Mary Gorman-McAdams, MW is a New York based independent wine consultant offering a range of wine business, education, marketing and tasting services to the wine industry. MaryMary Gorman-McAdams, MW is a New York based Master of Wine. She is also a businesswoman, with 17 years experience in a range of environments from multinational corporations, to start-ups as well as Government agencies.

Today Mary is Market Advisor to the Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB) for North America – a position that combines her passion for wine with her extensive international business expertise. Mary became a Master of Wine in 2011, a distinguished title held only by 310 people worldwide.

She was also awarded the Viña Errazuriz Award for excellence in the Business of Wine exam paper. During the course of her MW studies Mary was the recipient of the Trinity Champagne Scholarship and the Constellation Brands Award – international prizes for MW candidates. In 2012 she was honored as a Dame Chevalier de L’Ordre des Côteaux de Champagne.

As one of the foremost Wine Educators in the United States, Mary is a Board member of the Society of Wine Educators and a member of the North American Education committee for the Institute of Masters of Wine.

She also teaches the globally recognized WSET wine programs. Fluent French speaker with excellent communications and editorial skills, Mary has a highly trained wine tasting palate and international experience in wine judging, reviewing and scoring. She is a judge at the Decanter Wine Awards, the Ultimate Wine Challenge and the Dallas Morning News/TexSom international wine competitions.

Between 2008 and 2014 she was the wine columnist for the highly trafficked lifestyle website Apartment Therapy. Mary has a BA (Honors) in Languages and International Marketing from Dublin City University, and an MBS in International Marketing (First Class Honors) from the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business (University College Dublin), where she was awarded both the Dean’s List Award & the Sir Charles Harvey Award for academic excellence in post-graduate studies.

Underground Cellar has come up with an interesting new concept for wine sales, where its customers are able purchase package deals that include random, free upgrades to premium, rare, and private-stash bottles from a number of wineries. These wines can then be shipped immediately to the consumer, or they can stored in Underground Cellar’s own climate and temperature-controlled wine cellar for on-demand shipping.

We’ve gamified online wine buying with our ‘upgrade’ ecommerce technology. Been in business 3 years, backed by Silicon Valley VCs, such as Y Combinator, Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran, and Jason Calacanis.

Underground Cellar is a groundbreaking online wine marketplace for discovering and buying premium wine that randomly rewards our consumers with free upgrades to rare and private-stash bottles from prestigious wineries. Members can increase their chance of being upgraded to a higher-value bottle by referring friends, purchasing wine, and participating in discussions with other users. Underground Cellar is free to join and everyone of legal drinking age 21+ is invited.

Our Approach

Unlike the other countless "deep discount" ecommerce websites, we take a different approach to helping wineries move inventory. Rather than providing value to our members through discounts, value is provided through randomized upgrades to more premium wines. Not only does this provide an exciting new way for wine consumers to experience high-end wines they might not otherwise go to the store and buy, but it allows a winery to maintain its price point by never advertising their product at a discount. Discounts ruin brands - We preserve them.

The Offers

Each week we post offers exclusive to Underground Cellar members only. Each offer is comprised of a few similar wines of different price points. Our members only pay for the lowest priced bottle in the offer, and have the chance to be upgraded to the higher priced bottles. Chances for an upgrade are fully transparent, and all of this information is provided on the offer pages. Most of our deals are direct with the wineries, so you're receiving wine directly from the winery itself. This means you're purchasing bottles with the highest possible provenance. Please be patient as the winery gets your wine to the shipping facility and then directly to your door.

What is CloudCellar?

We provide our members the ability to accumulate and store their purchases for free and for an unlimited amount of time in our state-of-the-art, humidity and temperature controlled wine cellar located in Napa Valley, CA. Known as the “CloudCellar,” members can mix-and-match bottles from different wineries over time, and when they are ready to take them out of the “cellar,” they simply click on their “CloudCellar” tab and select which bottles they want delivered. Our members can even request them to arrive chilled and ready to drink to nearly anywhere in the US. This is a cost-effective and great way to accumulate bottles as users only pay $5 when shipping 6+ bottles, with free shipping when shipping 12+ bottles.

Purple Line Urban Winery is a small family owned winery born out of our long romance and passion for good wine. My name is Kate (Owner/Tasting room manager) my husband’s name is George (Owner/Winemaker/cellar rat) and this is our story.

Our story begins a few years ago when George decided that we needed to build a wine cellar in the basement of our 1865 Victorian home in the historic district of Oroville. George doesn’t do anything half way and once he gets an idea in his head he is as tenacious as a bull.  So the wine cellar was built. Now we need to fill it up. Ok we can do that…we belong to wine clubs from many regions and surely that will fill the cellar. With our thoughts into filling the cellar we ventured out into the country side on one beautiful Sunday afternoon to do a little wine tasting in our region.  We met the people making the wine, we talked to the people tasting the wine, we smelled the wine fermenting in the oak barrels.

That is the day we fell in love with the craft of making wine, with its intrigue and romance.

Then before we knew it we were helping at the local wineries and learning to make wine from the winemakers. Our innocent flirtations quickly evolved to a full-fledged love affair, as passionate and all-consuming as any love affair can be. We were hooked! What made us want to grow our passion into a serious business are the people and the camaraderie that develops because of the wine.  

The stars aligned and the signs were all around us pointing the way.

We jumped – heart, soul and pocket book – into the wine industry and Purple Line Urban Winery was born. After a few character-building moments (ok, more like questioning our sanity moments), encouragement and guidance from industry winemakers and mentors, and timely opportunities (funny what following the signs will do sometimes), we found ourselves standing in a cold, rundown, warehouse with a leaky roof in downtown Oroville.. Amidst the dust and darkness, we thought “Perfect” Just like our love affair with wine has been a journey that at times has seemed like one challenge after another….. This is the perfect setting to share our passion for wine with you. Our grapes will be sourced from mostly local vineyards in our North Sierra Region. We will crush, ferment, press and bottle the wine ourselves in our cellar.  Thus, the name “Urban Winery”.

We will take advantage of so many incredible grape varietals grown in our North Sierra Foothills region and hand craft them into our wine using time honored traditional methods right here in our fully functioning winery 

In the fall of 2013, (when all the stars aligned) we opened the doors to our tasting room and cellar in the Old Warehouse.  We call it “Warehouse Chic” and we introduce the wines of Purple Line Urban Winery to you.  We are different, we are edgy, but we make great wine. 

Be a “ part of History”  come out and see us and help promote the wines, art, music and food of our region. 

So begins the next chapter of our story… We looking forward to meeting you every step along the way…

Before founding Grey Fox Vineyards in 1996, the Arrigoni and Cecchi families spent much of their free time pursuing their passion for flying small planes. It was on these getaways that conversations turned to dreams of planting a vineyard and building a winery. Bruce's family had a tradition of making wine at home and Gary had a good chemistry background. A seed was planted and it began to take hold.

They all sought out viticulture courses at U.C. Davis and committed themselves to a new passion--winegrowing. While Bruce, Gary and Jeanne are involved in the vineyard and winery operations, Pat is busy handling sales and wine tasting events. Their goal is to create high quality wine by constantly overseeing and improving their vineyard to produce great fruit.

Come visit Grey Fox and share in the fulfillment and pride of this incredible endeavor. Taste the premium wines and you'll understand why winemaking has become their ultimate passion.

    Light has more than two decades of experience in wine industry  communications. Prior to forming Nancy Light Public Relations in 2003, she  was Vice President of Public Relations for Robert Mondavi for seven years,  acting as chief communications strategist and managing public relations  programs for the company and its portfolio of 16 wineries and labels.  Light  was responsible for communications programs for the launch of ten new labels,  including international joint ventures, during a period of intense growth and  expansion in the US and key export markets.  She also managed press activity  for family and key company executives and served as spokesperson on  promotional, business and industry issues.      This direct experience augments the broad view of the industry that Light  gained as Wine Institute Communications Director and in her previous positions  as Account Supervisor for Shelly Berman Communicators, a public relations and  advertising agency, and as Public Relations Manager for Kobrand Corporation in  New York, where she started the company's first in-house PR department in the  1980s.      Wine Institute is a public policy advocacy group representing  637 California wineries and affiliated businesses responsible for more than  80 percent of the nation's wine production and 90 percent of U.S. wine  exports.  Light replaces Kari Birdseye who departs the organization and plans  to remain in the wine industry.     

Through my company, Global Organic Designs - Discovering Earth's Science & Spirit (GOD-DESS), I have been providing education, presentations/demos and articles since 2001. My topics include cooking, home entertaining, decor/design, travel, indoor gardening, simplification, organization, prioritization, and others. I always emphasize earth-friendliness and cost-savings.I moved from Chicago to Portland, Oregon, in 2014. Since moving, my emphasis has expanded to include food and wine pairings, since I now live in the middle of world class wine country. My approach with pairing is to start with the wine, seek its emergent properties, and then design food to go with it. There are a number of techniques that can be used to achieve a perfect, or near-perfect, pairing, rather than merely an adequate/average pairing.

Bret S. Beall, MS, PhD (Cand) is the CEO and founder of Global Organic Designs – Discovering Earth’s Science & Spirit (GOD-DESS).   He offers private consultations, group presentations, demonstrations of all kinds, and articles on a wide range of topics that help people live fantastic lives with minimal time, effort or money.  He has used his rigorous scientific training to synthesize psychology, sensory input, and logic, which he has applied to global cuisine, décor, lifestyle concepts, indoor gardening and travel planning to provide customized services for each individual in an easy-to-understand, easy-to-create and easy-to-maintain style. 

Bret’s background is as diverse as his educational lifestyle service offerings.  He was born in California’s San Francisco Bay area, and his family often took vacations to the seashore and to the redwood forests, where he first felt the great interconnectedness of all life.  His family later moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he continued his environmental interests (including growing houseplants).  Soon, his family relocated to a farm in the Ozarks of Southern Missouri.  He and his family raised cattle, ducks, geese and rabbits, and he worked on a neighbor’s pig farm, all of which allowed him to witness the cycle of birth, life and death firsthand.  His family grew a variety of produce, precipitating his learning about growing, preparing and preserving food.  It was also at this time that Bret truly began developing his talent in art, design and esthetics. 

Hired by Jess Jackson in 1992 as Winemaker for some of our smaller and international vineyards, Randy was handed his most prestigious assignment in 1997 - Winemaster for Kendall-Jackson Winery.

A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Randy became interested in wine during a three-year stay in Chile, while on sabbatical from college in the early 1970s. His stay inspired a cross-country trek through Chile's vast wine-growing regions. On his return to the United States, he entered Ohio State University to study crop production with a specialty in Viticulture and Enology and received his degree in 1975.

After six years as a vineyard manager and Winemaker in Ohio and upstate New York, Randy moved to California to become associate Winemaker at De Loach Vineyards in Sonoma County. He was promoted to Winemaker and Vice President in 1991. The wines produced during his tenure were consistent gold medal winners at wine competitions.

Igor Zukowiec was born in the small town of Ruciane-Nida, a quaint village nestled among the gorgeous lakes and forests of Masurian Lake District in Poland. While there, Igor immersed himself in the world of flavor pairings, for both food and beverages. His passion ultimately led to his career in catering, bar consulting and beverage styling after moving to New York in 2006.

Igor’s expertise grew along with his passion, and it wasn’t long before his work was featured in the New York Daily News in December of 2008. The article praised his cocktails created for Lola restaurant in SoHo. Igor went on to work on bar programs and cocktail recipe development for several establishments, such as Hakkasan, RedFarm, Decoy, La Mar and Barraca.

In 2009, Igor started building ALCHEMIQ Catering, a NYC-based company with quality hors d'oeuvres, finger food, cocktail catering and a bartender for hire service. After opening in 2010, the company gained clients such as Google, Jo Malone, Visionaire and Patron Spirits. The success of ALCHEMIQ Catering was recognized by a variety of critics, including Jay-Z’s blog Life+Times, which featured a video of Igor’s Grapefruit & Fire cocktail. Igor’s cocktails were also featured by several other prominent media outlets, including The Cooking Channel, Sirius XM Radio and The Daily Meal.

While building ALCHEMIQ Catering, Igor found a new skill in beverage styling for photography trough his photo shoots for the company’s website. Igor’s attention to detail and understanding of mixology made him an outstanding stylist, which was noticed by many photographers. Igor has worked on many photo shoots for brands, including Patron Spirits, Global Spirits, Compass Box Whisky and Palm Bay International.

Miners in the hey day of the 1850s picked and panned their way along the American River near Cool in search of gold. Today the region has discovered a new gold with much more ease in the hues of a pint full of ale.

Steve and Rochelle Robello opened Cool Beerwerks in the summer of 2013. Steve, a craft beer aficionado and home brewer, teamed with his wife Rochelle and her infectious smile, thought a brewery in a community named Cool would be, well, cool.

“We live in the coolest town in the coolest state,” Steve said explaining the marketability of the name of the community.

Cool Beerwerks was as much an educated business decision as an act inspired by the boom in craft beer for these big city-turned-country entrepreneurs.

Rochelle manages the brewery restaurant and Steve designs beer recipes while also running a machine shop in Auburn, AMC Manufacturing.

“I love the brewing process but I learned pretty quickly it requires a professional,” Steve said.

Cool Beerwerk’s Brewmaster Mike Sutherland hails from Lincoln’s Beerman’s Beerwerks Brewery. Sutherland has more than 12 years of brewing experience.

“I’m there when we mash and I’m there when we do the recipes. Mike’s brewing really good, clean beers,” Steve said.

Cool Beerwerks has a seven-barrel system and is currently producing 400 to 500 barrels a year.

“We are going to continually develop new styles and new flavors of our beers,” Steve said.

The two most popular beers at Cool Beerwerks are the Steampunk Ale and a honey wheat. The Steampunk Ale is an amber steam beer, the predominant style of beer enjoyed by the gold miners of California in the 1800s and early 1900s. Steampunk — an aesthetic subculture — also references the vintage industrial chic style of the brewery restaurant’s interior design.

The oatmeal stout is one of Rochelle’s favorites.

“It’s tall, dark and sexy. It’s delicious, creamy and has a touch of coffee flavor,” Rochelle said.

The Robellos plan to enter that beer in the California Exposition and State Fair’s commercial beer competition.

Other craft beer offerings at Cool Beerwerks include a blonde IPA, imperial blonde IPA, American Pale IPA, California Common, Scottish Ale and a guest brewery’s beer is also often part of the line-up.

In another sort of line-up, Cool Beerwerks hosts live bands nearly every weekend. Steve, who happens to play guitar in thrash metal group Dublin Death Patrol, designed the stage and the sound system at Cool Beerwerks.

“We’ve got a great stage and great bands. We made an extra effort to make it sound good here,” Steve said.

At Cool Beerwerks you’ll also find pool tables, dart boards and outdoor patio seating. The brewery has a full menu that will soon see the addition of gourmet burgers, fish and chips and more. One of the burgers Steve and Rochelle are excited about is sure to be hot, not only in popularity but with ghost pepper cheese, onion and jalapeño straws, and a spicy chipotle sauce.

Steve and Rochelle moved from the Bay Area to Greenwood more than 13 years ago where they have raised their two sons.

“Local people helped us build the business. They voted on our logo and our slogan: ‘That’s so cool’,” Rochelle said. “Cool Beerwerks is not bar-like and not restaurant-like but a place where everyone feels welcome.”

Open any bottle of Brian Carter Cellars wine and you’ll discover both an inspiration and a story. Our handcrafted wines reflect classic elegance and the centuries-old tradition found in true European-style blends. Balanced and well-rounded, each wine speaks anew to the art of blending and showcases Brian’s personal passion for making exemplary European-style blends from Washington State’s unique terroir.

Just as an artist ponders each color possibility, winemaker Brian Carter deliberates long and hard over his broad palette of grape varietals, blending around the edges to create an inspired new world representation of each European-style he makes. Brian didn’t set out to be a blender. His art grew out of science and agriculture, and in fact, one wasn’t possible without the other. Since coming to Washington State in 1980, Brian has been at the forefront of the Washington wine industry. By encouraging growers to plant different varietals, he influenced both the quantity and quality of Washington State varietals, and tremendous improvements in the industry. In turn he was able to develop the concept for Brian Carter Cellars and his passion for blending.

The vision for Crosby Roamann began in New York City in 2006. Husband and wife, Sean and Juliana McBride started making wine in Tribeca in 2006 – merely a barrel of grapes they purchased from one of Napa’s most well known <img class="size-full wp-image-12629 alignright" src="http://mikethewineguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Crosby-Roamann-Wine.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />vineyard managers, Andy Beckstoffer. Bitten by the bug Sean moved to the valley and started making wine at White Rock Vineyards – which is where he learned much of the hands on process of wine making. Their first commercial release dates from 2007. They started selling this release in 2010 and with this increased commitment, both Sean and and Juliana moved to the valley and now live here full time.

Sean first discovered his interest in wine while working in college stocking a wine shop. His “aha moment”, as he describes it was over a bottle of Ridge 1995 Zinfandel from Paso Robles. While working at this wine shop he developed a new found passion for wine and became a voracious reader of wine literature and tried to learn as much as he could about the industry. How it is made, why it taste differently and so forth. The enjoyment of drinking wine became ancillary.

The focus of Crosby Roamann’s wines are on single vineyard single appellation hand-crafted wines. They work with local independent growers and currently source fruit from more than 10 vineyards – all in Napa. Often times they will hear from friends and other growers of a select vineyard that needs a home for its fruit; they are not opposed to making wine from the vineyard for just a single vintage or if there is a chance for a longer term agreement, they may add a particular vineyard into their annual portfolio.

Sean is highly interested in the terroir of Napa and what makes each region within the valley unique. Generally, can you taste the differences between Rutherford and neighboring Oakville? Is the “Rutherford Dust” an aspect that is completely unique to this sub appellation? Some of their wines explore these terroir differences – especially neat are wines he makes from grapes grown so close to each other but in different soils and even differences in mini microclimates.

Michael Green as wine consultant to Gourmet Magazine for over 20 years

Michael's expertise in the world of food and drink are unrivaled. He is a highly sought-after personality at corporate events and on national television, with numerous appearances on MSNBC, CNN, The Today Show, and The Food Network.

He is the creator and host of the web series The Wine Hero and serves at as the food, drink and travel consultant to Departures Magazine.

Let Michael harness the power of wine to build unforgettable experiences for your business with carefully curated food and wine experiences, wine country tours, and private concierge services.

Looking to bring something different to a short evening with coworkers, an extended corporate retreat, a high-level meeting, or an employee incentive program? Michael’s extensive knowledge will ignite your audience! His close relationships with wineries, restaurants, and world-renowned chefs will provide you with all of the resources you need to create an event that will resonate for years to come.

When working with Michael, you will not only receive his services as a food and drink expert; you will receive a detail-oriented and research-based strategy for your entire event. Michael and his team will craft resonating experiences, exciting wine pairings, detailed travel plans, sensible event strategies, and carefully chosen entertainment programs that will flow seamlessly and effortlessly. They work to ensure that the only thing you have to focus on is enjoying yourself.

With a winning combination of wine, experiential marketing, and theater, Michael creates a perfect experience that will always leave you, your colleagues, and clients wanting more.

J.P. Bary is a New York based lawyer and financial advisor who enjoys unraveling complicated issues. One of the issues that's fascinated him over the years is why people find it so difficult to get comfortable with wine. Part of the problem seems to be that with any subject as complicated as wine, the gap between what experts and ordinary consumers know is so great that it's hard for them to communicate with each other. Other wine buffs often told J.P. that the people who had been most helpful to them in learning about wine had been members of their families, friends and other non-experts. So he began talking to people to find out what they found most confusing about wine and what helped them the most once they learned it.

As it turned out, there was a significant disparty between what professionals are trained to say and what people find it most useful to know. After years of discussions and observations, J.P. identified a number of key mistakes that a majority of wine consumers make repeatedly. He also took careful notes on the numerous disparities between what wine professionals mean and what those who haven't become immersed in the lore and language of wine understand. The Persistent Observer's Guide to Wine shows people how to avoid these mistakes, understand what the pro's are trying to say and become proficient much more quickly. Rather than concentrating only on teaching readers more about wine, the book focuses on what they most need to know (or forget) about their own interactions with wine, so they can get the most out of every wine experience.

In his own explorations of wine, J.P. has benefitted from being part of a family involved in making, distributing and marketing wine for centuries. He's travelled widely in the world's wine regions and counts many growers, winemakers, importers, distributors and retailers among his friends. An avid reader of books, articles and blogs on wine, he conducted extensive interviews with wine consumers at all levels in order to find out what they need to hear that hasn't already been said.

Lowell Jooste, LJ Crafted Wine & inventor of "The Wine Steward"’

4th generation wine industry expert and inventor, Lowell Jooste who owns the urban winery, LJ Crafted Wines in San Diego California. He has invented a device (aptly named "The Wine Steward") that allows wine to be dispersed regularly from the barrel in which it is aging without compromising the remaining wine. I have attached Lowell's bio, a photo of the Wine Steward, and our About Statement. They received a 93 score recently on their 2015 Patient Terrier Pinot Noir and rave reviews on their petite verdot. They have been open for one year. 

Mixed metaPours is the latest in a series of career catapults for its founder, Cheryl Rich Heisler.

A lawyer by education, Heisler made her first career switch from big-law to consumer packaged goods marketing when she took a job in brand management at Kraft Foods in 1985.

In 1988, she left corporate America altogether to start Lawternatives, a career consulting firm for other lawyers in transition. Lawternatives still exists to this day, and when Cheryl is not working behind a bar, she continues to counsel members of the legal bar about what else they can do with their law degrees.

In 2011, taking her own career advice, Heisler followed her passion for mixology and attended the American/Professional Bartender Schools, receiving her Mixology License and BASSET Certification. She has been mixing, sipping, and sharing her recipes since that time.

A regular contributor to print/radio/internet media, Ms. Heisler is a frequently requested speaker. To get more information about having Cheryl present to your organization or group, please contact us with the name of your organization, your exact dates/locations and the topic you would like her to address, and she will follow up shortly.

David is the co-founder and CEO of PureWine Inc, formed in 2014. As a lifelong “tinkerer” and inventor, David set out on a 5-year journey to solve a 9,000-year-old problem – unpleasant reactions to wine consumption. Plagued by headaches and nasal congestion himself, David was motivated to find a way to enjoy wine again. His mission to discover a convenient, efficient method of removing sulfite preservatives and histamines from wine was a success. After consuming countless bottles of “lab supplies,” The Wand™ by PureWine was realized. Say goodbye to wine allergies and hello to Pure Wine!

David uses his unique set of skills to bring this first-in-class product to reality. Until 2013, he was a Research and Development Executive with Novartis (formerly Alcon Laboratories) in Ft. Worth, Texas. During his 20 years with Novartis/Alcon, he led the research teams responsible for developing and commercializing a wide range of new pharmaceutical products and medical devices.. Prior to Alcon, he was a research scientist at Allergan Pharmaceuticals in Irvine, California focused on developing novel approaches to treat sight-threatening diseases.

In addition to PureWine, David has co-founded several companies in the areas of medical diagnostics, sports medicine and consumer package goods. He is actively involved in multiple startup incubators in Florida and Texas, and is a frequent lecturer at the University of Florida, Engineering and Business Schools. With his broad range of experience, he brings an enthusiasm for innovation and entrepreneurism to the students. To date, he has more than 50 patents and has contributed to over 150 scientific publications.

David enjoys restoring classic automobiles, studying all aspects of wine production and exploring natural wilderness areas with his family and friends. He has also been involved in several humanitarian activities in developing countries.

A fifth-generation Sonoma County native, Christopher Silva is firmly rooted in Sonoma County agriculture. He was raised in a family of Petaluma dairy farmers, and nine years after graduating from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, he retired from practicing law to join St. Francis Winery. At the age of 38, he became President & CEO of St. Francis in 2003. He understands firsthand that a farmer’s footprint and intimate knowledge of the soil, microclimates and terroir of the region are the most important ingredients for healthy vines.

As President & CEO of St. Francis Winery & Vineyards, Chris has a specific focus: crafting world class Sonoma wine. St. Francis is best known for luscious, elegant, fruit driven Sonoma County Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and “Old Vines” Zinfandel. Widely awarded as a quality leader, St. Francis is committed to being the premier producer of handcrafted Sonoma wines in each of its categories. Additionally, St. Francis was named “#1 Restaurant in America” by OpenTable in 2013 and 2015 in recognition of its farm to table wine and food pairings offered on site to Winery visitors each day.

Under Chris’ leadership, St. Francis has also been recognized for its many green practices. A 457-kilowatt Solar Energy System, installed in 2004, provides up to 40% of the Winery’s energy from the sun. St. Francis has taken aggressive steps in water and creek conservation, recycling, eco-friendly packaging, and created an on-site sustainable vegetable garden to support its culinary programs. St. Francis is Certified Sustainable by the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance.

Committed to mentorship and community involvement, Chris served on the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sonoma County and is now on the Dean’s National Advisory Board of the UNLV Harrah College of Hotel Administration. In 2011 he was honored by UNLV as the “Food & Beverage Industry Executive of the Year” and was named “2011 Healthy Business Leader” by the Northern California Center for Well Being in recognition of his workforce wellness initiatives at St. Francis. In recent years, North Bay Business Journal has repeatedly named St. Francis Winery & Vineyards one of the "Best Places to Work" in Northern California.

Chris was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for 2011. In 2014 he was elected Chairman of the Santa Rosa Junior College Wine Studies Advisory Board. His son Joseph and daughter Sydney are sixth-generation Sonoma County natives and attend local public school, where Chris served on their School District Foundation Board. He has taught college classes in legal research and legal writing, and lectures nationally regarding wine, law, and business. Chris' life story and approach to running a business have been featured in The New York Times, Luxist, AOL Daily Finance, and Corporate Wellness Magazine.

“Our time at St. Francis will not be measured in years. It will be measured by the contributions each one of us makes—as individuals—to constantly improving the quality of our grapes and our wines. ‘Good enough’ is contrary to our mission.”

Clarissa Nagy, who received a Bachelor of Science in Food Science from California Polytechnic State University, started in the wine industry in 1995. She began her career as a Lab Technician at Edna Valley Vineyards, and moved through the roles of Research Assistant Winemaker at Byron Winery, Assistant Winemaker and Vineyard Supervisor at Longoria Winery, and most recently, she has been making wine for Bonaccorsi Wine Company since 2006. Clarissa is known for her elegant and sophisticated winemaking style, and for her appreciation for fruit that comes from the Santa Maria Valley. She lives in Orcutt with her husband, Jonathan, and their daughter, Gabriella.

She worked my way through the Central Coast over the next ten years. The wineries on that list include: Firestone Vineyard, Curtis Winery, Byron Vineyard and Winery, Longoria Wines, Rancho Arroyo Grande Winery, Bonaccorsi Wine Company and Riverbench Vineyard and Winery. In the course of my career, I have been blessed to work with some amazing people and vineyards in Santa Barbara County. Our region, and specifically Santa Maria Valley has really captured my heart and my palate. She balance my time between family and winemaking.

Nancy Light is Vice President of Communications for the Wine Institute, a public policy association of 1,000 California wineries and affiliated businesses dedicated to enhancing the environment for the responsible consumption and enjoyment of wine. With two decades of experience in strategic communications for wine and related businesses, she is responsible for guiding the organization’s media relations, member communications and issues management agenda.

Light manages several Wine Institute programs designed to support the long-term growth and vitality of the California wine industry. “California First” is a new initiative to identify and communicate the positive and distinctive attributes of California wine to consumers, trade, media and public officials. She also managees Wine Institute's partnership with the California Travel and Tourism Commission to promote California wine and food nationwide with a multi-media campaign supported by a $12 million budget.

Specialties: Marketing communications, branding and messaging, crisis communications, issues management, media relations, executive media coaching, strategic partnerships, industry relations.

Everyone has questions about drinking, but it can seem like every bartender (and bargoer) has different answers. Between the old wives' tales, half-truths, and whiskey-soaked conjectures, it's hard to know what to believe—until now.

Armed with cutting-edge research and a barfly’s thirst for the truth, cocktail instructor Brian D. Hoefling tackles the most burning questions and longest-held myths surrounding that most ancient of human pastimes—with the science to either back them up or knock them down. From the ins and outs of aging to the chemistry of a beer head and the science behind your hangover,Distilled Knowledge provides a complete and comical education that will put an end to any barroom dispute, once and for all.

As a seasoned “clambaker,” sommelier, and culinary school graduate, our Founder and CEO, Mary McAuley, had an “ah-ha” moment when charged with the task of selecting the wine for a (rather raucous) clambake she threw with her friends back in August 2011 in her seaside hometown of Mantoloking, NJ.  Mary set out to help consumers who are lost when it comes to selecting a good wine to pair with certain foods, especially the coastal cuisine she grew up eating with her family and friends on the beach. She simultaneously realized the void for trustworthy brands on the American wine market and felt compelled to produce an artisanal and superiorly-crafted wine under a recognizable label to stand out from other big names sourcing from the untrustworthy bulk market or practicing unsavory production techniques.  Ripe Life’s first wine, the Clambake Chardonnay, hit the shelves in July 2013 and was an instant success. Although Marys heart belongs to the sea, creating the Clambake Chardonnay has made her realize the plethora American occasions where people are 1. always drinking wine and 2. always eating the same things and plans to expand the collection to other lines in the near future with ideas like an aprés ski wine and a tailgating wine.  Before graduating from The Institute of Culinary Education and, later on, The French Culinary Institute, she attended Georgetown University where she was a member of the Division I National Champion sailing team for four years and still makes it out on the water any chance she gets. Her death row meal would be a quarter pound of crémeux de bourgogne cheese with Rustic Bakery crackers, black cherry jam; paired with a 2001 Barbaresco.

Naked Wines have a simple aim to connect winemakers and drinkers directly. The creation of this direct relationship helps users crowdfund their bottles directly from the vineyard via a monthly subscription. But, this is much more than just another wine club. 

The service proves that there is more to wine than a pretty label on a bottle inside a supermarket. Each bottle comes with warm stories of families producing wine where angels (Naked Wine members) communicate directly with the winemakers.