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.

Gary Fisch

Founder and Owner, Gary's Wine & Marketplace

Gary Fisch founded Gary's Wine & Marketplace in Madison, NJ in 1987. Gary's has four locations in Northern New Jersey, as well as a new flagship location in St. Helena, Napa Valley. Gary was voted “Retailer of the Year” by Beverage Dynamics magazine in 2012 and 2018, and by Market Watch magazine in 2014. Gary is known across the industry for his expertise in wine. Notably, Gary was an early adopter of the Premiere Napa Valley Auction, winning top bidder in 10 of the past 20 years. Gary is on the Board of the Wine & Spirits Guild of America, a group of multi-generational, family-owned wine retail businesses across the country. Aside from growing his retail footprint, Gary has also developed private label wine brands, including Fisch, Go Figure, Going Forward, and Grand Finale.​​

Aaron Pott

Winemaker, Saint Helena Winery

Pott took the position of Assistant Winemaker at Newton Vineyard where he worked with John Kongsgaard and Michel Rolland. Pott tried to convince Rolland to find him a job in France pulling hoses around a dark cellar and working on his language skills. Rolland soon sent word that he had found the ideal position, Winemaker at Chateau Troplong Mondot, Premier Grand Cru Classe, St. Emilion. Pott would thereafter become Winemaker and General Manager of Chateau La Tour Figeac Grand Cru Classe, St. Emilion.

Pott worked for nearly six years making wine in France before returning to the States to take a position with Beringer Wine Estates as the Winemaker for the company's international brands in France, Italy and South America. Pott's duties expanded in 2001 as winemaker at St. Clement in St. Helena. In 2004, he accepted the position as Winemaker and General Manager at Quintessa. In 2007, Pott formed Huis Clos Wines and is dedicated to consulting for a limited quantity of notable producers and producing his own wine, Pott Wine.

Katie Leonardini

Vice President and Director of Operations, Whitehall Lane

Katie joined the family business in 2005 and now oversees all day to day operations at the winery. Katie earned her degree in Political Science at Gonzaga University in Washington. She spent several years in the financial services industry in San Francisco and Philadelphia. When she decided that California was the place to be, she headed back West and landed in Napa Valley. She’s been working with her family at Whitehall Lane ever since. Katie lives with her three children in St. Helena.

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