Dan Berger began writing about wine in 1976 and his column has been syndicated nationally by Creators Syndicate to newspapers around the world.  He contributes articles to Gourmet magazine, Wine Press Northwest, Decanter Magazine in London; the California Grapevine and writes for many trade journals and websites including Cheers, AppellationAmerica.com, and Beverage Dynamics. Mr. Berger also is a speaker on wine at numerous international major events. He speaks at trade convocations, such as Terroir 2000, 2001, and 2002 and at the UC-Davis School of Enology and Viticulture. He also teaches wine courses at Sonoma State University and at Santa Rosa Junior College. Dan’s first wine articles were for Associated Press, where he worked as a reporter and sports writer. His first regular wine column appeared in 1977 in the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. In 1979, he joined the staff of the San Diego Union, where his wine columns ran twice weekly and were syndicated nationally by Copley News Service. He also reviewed restaurants for San Diego Home/Garden magazine for six years. In 1986, Dan moved to Sonoma County where he became Business Editor and wine columnist for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat; The New York Times Syndicate carried his wine column nationally. In 1988, he joined the staff of the Los Angeles Times as full time wine columnist and reporter. The Los Angeles Times Washington Post wire carried his column nationally. He left the Times in 1996 to publish Dan Berger’s Vintage Experiences, a weekly newsletter on wine and food.

Wine Reporter, The Press Democrat and Sonoma Magazine
Over the past 20+ years, Sarah has written about wine, spirits, and food for over 50 publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Wine Enthusiast, Wine & Spirits, Gourmet, Saveur, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Whisky Advocate, Forbes, Robb Report, and many others.
Sarah joined the wine industry in 2006 when the stars aligned and she scored a job as a tasting room host at Tablas Creek winery in Paso Robles, Calif. From there, she went on to work for many wineries on the Central Coast and in Sonoma County in roles that ranged from communications, marketing, public relations, social media, DTC sales, tasting room management, and wine production, among others.
Sarah has completed three harvest internships and has taken advanced college courses on enology, viticulture, wine chemistry, sustainable/organic winegrowing, and more. In 2018, she earned her Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Level 3 Award in Wine.
A former chef and recipe developer for print media, Sarah is a graduate of the professional culinary training program at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York City. She’s also highly versed in the art and production of Scotch whisky and a graduate of Bruichladdich Distillery’s Malt Whisky Academy on Scotland’s Isle of Islay.
Sarah lives in Sonoma County with her husband, Andy, and her three wiener dogs: Ramsay, Minnie, and Sophie Francine.

Wine Category Manager, Bottle Barn
Barry has more than three decades of experience in the wine industry, ranging from sommelier and wine shop owner to high-level retail and private cellar acquisitions. He was raised in Southern California, where he earned his stripes in some of LA’s most celebrated restaurants, among them Chinois on Main and Osteria Angelini. Most recently, Barry was General Manager of the Rare Wine Company in Sonoma, as well as working with Soutirage and Bounty Hunter Rare Wine & Spirits in Napa Valley. Currently, he is the wine buyer for Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa, CA, a 15,000 square foot superstore and arguably has the largest and finest selection of fine wines north of San Francisco. Barry blames a bottle of 1980 Jayer Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux for having sent him down the rabbit hole many years ago. Today, he lives in Petaluma, CA with his wife, two children and Australian Shepherd, Elvis, to whom he happily dedicates every spare moment outside of work.

Jennifer Grace is a Sommelier and wine professional; with over 20 years of wine industry experience. Her talents include wine marketing, sales, public relations, and most recently adding assistant winemaker to her diverse repertoire.

Ambitious by nature, Jennifer has held several executive roles with the likes of famed importer, Wilson Daniels, specializing in French and Italian wines, based in St. Helena, California, Sonoma County-based Jackson Family Wines. In 2017, Jennifer was tapped by Donald Patz (formerly Patz & Hall) to join his new company, The Donald Patz Wine Group. As Vice President, Sales, and Marketing she launched the route-to-market by establishing national sales and distributor partnerships along with branding for three new wineries — Maritana Vineyards (Russian River), Secret Door Winery (Napa), and Terminim Wines (a collaboration with Francois Villard, Rhone Valley and Mendocino).

Jennifer’s new project, Luxury Wine Partners is a venture that focuses on winery clients who are looking for a personal and growth-centered approach. It is a full-service agency based in Sonoma, Napa and Marin concentrating on brand marketing, sales execution, DTC, strategic public relations, and digital communications.

Jennifer enjoys living in Petaluma, California with her husband Sean. They have three beautiful children —Hana, Michael, and Morgan— all living nearby. This adventurous and spontaneous duo enjoy making wine, visiting wineries, the food scene, traveling (at a moment’s notice), volunteering, and supporting local business whenever possible.

Josh recently joined the team at Oliver’s Markets as their Corporate Wine/Liquor Coordinator.  Josh’s career includes extensive relations with domestic and global wineries, distributors, and importers. He was also Oliver’s Montecito Wine Manager 2015-2019. Josh returned to Oliver’s as Corporate Wine & Liquor Coordinator in July 2023. He earned an MBA in Wine Business (SSU) and is a Certified Sommelier (Court of Master Sommeliers) and Certified Specialist of Wine (Society of Wine Educators).

 Ellen is a Certified Sommelier, wine writer, and frequent judge at prominent regional, national, and international wine competitions. She contributes regularly to the Great Northwest Wine magazine, and for several years has researched and contributed to Slow Wine Guide USA, a guide to wines from producers in California, New York, Oregon and Washington that use greener farming practices.  She hosts and participates in numerous blind tastings and various wine events as a moderator, speaker, and panelist.

For several years, Ellen served as Sommelier at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. She was Wine Director and Sommelier for 20 years at Landis Shores Oceanfront Inn on Miramar Beach, which she built and co-owned with her husband Ken Landis, who is himself a frequent wine judge, and former chef at Landis Shores. Landis Shores was named one of the top 15 Inns for Wine Connoisseurs in North America and achieved great acclaim and numerous awards. They sold the inn in 2015 to allow Ellen to focus more time on the world of wine. She and Ken still think about the many wonderful and loyal guests who stayed with us over the years, many of whom became friends.

She has visited wine regions throughout the world including France (Bordeaux, Champagne, Burgundy, Rhone), Italy (Tuscany), Spain (Priorat, Tenerife), Portugal, South America (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay), Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and of course, North America (California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Michigan, New York, Virginia, Ohio, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Hawaii and Canada).

Dr. Liz Thach, MW is a Professor, Wine Writer and Consultant based in Napa and Sonoma, California. She is an award-winning author and educator, specializing in wine business strategy, marketing, leadership/executive development, and wine lifestyle. As one of the nation’s leading wine experts, she also serves as President of the Wine Market Council – a non-profit firm that provides research on U.S. wine consumer behaviors and attitudes. Liz’s passion is wine, and she has visited most of the major wine regions of the world and more than 75 countries. She has published over 200 articles and 9 books, including Call of the Vine, Best Practices in Global Wine Tourism and Wine Marketing & Sales. She frequently publishes in Forbes, Wine Business Monthly, Wine Spectator, and The Somm Journal, amongst others. A fifth generation Californian, Liz finished her Ph.D. at Texas A&M and now lives on Sonoma Mountain. In addition, she teaches wine classes at Stanford Continuing Education and Sonoma State University, as well as working as a consultant and wine judge. Liz obtained the distinction of Master of Wine (MW) in May of 2011, becoming the first female MW from California.

The Equus Restaurant wine list was judged “Best of Show” in the 1995 and 1998 Sonoma County Harvest Fair. The gallery of Sonoma County wines, nearly 300 bottles hand-picked by their winemakers, sets the tone–wine country splendor in a classic setting. Larry Van Aalst, Equus Sommelier, has been selecting wines for Equus for over a decade. Larry has been judging at the Cloverdale Citrus Fair/San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for over a decade likewise, an opportunity for Larry to keep abreast of fine wines from California.

Traci Dutton is a sommelier, a wine judge, and the manager of public wine and beverage studies at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. She joined the CIA in 1998 as beverage manager and sommelier for the college’s Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant. Over the course of more than 30 years in the wine world, Traci has worked in high-end establishments such as Montrachet, The Striped Bass, and 231 Ellsworth, and has served luminaries as varied as Oprah Winfrey, Kevin Bacon, and Paul Bocuse. She has studied and tasted great wines at vineyards around the world, from Portugal and Austria to Argentina and the United States. Her writing on wines and beverages has appeared in Kitchen & Cook, the St. Helena Star, iSanté.com, and many other publications. In 2011, she was named one of the top wine country sommeliers by Tasting Panel magazine. (Napa Valley, CA)