Q & A with Fran Leach, Director of Hospitality, Sojourn Cellars
Fran Leach is a fifth-generation California girl, who loved cooking with her dad and gardening with her mom. Family meals were always “Farm to Table” style, with home-grown fruits and vegetables and wine on the table for the grownups. She began her career in real estate, but with a growing interest in wine and hospitality, […]
Q & A with Semra Erden, Eloquent-U
Semra Erden, Founder of Eloquent-U, was born in Istanbul and came to the United States after earning a degree in French Literature and launching a designer boutique in Istanbul. She turned it over to her family after marrying a professor at SFSU and moving to California. With an interest in both wine and design, she […]
Q & A with Mike Scott, Owner Six Gates Vineyard and his Father, Mark Scott
Mike Scott grew up on his family’s farm in Petaluma on the Western Slope of Sonoma Mountain. His father, Mark Scott, was one of the first to plant grapes at the higher elevation in the Petaluma Gap. Although his father doesn’t drink wine, he planted wine grapes because they were a higher-value crop that he […]
Q & A with Jacqueline Yoakum, Winemaker, Keller Estate
Jacqueline Yoakum attended college in NY. Her first winemaking role was at Macari Vineyards on the North Fork of Long Island, where she was introduced to biodynamics. She was fascinated by women working in the wine industry and after reaching out to a few, she decided to attend UC Davis and get a degree in […]
Q & A with Nicolas and Sirilo Cornejo, Clendenen Vineyard Management
Nicolas Cornejo was born in Michoacan, Mexico and raised his family in Sonoma County. He worked for many years with John Clendenen at Clendenen Vineyard Management, and when John retired, he wanted to sell the business to someone he could trust to carry on. Today. the Cornejo family owns the business and Nicolas manages the vineyard […]
Q&A with Junghoon Lee, Telofarm Inc.
Junghoon Lee grew up in Seoul, South Korea. He planned to go to technical school after graduation so that he could learn how to design mechanical devices that people would enjoy using, but one of his teachers encouraged him to instead go to a university. He ultimately earned a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA […]
Q&A with Kenneth Noren, Wonderful Nurseries
Ken Noren grew up in the Salinas Vallley, surrounded by agriculture. As a young boy, he was heavily involved in 4-H and FFA, When the time came to choose a college, Cal Poly was a natural fit. Although he was interested in wine and grape growing, viticulture wasn’t offered as a major at the time, […]
Q&A with Anne Moller-Racke, Blue Farm Wines
Anne Moller-Racke grew up in Oberwesel, Germany, a small town along the Rhine River. She came to California to work a harvest, but the plan was to return home after it concluded. Instead, she went to work for Buena Vista Winery as their Viticulturist. Following that, she launched Donum Estate, while also planting a vineyard […]
Q&A with Victoria De Crescenzo, Bevan Cellars
Victoria De Crescenzo was born in Southern California, surrounded by horse farms and orange groves. Wine was not a part of her world until she moved to Des Moines and began attending wine-tasting classes at a local wine shop. After meeting Russell Bevan, a colleague in the dental industry, they began making wine together. Their […]
Q&A with Alice van Ommeren, The Wine Data Researcher
Alice van Ommeren was born in Amsterdam, lived in Belgium and France during her early childhood years, and then, as a teenager, moved to Phoenix, AZ. Although wine was on the communal lunch table in grammar school, the kids were not interested; instead, they fought over the Sprite. Alice went on to pursue degrees in […]
