At the tender age of 10, Erica Stancliff demonstrated the skills that would later define her career as a winemaker and enologist. Now, with 16 harvests under her belt, Erica has been described by Press Democrat as a “young Sonoma County winemaker turning heads” and featured in renowned publications, such as Wine Enthusiast, Forbes, San Francisco Chronicle, Robb Report, Martha Stewart, and more. Currently, she consults for five unique wine brands, including her family’s winery, Trombetta...

Paul Sloan, co-owner and winemaker at Small Vines, started his journey in wine as a bus-boy in high school. He eventually worked his way up to the assistant wine buyer position at John Ash and Company. As a very young wine steward, he was given many opportunities to taste both California classic wines as well as wines from all over the world. One night, his life would change forever when a person dining alone offered him a taste of a very rare Burgundy. This ethereal experience sent him on a...

Food & Wine Magazine Executive Editor Ray Isle says, “You could probably spend your entire life drinking wines under $100 and probably under $50 and drink spectacularly good wine for years and years and never run out,” and he has just written the book to prove it! Ray Isle is the executive wine editor for Food & Wine and the wine and spirits editor for Travel + Leisure. He writes the monthly “What to Drink Next” column as well as regular feature articles for both publications. His new...

While working for his family's real estate and parking business in DC in the late 80s, Alex Gambal received a life-changing case of wine as a gift. It wasn’t just wine that was uncorked, but opportunity. In 1993, he and his family moved to France. Gambal founded and grew Domaine Alex Gambal, a boutique winery that included some of France's greatest vineyards. As an American in Burgundy, Gambal overcame skepticism from his fellow vignerons and eventually bought some of the most coveted French...

Monique Soltani is an award-winning journalist who has spent the majority of her life working in newsrooms in California's major cities from San Francisco to San Diego, and everywhere in between and through Wine Oh! TV, she has developed a core connection with the wine country community. Monique first brought Wine Oh! to life in 2008, in over 1.5 million homes across California’s Central Valley once a week on KSEE 24. From 2013 - 2018, Monique formed and executed distribution deals for Wine...

Famed winemaker Jean-Nicolas Méo (of Domaine Méo-Camuzet in Burgundy, France) and legendary co-founder of IRS Records (think Police, REM, The Go-Go’s, etc.) Jay Boberg met serendipitously at a party in Philadelphia over 25 years ago. Their friendship has led to a remarkable collaboration in Willamette Valley, Oregon—where they make outstanding wines that, “we like to drink.” I invite you to drink in this extended episode with Jean-Nicolas Méo and Jay Boberg of Nicolas-Jay Wines. It will be...

Michael Kennedy created the Vin Fraîche Wine Group in 2018, after launching three distinct wineries in Napa Valley, Bordeaux and Oregon. In 2020 an additional winery was acquired to the group in Tuscany, Italy. Kennedy's drive to create wines of freshness, vibrancy and life has created a thread of commonality in the wines throughout the brands. His passion for wines that are complex, long lived and built for food has driven him to assemble a team of winemakers and friends that help create...

Gustavo’s love for wine runs deep into his childhood. He grew up in California’s Central Valley, surrounded by family with longstanding ties to agricultural business who instilled in him a love of the land and an appreciation for wine. He spent his summers in orchards, vineyards, cotton fields, tomato fields and canneries, but he never intended to be a farmer, much less a winemaker. His dreams were filled with airplanes and rockets and cars. But one day he found a bottle from Robert Mondavi...

One day, entrepreneur David Kong asked himself, “What good is glassware if it never gets used?” That question inspired David to leave his job at a hedge fund and develop his own brand of hand-blown glassware designed for regular use. Glasvin was born! Working directly with the factory, Glasvin is able to offer wine lovers the unparalleled sophistication of hand-blown glassware at a mainstream price. Glasvin’s pieces are designed to be effortlessly lightweight yet durable and dishwasher-safe....

Mike Reynolds began his career at Hall Wines as winemaker and general manager during the infancy of the winery, and was later promoted to president. Since 2002, Reynolds has overseen development of the HALL, WALT and BACA businesses—including production, vineyards, operations and construction. Mike also leads the vineyard acquisition program for Kathryn and Craig Hall. They now own close to 500 acres of premier vineyards in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Santa Barbara counties. Mike holds an...

Born and raised in Northern California, Ryan Prichard’s passion for wine blossomed while taking a wine appreciation course at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Initially, Prichard worked with smaller wineries in California and Colorado before joining Williams Selyem in Healdsburg where he learned the art of making Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. While running the cellar at Sonoma County’s premier Copain Custom Crush, he was able to work with, and learn from, dozens of the county’s best winemakers....

Clay Mauritson, of Mauritson Wines, was born and raised in the Dry Creek Valley and is part of the sixth generation of a grape-growing family. Pioneers from Sweden, Clay’s great great-grandparents raised Merino sheep for the wool and planted their first vines on land they settled in 1868. That area now anchors the Rockpile AVA. After playing in the Rose Bowl for the University of Oregon in 1995, Clay graduated and returned to Sonoma County in 1997, where he honed his winemaker skills...

Jeff Morgan is the owner and founding winemaker of Covenant Wines, a boutique urban winery in Berkeley, California making small-lot fine wines from California and Israel. Covenant wines are made from extraordinary vineyards that stretch from Central California, Lodi and Northern California, all the way to the Galilee and Golan Heights in Israel. Covenant wines have been praised by Robert Parker, who called them “the finest kosher wines on planet Earth,” and by Jancis Robinson who stated that...

Aaron plays Anthony Holmes on the NBC’s comedy, Grand Crew. The popular sitcom tells the story of a ‘crew’ of 30-something Black professional friends in Los Angeles who regularly enjoy getting together at their favorite neighborhood wine bar to unpack their everyday adventures. On the show, Aaron’s character plays the happy-go-lucky, yet slightly uptight accountant. The series first aired in December 2021, and was the top digital comedy on NBC's Peacock streaming platform. Currently in...

Lindsey Fern discovered her passion for wine while backpacking through Europe and Africa and later honed her skills working in restaurants all over the world including London, Ibiza, Miami and San Francisco’s Bay Area. In 2014, her journey ultimately led her to the Inn at Little Washington as their cellar master. Then in 2021, she became director of wine. Lindsey is the only woman running a 3-Star Michelin restaurant’s wine program in the country! She in passionate about the industry and her...

Loveblock wines is founded by Erica Crawford, and her husband, Kim Crawford, renowned veterans of the New Zealand wine industry. Erica started her career as an aspirational medical scientist, progressing into the pharmaceutical industry. Her career in the wine industry was quite by accident, when she met Kim Crawford. Erica and Kim began making wine under their own label in 1996 and later sold that brand. However, both were lured back by an untamed parcel of land on a hillside in...

Caren Hatton, and her partner Fritz, started Arietta in 1996, in partnership with famed Napa winemaker John Kongsgaard. Their focus is, and has always been, ultra-premium Bordeaux-inspired blends from the Napa Valley. As classical music enthusiasts, Arietta takes its name from Beethoven’s Arietta movement of his last piano sonata, Opus 111. Today, Arietta wines are made by Andy Erickson, one of the most accomplished winemakers in the Napa Valley, and Caren now leads expansion of Arietta...

Caren Hatton, and her partner Fritz, started Arietta in 1996, in partnership with famed Napa winemaker John Kongsgaard. Their focus is, and has always been, ultra-premium Bordeaux-inspired blends from the Napa Valley. As classical music enthusiasts, Arietta takes its name from Beethoven’s Arietta movement of his last piano sonata, Opus 111. Today, Arietta wines are made by Andy Erickson, one of the most accomplished winemakers in the Napa Valley, and Caren now leads expansion of Arietta...

Vince Anter is a certified sommelier and founder of “V is for Vino.” While pursuing a rock ‘n’ roll career as a guitarist and vocalist, he fell in love with wine while working at the bars and upscale restaurants that paid the bills. As he pursued further wine knowledge, he realized there was no place for the “average Joe” to learn about wine casually; and thus, V is for Vino was born, providing wine education “info-tainment” for the casual and not-so-casual wine drinker. In each episode,...

David Ramey revolutionized modern-day winemaking and helped to elevate California to the forefront of the international wine community. Hailed as “Professor Chardonnay” by Wine Spectator, David’s groundbreaking work with indigenous yeasts, whole-cluster pressing, sur lies aging and malolactic and barrel fermentation yielded a new California Chardonnay style that was richer and more complex. A stint working for the Moueix family at the renowned Château Pétrus in Bordeaux introduced David to...

In the final installment from the Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience, Justin Seidenfeld shares his passion for winemaker and sustainability. Justin is the senior vice president of winemaking and winegrowing for Rodney Strong Vineyards, the iconic Sonoma County Winery founded in 1959 by namesake Rodney Strong. Justin’s winemaking career began in Sebastopol, California, where he was an intern at Iron Horse winery in 2005. He quickly rose from cellar hand to taking on winemaking...

Steve Sangiacomo is a third-generation partner at Sangiacomo Family Vineyards, located in Sonoma, California where his family has farmed since 1927. He grew up on the ranch and began learning the ropes from his father and extended family at a young age. In his early 20s, Steve began learning the family business from the ground up, and in his 30s he and his brother Mike took over the reins of the family business. Today, Steve shares responsibility with his brother for managing the family’s...

In this third installment of the Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience, I had the pleasure of sitting down with wine grower, Duff Bevill. Duff originally intended to specialize in fruit and nut production, but a summer job in Dry Creek Valley in 1973 transformed his career dreams. Working for a local vineyard management company, Duff became acquainted with many older farmers in Dry Creek Valley. “It gave me a sense of history and an appreciation for what it means to be a grape grower in this...

Originally from Spain, Alberto Solis developed his love for food and respect for high quality ingredients from his summers spent in Andalucia, a region known for Iberico. When Alberto came to the U.S., he followed his passion into the specialty food business, introducing many Spanish products, including olive oil, cheeses, vinegars, tuna, and of course, jamon Iberico to U.S. consumers. Over his 30-year career, Alberto became more interested in local foods, and co-founded the successful...