Alder Yarrow

Author

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.

Alison Rodriguez

Winemaker, The Hess Collection

Alison Rodriguez, a winemaking graduate from the Fachhochschule Geisenheim, has honed her winemaking skills in hillside vineyards of a wide variety: from the slopes of the Rheingau and Nahe valleys, to the alpine foothills of the Alto Adige, to every hillside AVA in Napa Valley.

Alison's work in these diverse growing regions has given her perspective on what nuances the unique combinations of vineyard site, soil, slope and sun contribute to the personality of each wine. In 2016 she joined the team at The Hess Collection as Winemaker, and is currently responsible for the creation of the Napa Valley based Allomi Cabernet Sauvignon, Hess' Award- winning Monterey Chardonnay, the new restaurant exclusive Shirtail Ranches wine portfolio, and contributes her skills to the Hess Collection Mount Veeder and Lion Tier wines as well.

She enjoys travelling for work and pleasure, having visited over 35 winegrowing regions throughout the world. A few new regions on her wish-list are the Savoie, Priorat and the sparkling wineries of southern England. In tandem with her winemaking, Alison has also earned the WSET Advanced Certificate.

She is an enthusiastic gardener, and has planted a scent garden at her home filled with various verbenas, lavender, roses, geraniums, citrus and herbs of all varieties. She lives in Napa with her Swiss-Spanish husband and young daughter.

Jonathon Pey

Winemaker & Founder, TEXTBOOK

In 2004, wine industry veterans Jonathan and Susan Pey established TEXTBOOK Napa Valley as an entrepreneurial family project that would marry their collective years in the wine and hospitality industries that they had studied and devoted themselves to for decades.

Together, the two spent years studying and working abroad, and traveling extensively in France and Italy, learning about wine and its place at the table. They grew fond of the European sensibility of structure, restraint and a sense of place in the wines.

Beth Novak Milliken

President & CEO, Spottswoode Estate

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 imme-diately 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 adja-cent 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.

Priyanka French

Winemaker, Signorello Estate

Priyanka joined Signorello Estate as Winemaker in Spring 2019. She looks forward to building upon our decades-long legacy by focusing on precision viticulture and restrained winemaking that will best express the resilience and strengths of our estate vineyard. She will also be overseeing the construction of a new 28,000 square foot winery and caves.

Prior to joining Signorello Estate, she worked alongside Winemaker Andy Erickson and Consulting Enologist Michel Rolland at Dalla Valle Vineyards. Originally from Mumbai, Priyanka holds a Master of Science in Viticulture and Enology from University of California, Davis.

Reilly Keenan

Second Generation Vintner, Keenan Winery

Reilly is the son of Michael and Jennifer Keenan and has been immersed in wine culture from a very early age. As a vital member of the Keenan winery team beginning at age sixteen, Reilly works during grape harvesting, hosts tastings for visitors on the estate, pours for wine events and is the dedicated point person for many consumer and trade events. He lives at the winery and works promoting the wines and winery, as the third generation of the Keenan family to have a major role at the winery.

If you run into Reilly Keenan at the winery, he will share with you tales of what it's like to grow up immersed in wine culture, as the 3rd generation of Keenans to follow his love and passion of wine. Like his father, Michael, the president of Keenan Winery, and his grandfather, Robert, Reilly grew up amongst the estate vines on Spring Mountain. Beginning at age sixteen, Reilly worked every harvest. He also hosts tastings for visitors on the estate, and is the dedicated point person for many consumer and trade events.

After studying Political Science and Philosophy at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Reilly continued to broaden his knowledge of the wine industry through work in fine wines for restaurants. He brings this passion for wine, and the knowledge he's gained, to everything he does. For example, Reilly worked in Atlanta, GA as a Keenan specialist with one of Keenan's broad market distribution partners. This has brought him full circle back to his roots and a full-time commitment to Keenan Winery. Reilly is now an integral part of the Keenan winemaking team, made up of his father, Michael; the cellar master, Art; and winery general manager, Matt. He will tell you about maintaining the established winemaking and aging protocols that shape the style of Keenan wines.

As Reilly has a hand in the process from vine to bottle, he has cultivated a unique perspective on winemaking, while contributing to creating the outstanding wines that the winery is known for. Much like his father did when he joined the winery full time in 1998, Reilly is already bringing his own ideas and dreams for the future of Keenan Winery. He also stays on the pulse of the business by maintaining relationships with key accounts in San Francisco and the CA market. Get the inside story on the winery and the future of winemaking at Keenan from Reilly.

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