Alder Yarrow

Author and Blogger

San Francisco Magazine has called Alder Yarrow "The Wine World's Brightest Cyberstar," and he is known as a pioneer of wine blogging. He has been publishing Vinography.com daily since 2004. Alder regularly speaks and presents at wine events around the world including Symposium for Professional Wine Writers at Meadowood in Napa Valley, Flavor! Napa Valley, and the Aspen Food and Wine Classic. Alder is the author of The Essence of Wine, an award-winning coffee table book called one of the best wine books of 2015 by the New York Times.

He is also the author of the Sonoma and Marin County chapter of the behemoth, Opus Vino, a comprehensive look at the world's wine regions and their best wines that weighs in at 7 pounds and 800 pages, and was a finalist for the 2011 James Beard Journalism Awards. In 2013 Alder was inducted into the Wine Media Guild of New York's Wine Writer's Hall of Fame, an honor he shared with only 22 other living wine writers at the time.

Peggy Perry

President, Willow Park Wines & Spirits

Peggy Perry is the President of Willow Park Wines & Spirits, the largest privately owned liquor store in Canada. Peggy has been the company’s principal wine buyer and marketing director since its founding in 1994. In August 2020, she was awarded the title of Market Leader by New York-based Market Watch magazine, a first for a Canadian beverage retailer.

A native of Prince Edward Island, she first discovered her love of wine while studying French at the University of Strasbourg. She began working in the wine business in Alberta in 1985 and later spent time working in the French regions of Bordeaux and Champagne. She started working with the Henuset family at Willow Park Wines & Spirits when they purchased the business from the Alberta Liquor Control Commission in March 1994.

A more recent passion for Peggy has been the development of Willow Park Wines & Spirit’s e-commerce division. Peggy has led her team to recognize the importance of this platform, significantly increasing both customer base and overall profits.

Peggy’s best advice? "Every wine has it’s time but great wines are great all the time!"

Ted Edwards

Director of Winemaking, Freemark Abbey

Ted Edwards is the director of winemaking at Freemark Abbey, where he has served as winemaker of the storied estate since 1985. His creative approach, unyielding dedication to quality, and many years of experience in the vineyards of Napa Valley – particularly the Rutherford Bench – make him one of the region’s leading vintners. With a strong vision and commitment to Freemark Abbey’s respected reputation, Edwards’ innovative winemaking ideas have enhanced the estate’s entire line of coveted wines and solidified his place in the winery’s rich history. His many winemaking accomplishments include establishing the distinct style of Freemark Abbey’s iconic, single-vineyard Sycamore Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and continuing the thirty-plus-year legacy of the vineyard-designated Cabernet Bosché, while elevating the wine to new heights of critical acclaim.

It was in 1980 that Edwards began his winemaking career in the cellar of Freemark Abbey. After two harvests, he accepted a position at Rutherford Hill as associate winemaker, a post he held for three years. He returned to Freemark Abbey in 1985 as winemaker and has managed the winery’s grape growing and winemaking operations ever since. In 1992, Freemark Abbey’s seven founding partners named Edwards the eighth partner, and when managing partner Chuck Carpy passed away in 1996, Edwards took over his former boss and dear friend’s duties as managing partner and director of winemaking. He remained at the helm of Freemark Abbey as director of winemaking upon Jackson Family Wines’ purchase of the estate in 2006. Today, Edwards continues to oversee winemaking and operations, and is currently guiding the winery into the next phase of its legacy as the century-old historic stone building is reopened after a
transformative renovation completed in 2016.

Brooke Shenk

Winemaker, St. Supery Estate Vineyards & Winery

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