World winemaking properties, with the energy, youth and spark of the New World. His wines are intrinsically connected to the land, yet his view point is forward-thinking and entirely fresh. One visit to the Cliff Lede Vineyards property, which is full of contemporary art and is juxtaposed with vineyard blocks named for classic rock songs, and it is clear that to him, wine—like music and art—is a source of great beauty.

Lede grew up involved with his family’s successful construction business in Canada, and first discovered the splendor of the Napa Valley while on a business retreat in the 1990s. An avid long-distance runner, he explored the back roads of Napa Valley throughout his trip. The area resonated a great deal with him, as he had collected Bordeaux wines since his late 20s. Frequent return visits ensued, and he was soon exposed to everything Napa Valley has to offer: beautiful land, some of the world’s greatest restaurants and a core of friendly, passionate and hardworking people that reminded him of his own community.

Lede soon began searching for a property in Napa to purchase, where he could start his own winery. Determined to plant his roots in the Stags Leap District for its complex and age-worthy wines, he remained patient and focused.

Upon learning that a Stags Leap District estate was for sale, Cliff recognized the opportunity and, after months of negotiations, founded Cliff Lede Vineyards. One year later, the southwest facing hillside just above the Silverado Trail became available. Cliff acquired the rare hillside property, naming it the Poetry Vineyard. In 2005, he opened Poetry Inn, one of Napa’s most secluded luxury boutique hotels, perched high above the valley floor overlooking his winery and vineyards. In 2009, he expanded to include cooler-climate varieties from the Anderson Valley and subsequently purchased the Savoy Vineyard, creating a new brand, FEL, named for his mother, Florence Elsie Lede.

In 1992, Debbie and Randy Lewis established a small family winery in Napa Valley and were later joined by their son Dennis in 1999. Total production is approximately 9,000 cases annually of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

We are literally hands-on in every aspect of vineyard management, winemaking, sales and distribution, and we thrive on this challenge and the relationships we cultivate in the process. It is our continuing goal to create world-class wines.

Randy Lewis

Randy was a professional race car driver for 23 years. This included Formula Three in Europe, where he fell in love with local wines and lifestyles. Randy returned to the States to compete in Formula 5000, Can Am, and finally Indy Cars from 1983 to 1991.

This included running in five Indy 500’s where he qualified on the 4th row three times with a best finish of 13th. Wine has always been Randy’s second love after racing and he feels fortunate to be making a living doing what he loves.

Elizabeth Neuman
Director of Business Development

The oldest grandchild of winery founder, Joe Phelps, Elizabeth Neuman was the first member of the third generation to join the family-owned winery in 2011. For the next five years she served as a sales representative in New York and subsequently as regional sales manager representing the winery on the East coast and in the Midwest. In 2016, Elizabeth was promoted to Director of Business Development. In this role Elizabeth is responsible for evaluating the winery’s business from a large-scale perspective and completing strategic assessments of areas of opportunity such as direct-to-consumer and international strategy, production and operations optimization.

Though Elizabeth knew from an early age that she wanted to join the family wine business, Joe Phelps encouraged her to first gain experience elsewhere. “I really had to prove myself. That was the tone my grandfather set.” And so, in the early part of her career, Elizabeth did just that, exploring all sides of the industry she had come to love.

During college, Elizabeth designed her own internship at Joseph Phelps Vineyards, a vocational program that involved working in the retail room and the cellar, attending strategic planning meetings and acting as a sales representative for the brand. In 2005, following graduation, she took a position with a NY-based PR agency planning marketing events nationwide for prestigious Champagne producers. In 2008, she worked a harvest at Ceretto Wines in Barolo, an experience she treasures but which taught her that management and marketing was more to her liking. When she returned to New York she was hired as a Wine Consultant at Southern Wine & Spirits’ Fine Wine Division, a position she held for three years. Finally, in 2011, when she learned that Joseph Phelps Vineyards was looking for a sales representative in the New York area, she applied for the position and got the appointment. “It was one of the best days of my life.”

Today, in addition to her day to day duties, Elizabeth is mindful of the responsibility of carrying on her grandfather’s incredible legacy. “It all starts with Joe – his vision, the people he brought together, and the way he lived his life. A phrase we use too often, but it’s true, is that we are stewards of this asset, stewards of the land. My grandfather wanted us to continue his legacy, and if his life was any example, he didn’t mean in any prescribed way – but through taking risks, remembering our values and continuing to pursue excellence.”

Elizabeth graduated from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania with a degree in Business Administration. She is currently studying for her Global Executive MBA. She and her husband Clayton reside in New York with their daughter Eloise.

Will Phelps
Director of Marketing

As the grandson of Joe Phelps and son of Executive Chairman Bill Phelps, Will Phelps grew up with more than a passing interest in wine. In fact, one of Will’s early memories is of Joe taking him into his wine cellar and showing him how to decant an old bottle with the light of a candle. But it wasn’t until Will worked the 2008 harvest at Domaine E. Guigal in the Northern Rhone Valley of France that he became determined to pursue a career in wine.

“That’s when I fell in love with it. I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Philippe Guigal, and I began reading everything I could about wine. It was an invaluable experience to be able to apply what I was learning the very next day with one of the most renowned winemakers in the world.”

When Will returned from France he was encouraged to get experience outside of his family’s winery, and he quickly landed a position as Regional Sales Manager for Trinitas Cellars covering Southern California and the Midwest. After three years there, Will and his wife, Amanda, went to South Africa to work the 2012 harvest at Paul Cluver Winery in Elgin Valley. Finally, with both sales and winemaking experience under his belt, Will was welcomed to Joseph Phelps Vineyards in 2012, the second third-generation family member to join the winery. He spent the next four years as a Sales Representative supporting the sales and distribution of wines in California, and in 2016 he was promoted to Director of Marketing. Today, Will has overall responsibility for the winery’s marketing and public relations initiatives and is also a member of the Joseph Phelps Executive Management Team.

“I am so inspired by my grandfather. He was a man of passion and vision. He never settled. He was constantly striving for excellence, in the vineyard, in the cellar, and in business. Today, it is our family’s job to take what he left us and enhance it.”

Will graduated from the University of San Diego with a degree in Business Administration and received an Executive Wine MBA from Sonoma State University in 2015. He and his wife, Amanda, live in Napa with their daughters Emma and Lily.

Beth Novak Milliken – President & CEO
Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery

In 1987, Beth Novak Milliken joined her mother, Mary Novak, becoming the first second-generation family member to become actively involved in guiding Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery. In the more than three decades since, Beth has played a key role in establishing Spottswoode Estate Vineyard as one of the world’s great winegrowing sites, and Spottswoode as one of Napa Valley’s most iconic and respected wineries. She has also quietly built a reputation as a leader in the Napa Valley community, advocating on behalf of the wine industry, and the social and environmental causes she holds dear.

Moving to Napa Valley with her parents in 1972, Beth grew up surrounded by the vineyards. Like her four siblings, Beth’s chores included tasks like suckering the vines and cleaning out the emitters. While her youth in Napa Valley may have planted the seed for her future, ironically, it was a year spent studying abroad in Europe that made her begin thinking about a career in wine. After earning a degree in economics from UCLA, Beth joined a San Francisco-based wine brokerage representing clients like Caymus, Joseph Phelps and Pine Ridge.

When Mary asked Beth to help out “a little” at the winery, it didn’t take long for a few days a week to become a permanent way of life. “Back then, we were on our third release, and we were still in the red,” says Beth. “Two things became immediately obvious to me: this was a full time position, and I absolutely loved being a part of the winery!” One of Beth’s first major decisions was to acquire the historic adjacent Kraft property to expand the estate and establish a barrel room and offices in its beautiful buildings. Since then, Beth has played an integral role in the thoughtful evolution of Spottswoode. During her tenure, Beth has overseen the replanting of the estate in response to phylloxera, the vineyard’s pioneering CCOF organic certification in 1992, and the building of the Spottswoode Estate Winery in 1999.

In addition, Beth has been a strong and effective voice for the Napa Valley wine community. Reflecting the high regard she’s held in by her peers, in 1998, Beth was elected the youngest president of the Napa Valley Vintners, becoming the first woman to hold the position. A believer in leading by example, Beth and Mary worked with four women winemakers in a row at Spottswoode, before promoting current winemaker Aron Weinkauf. Beth also spearheaded the restoration of Spring Creek, which defines the southern boundary of the estate vineyard. In 2010, Beth and Mary were honorary chairs of Auction Napa Valley, a hugely successful event that raised more than $8,500,000 for Napa Valley nonprofits, and in 2007, Spottswoode joined 1% for the Planet, donating 1% of Spottswoode’s gross revenues each year to nonprofits that support a healthier world.

Above all else, Beth sees herself as a steward of her family’s winegrowing estate, carrying on the legacy begun by Mary, who passed away in 2016. “Our family has a four-decade relationship with this land that now spans three generations. I grew up here, along with my four siblings, and now the third generation is enjoying the property. When you own a family winery like ours, the cellar is like a photo album, each vintage of our Spottswoode Estate Cabernet is a picture of a year in our family’s life, and a testament for our love of this place. This is why it has always been so important to us that our wines reflect who we are, and what we believe in, both in terms of the way we farm our vineyard and in the beautiful, balanced style of our wines.”

TERRY & MARY PEABODY

Terry Peabody is Chairman and owner of Craggy Range, providing the direction, resources, business acumen and determination for growth. By any measure, East Coast American born Terry is one of Australia’s most successful entrepreneurs with his success in building waste management and transportation companies and business interests extending from the USA and Canada to Europe, Asia Australia and New Zealand.

As Founder of Transpacific Industries Ltd, he built a company with more than 115 sites in Australia and New Zealand and in excess of 7000 employees. He is also the Chairman and President of Pozzolanic Philippines, a Manila based company involved in fly ash waste management businesses. Terry is well known in Queensland business for his pioneering work with Pozzolanic and as a local manufacturer and distributor for Western Star trucks.

Through his development of Transpacific Industries Ltd, Terry has been a prime instigator on environmental protection in Australia, known for providing economically cost effective, more environmentally-sustainable services within the waste management industry.

As a person who has an appreciation for good food and wine, he was the majority shareholder in the landmark Brisbane restaurant ‘The Fountain Room’ (known as the company canteen to the employees of the day).

Mary Peabody has an extensive background in the hospitality business in Canada and Australia and Craggy Range’s renowned, award-winning ‘Terrôir’ restaurant is one of her focuses. Fine food and wine were very much a part of her upbringing in Pennsylvania, USA and that has continued. Terrôir was conceived as a beautiful setting in which to share with friends, family and fellow enthusiasts.

The restaurant set among the vineyards and a magnificent scenic backdrop is renowned for several signature dishes that regulars will not allow to leave the menu – including wood-fired oven whole-roasted fish. Mary’s innate taste and attention to quality ensures the best of wine, food and atmosphere and Terrôir regularly receives accolades from both domestic and international press.

The couple divide their time between Queensland, Australia, Havelock North, New Zealand and Whistler, Canada.

David Pearson
CEO
Opus One Winery

David Pearson has served as the CEO of Opus One Winery since February, 2004. Opus One was formed in 1979 by the late Baron Philippe de Rothschild and the late Robert Mondavi. Opus One aspires to be recognized as one of the world’s finest wines. Prior to his position with Opus One, David served as president of Rancho Arroyo Grande Winery on the central coast of California. He has also served as vice president and general manager of Byron Vineyards & Winery (part of the Robert Mondavi Corporation).

Prior to that he was the general manager for Robert Mondavi’s project in Languedoc, France where he produced Vichon wines. He spent four years working with Baron Philippe de Rothschild as the US marketing manager for the Rothschild wines. With Heublein, Inc. in Connecticut, David worked in R&D focusing on the sensory analysis of wines and spirits. David began his career working as winemaker at San Pasqual Vineyards in Southern California.

David has recently served as an honorary director of the Grapes for Humanity Foundation, whose mission is to support global humanitarian efforts, particularly those focused on the victims and survivors of disasters and personal tragedies. He is a Board member for several organizations including UC Davis and the Napa Valley Vintners organization. David also serves as a Director on the Board of Festival del Solé, one of America’s premier music and lifestyle festivals held every year in Napa Valley. Opus One is a supporter of the Institute of Masters of Wine, which promotes excellence in the “art, science, and business of wine.”

David earned a B.S. degree in fermentation science from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He went on to earn an M.B.A. in international business from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He and his wife, Linnea, have two daughters and a son.

In the beginning of the 1980’s my father finished high school and had followed in his father’s footsteps studying economics. Quickly realizing a life in economics wasn’t for him and unsure of which path to take, he dropped out of university and decided to travel the world. He eventually found himself working as a lumberjack in the highlands of Scotland, where he met my mother. After some time in Scotland they decided to move back to my dad’s home, South Australia. They first started working in the Barossa in the early eighties. Soon realizing how much they were being paid working vintages and enjoying the local wine culture, they decided to hang around a while longer.

This continued for some years, which allowed them to work hard throughout the harvest and pruning season and then spend all of their money travelling through the rest of the year. After time the Barossan wine culture started to make its mark on my parents. They had the opportunity to work for some stalwarts of the Australian wine world; including Peter Lehmann, Yalumba, Wolf Blass, Saltram and Rockford. Time spent travelling turned to working Northern Hemisphere vintages in the old world of wine, mostly through Northern Italy and France’s Rhone Valley.

These experiences led them to understand the secret to success of the Barossa’s wine: its ancient, dry-grown old Rhone grapevines which had been planted a century ago by the Barossa’s original settlers – and in the soil and climate which suit those varieties so well.

By the beginning of the nineties they scoured the Barossa looking for available old vines for which to make their own wine. Due to the recent wine glut and resulting vine pull scheme many of the vineyard’s owners had neglected their vines for some years, some looking to uproot and turn the land to grazing.

The growers were convinced otherwise. My parents then developed a share farming agreement, in which they would work the vines and over years bring them back to health, which would provide them with a share of the fruit to make their own wine. After five years the vines began to produce a crop and my mother and father now had access to some of the most sought after grapes in the Barossa and from some of its oldest, most sacred vines.

They named their brand after the place that they had met in Scotland, and its wine quickly received international acclaim. The wines had been described as “having one foot in the Northern Hemisphere and one foot in the Southern Hemisphere”.

At the beginning of 2014 my father and I began a new chapter: Powell and Son. We had a vision to create expressive wines which tell of true Barossan terroir and its diversity. We chose the six vineyards which we believed to be the most expressive of the different Barossan districts throughout the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley – planted to Shiraz, Grenache and Mataro.

I had spent my childhood in the Barossa growing up with my father in the hot and sunny Marananga of the Barossa Valley, as well as the cooler, high hills of Flaxman’s Valley in Eden Valley with my mother. I understand their difference in wine style, but equal greatness of the two regions and I want our wines to reflect that. Therefore, approximately half of our production is from each region. Our most premium wines are two single vineyard shirazes – one from Flaxman’s Valley in Eden and one from Marananga in the Barossa.

The six vineyards we chose represent our single vineyard series: two Shiraz vineyards from each the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley, one Grenache vineyard and one Mataro vineyard. Some of these vineyards are the same vines that my parents first brought back to life and my family has now been tending to for over two decades. Many now live well into their second century of age. We name our single vineyard wines after the original settling family that had the foresight to plant those vines to the variety and soil that they did over one hundred years ago. For those people we will be eternally grateful.

We make five wines under our regional series, which showcase traditional styles of wines that have been made in the Barossa and stood the test of time: a Grenache Shiraz Mataro blend; a blend of Barossa and Eden Valley Shiraz, a Barossa Valley Shiraz and an Eden Valley Riesling. In this series we also produce a Barossa Valley blend of Roussanne Marsanne, which we recognize as one of the great white wine styles of the world and is our most premium white wine that we make.

From our focus on terroir expression we believe it important that we work the vineyards ourselves and so in the Winter season we prune the vines and maintain through Spring and Summer, then vinify the grapes in Autumn. We use rod and spur for our Shiraz and bush vine pruning methods for our Grenache and Mataro. We employ a minimalistic approach in the vineyard to ensure an honest expression of that vineyard site through to the bottle. Our viticultural management involves organic practices and some of our vineyards are run biodynamically.

The vinification process is highly oxidative; involving open concrete fermenters, pumping over and basket pressing. After fermentation we are highly reductive to retain the wine’s character. All wines are aged in French oak and in a combination of large oak foudré, barriques and puncheons.

We aim for freshness of fruit, vibrancy and liveliness but will not compromise vineyard expression. All viticultural and vinification decisions are made based on a balance of these two qualities. By doing so we believe that we create wines that are expressive of their place: our home, the Barossa.

Véronique Sanders
President & CEO

After studying literature, economics, and communication at the Sorbonne (CELSA), Véronique Sanders began her career as a consultant with Publicis in Prague and Paris. In order to improve her understanding of wine, she obtained the DUAD (University Diploma in Wine Tasting Aptitude) from the University of Bordeaux. When her grandfather, Jean Sanders, sold Château Haut-Bailly, Robert G. Wilmers asked her to stay on and manage the
estate. Véronique thus achieved a childhood dream thanks to this tremendous opportunity to be in charge of a prestigious classified growth.

In conjunction with Robert Wilmers, she oversaw a far-reaching investment programme to modernise the vineyards, cellars, offices, and château itself. They have made sure to perpetuate the warm, family atmosphere at Haut-Bailly, and continue to make visitors feel as welcome as they have always been. Véronique Sanders also works on providing the expertise of Haut-Bailly’s team to Château Le Pape, a neighbouring vineyard purchased by Robert Wilmers in 2012.

A member of the Board of Directors of the Commanderie du Bontemps de Médoc, Graves, Barsac et Sauternes, as well as that of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux and the Académie du Vin de Bordeaux, Véronique Sanders is deeply committed to the wine community. She was the first woman to be elected president of the Union des Crus Classés de Graves between 2006 and 2009. She also received the National Order of Merit in September 2011 and became a member of the board of the ISVV (Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences) in 2014. Véronique Sanders also holds several mandates in professional and cultural associations. She is a member of the board of Oeneo, the president of Bordeaux “Club APM” (Association Progrès du Management) and a member of the board of Arpeggio (Friends of Bordeaux Opera association).

Véronique Sanders is married to Alexander van Beek, Director of Château Giscours and Château du Tertre, and the couple have a son. She is a lover of literature and classical music, and speaks both English and German (and is learning Dutch).

Doug Shafer arrived in Napa Valley at age 17 when he moved with his family from the Chicago suburbs in 1973 to a new home in the rugged foothills of the Stags Leap Palisades.

His first few years in the Valley proved to be formative ones. Throughout his junior and senior years of high school he spent long hours helping his father replant and then clear land for new vineyards. The enjoyment he took working outdoors among the vines inspired him to enroll in the enology and viticulture program at the University of California at Davis.

While completing his university studies, Doug spent summers working with his father in the vineyards while further expanding his understanding of the wine industry working at Hanns Kornell and Robert Mondavi wineries. Meanwhile, his father was preparing to crush the first vintage of wine in 1978. Following graduation, Doug honed his skills as assistant winemaker at Lakespring Winery prior to becoming winemaker at Shafer Vineyards in 1983.

Family Winemaker

During his ten years as winemaker, Doug forged the trademark Shafer style of quality, consistency, and elegance. Vintage by vintage, he learned to highlight the natural character of the grapes from his family’s hillside vineyards, crafting wines that reflect the Stags Leap District character of rich fruit and silky tannins. During this period he also managed the estate vineyards, launching the winery on the road to sustainable farming developing a new 66-acre vineyard in the Carneros district, the source for Red Shoulder Chardonnay.

Winery President

In 1994, Doug took over the reins as president when his father John became chairman of the board and Elias Fernandez became winemaker. As president, Doug continued to refine the Shafer wine portfolio working closely with Elias to develop a vineyard in the foothills of the Vaca Mountains that would be the source for the Syrah and Petite Sirah of Relentless, which in 2012 was named Wine Spectator’s Wine of the Year. He also purchased a 25-acre hay field in Stags Leap District, developing it into the predominant vineyard source for One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon.

Doug Shafer has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors throughout his career including the 2010 James Beard Foundation Award for “Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professionals” which he shared with his father. In 2012 University of California Press published A Vineyard in Napa, Doug’s critically acclaimed memoir, recounting 40 years inside the Napa Valley wine industry. Associated Press called the book “… [a] true-life story of one of the great success stories of the American wine industry.” Forbes declared it ”… a charming and refreshingly honest story with a happy ending.”

As president Doug Shafer continues to oversee the daily operations of the winery and vineyards as well as sales and marketing. He maintains a hands-on approach, personally meeting as many winery guests as he can and working closely with his father and winemaker Elias Fernandez to ensure both the quality of the wines and the future of Shafer Vineyards.

Long-term, Doug is committed to preserving Shafer as a small family winery dedicated to the production of world-class wines from the estate vineyards.

Together, Shari and Garen learned about wine, first through his parents at meals where they served good California or Italian wines, and then later when Garen went to Stanford Business School and Shari would go north to visit. They would often spend a day in Napa Valley, where their dream began to one day have a vineyard and make wines of great quality. In 1968 they married, went to Vietnam, Japan, Washington, D.C., then New York where their first child Brandon was born in 1971.

When it was time to move back to California in 1975, one of the key criteria for where to live was proximity to wine country, so they chose Lafayette, CA, only one hour from Napa and 3 hours from Tahoe for skiing. 1979 proved to be a year of prosperity for the Staglins, giving birth to their second child, Shannon. This year also marked their purchase of their first company. After many years of rapid growth, they were able to sell a portion of this business, creating capital to finally pursue their dream and become owners of a premier vineyard in the Napa Valley.

By the end of 1985, the dream came true with the purchase of the historic 50 acre vineyard owned by Beaulieu Vineyards and an adjacent 12 acre parcel. Using their contacts and background, Shari and Garen built a business and marketing plan that remains the foundation of Staglin Family Vineyard: family ownership, commitment to quality, and a personal approach to selling and encouraging memorable experiences. Brandon and Shannon grew up on the property, pursued their education and have both returned with new perspectives and experiences to rejoin the family business. Shari remains as CEO since 1985, Garen is Director of Public Relations, Shannon is President and Brandon is Marketing Communications and IT Director. They hope to cultivate this tradition for many generations to come.

Alexander van Beek

Graduated with a MBA in Finance in 1995 at the age of 24, I arrived in September of that same year at Château Giscours for a two months’ “harvest experience”.

Eric Albada Jelgersma, President of the S.E. Château Giscours asked me to stay and work for a full time job, which I accepted.

To improve my knowledge in wines, I then went to the Institute of Oenology in Bordeaux.

Since 1998, I am in charge of the running of Château Giscours and Château du Tertre, both being classified growths in the appellation of Margaux.

In 2003, Eric Albada Jelgersma also became the owner of a wine-growing property in Italy called Caiarossa situated in the heart of the Val di Cecina, on the Tuscan coast and asked me to take over the management of this estate as well.