Q & A with Jeff Crawford, Head Winemaker, Merryvale Vineyards
Jeff Crawford grew up near the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, but it wasn’t until after high school when he met and became friends with a professional winemaker that he was introduced to wine. Although he had planned to pursue a career in economics, with his growing interest in wine, he began taking […]
Q & A with Tyler Flowers, American AgCredit
Tyler Flowers grew up in a Mississippi farming community and graduated from MSU with a degree in Agricultural Economics. He wasn’t exposed to wine until he met a young woman who grew up in Sonoma Wine Country; he is now married to her and together they have a family. He’s interned for a US Senator, […]
Q & A John Sweazey, Founder Anaba Wines
John Sweazy grew up in the Midwest and didn’t even so much as see a glass of wine until he went off to college. There, he encountered the standards of that era: Cold Duck, Mateus, and Lancers. After graduating from Stanford, he went into finance and real estate. In 1971, on an extended 25,000-mile journey […]
Q & A Devon Wright, CEO & CoFounder of Lumo
Devon Wright grew up in Whitby, a suburb of Toronto, on the North Shore of Lake Ontario, in Canada. He was always fascinated by how things worked and how to make them more efficient. Devon launched his career as an entrepreneur with the creation of an online platform for restaurants which was eventually acquired by […]
Q & A with Shawn & Vlada Walker, North Bay Wine Tours
Shawn Walker grew up in Southern California; his wife, Vlada, was born in St Petersburg, Russia, and came to this country when she was just 18. Although neither grew up with wine on the family table, both have developed an appreciation for how wine can distinctly improve the experience and flavors of the food that […]
Q & A with Erik Ayala, Winemaker, 1467 Cellars
Erik Ayala grew up riding horseback through the Cabernet vineyards in Napa County with his grandfather, Juan Roldan. After spending his first harvest in 2006 hand-picking and fermenting wine as a family project, he knew he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Erik has honed his winemaking skills at Far […]
Tony & Christine Lombardi, Founding Members of Hilinski’s Hope Foundation
Tony & Christine Lombardi are founding board members of Hilinski’s Hope Foundation, which raises much-needed funds and awareness for student-athletes mental health and wellness at universities and high schools nationwide. In July 2024 they hosted a “Wine Cruise for a Cause” on AmaWaterways, which resulted in $40,000 being donated to the Foundation. Through their efforts […]
Q & A with Megan Cline, Cline Cellars & Gust
Megan Cline, the daughter of Fred and Nancy Cline, owners of Cline Cellars, grew up in a large Italian family in Sonoma County. She was one of seven children, so there was constant chaos in the household, but it was chaos in a good way. She roamed the vineyards with her dad, while he quizzed […]
Q & A with Jenny Scheid, Managing Member, Toje Wines
Jenny Scheid grew up in Northern California and began her wine journey by taking small sips of wine that her parents purchased while enjoying their trips to wine country. During high school, she learned that making wine was a possible career path and that she could study it when she went to college. She made […]
Q & A with Dan Berger, Wine Journalist
Dan Berger was born in Brooklyn and attended New York public schools as a child. Even then, he was no stranger to the sound of printing the news, as his grandfather had a shop with a noisy hand-operated printing press. Their family moved to the Los Angeles area before Dan started high school. His parents […]
