WISE Academy, Aged Cabernet Trust, Wine Industry Technology Symposium, Ambrosia Wine Catalogue, Winetasting Network - Lesley Berglund

Lesley Berglund, an accomplished wine industry entrepreneur & CEO, is also a third generation Napa Valley native from a grape growing family.

Lesley is an accomplished wine industry entrepreneur, CEO and board member with a focus on driving industry change. Over the past 18 years in the wine industry she has started up the equivalent of seven new businesses, acquired and integrated four companies and led during periods of dramatic change. As co-founder and former CEO of the Ambrosia Wine Catalogue/the Winetasting Network (which she sold to 1-800 Flowers in 2004) she has deep experience in consumer direct marketing of fine wines.

Lesley has served on the board of nine wine-related companies and trade associations. In 2006, she co-founded the Specialty Wine Retailers Association. In 2008, she co-founded the WISE ACADEMY. This is awinery sales executive education business -- the only wine industry education, training and certification program dedicated solely to direct-to-consumer sales and marketing-- go to (WISE Academy) for more information.

Lesley serves as Co-Chair of both the Wine Industry Technology Symposium and the Green Wine Summit.

She also owns and operates the Aged Cabernet Trust, an aged Cabernet investment company that has provided successful returns to investors for the past 25 vintages.

Lesley has an MBA from Harvard Business School (Class of 1991)and a BA in Economics from Wesleyan University. She is a member of both the Young Presidents Organization and the Entrepreneurs Organization and has completed the Kellogg Woman’s Director Development program. Lesley is a third generation Napa Valley native from a grape growing family.

More about Aged Cabernet Trust: (from the website)

"For more than two decades, Aged Cabernet Trust has been engaged in the purchasing, aging and marketing of Cabernet Sauvignon. Each year, we raise money from investors to buy current release wines and store the wine until it is ready to be consumed. We then re-release the wines back into the market, selling them to a select group of wine enthusiasts, specialty wine retailers and exceptional restaurants.

Wines chosen to become part of our portfolio are all beautifully constructed, age-worthy wines, and have solid brand recognition that will guarantee interest in the years to come. Until re-released, when the aged wines are ready to be enjoyed, proper cellaring in a Napa-based bonded and temperature-controlled warehouse is insured.

To compare fine aged Cabernet Sauvignon with its youthful counterpart is nearly like comparing two different varietals. Colors evolve from purple and violet tints to progressively more brick red and eventually tawny colors. The fruit-forward aromas fade and a more complex nose develops. The taste changes, as stringent tannins fade and are replaced by a smoother and rounder mouth feel. In great aged Cabernet Sauvignon, these various taste and aroma components integrate, yielding more richness and complexity."

Grape Experience; WSET Instructor - Adam Chase

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ADAM CHASE holds a DWS (Diploma in Wines & Spirits) and is Candidate for MW.

Adam owns Grape Experience with offices in Boston and San Francisco, where he teaches all levels of the WSET program (Wine and Spirits Educational Trust). He is formerly the Associate Dean of Wine Studies at Copia in Napa, California.

WSET says, "He won't admit to it, but he is one of the "favorite" WSET instructors in America - his love and in-depth knowledge of wine always makes for an exciting class. Adam has worked in the wine industry for 10 years as an educator, retailer and consultant. He is an Associate with the Institute of Wine and Spirits and holds the Honors Diploma certification from London's Wine and Spirits Educational Trust. He is also a candidate for the Master of Wine."

Adam earned his MBA at Harvard in 1990.

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Steve's Margarita - Alfredo Faubel

Alfredo is Director of Sales and Marketing for Steve's Margarita [http://www.stevesmargarita.com/], a 12% alcohol premium agave wine based ready to drink cocktail bottled in Miami, FL. He spent the past three years on development and regulatory approval and is currently busy building distribution both in the US and overseas. Uniquely, his RTD margarita can be frozen and served in the bottle (see YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlgYfeNYa0E ) and sold with just a beer and wine license. Other cocktails - these based on orange wine - have now joined the margarita: Long island, bloody Mary, and cosmopolitan.

Prior to his entry in the wine business Alfredo spent nine years in the cocoa and coffee business, supplying ingredients for the food, cosmetic, pharmaceuticals, and tobacco products.

In addition, since 1996 Alfredo has been consulting to Latin American clients in need of new or improved business models. Alfredo holds a masters degree in chemical engineering from ETH Zurich (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) and cut his PhD research short to get his MBA at Harvard, class of 1983.

He hails originally from Spain, is fluent in German and Spanish and resides in Miami since 1989.

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WineCircle Consulting - Peter Grossman

WineCircle Consulting is led by Peter Grossman, who is founder and CEO. Peter has trained and managed buyers and merchandise managers at Bevmo!, and at other retail chains. He brings the “behind the scenes” experience and expertise that can truly help clients create actionable plans to sell more wine. Peter’s extensive track record of accomplishments in sales, marketing and merchandising in the wine industry is second to none.

Peter’s core competencies include product mix optimization, pricing strategy, inventory management, supply chain logistics, marketing effectiveness, operations efficiency, and team evaluation, starting from the ground up.

Prior to founding WineCircle, Peter was Senior Vice President, General Merchandise Manager at Beverages & more!, a 60 plus unit alcoholic beverage superstore chain. He was recruited by its CEO to grow its business significantly, which he accomplished during his tenure.

At Bevmo!, Peter was the sales and merchandising leader on the five person senior management team that nearly doubled sales from less than $200 million to over $375 million, quintupling earnings in a three year period. Peter accelerated the growth of the business by increasing the focus on quality branded and private label products. He reallocated inventory investment to improve turnover and sales. By hiring and leading the appropriate talent, he built the business and the merchandising organization. Peter enhanced the growth of the wine business by increasing the productivity of the stores and the internet. Peter has extensive contacts in the wine industry.

Prior to joining Bevmo!, Peter owned and operated his own business for a number of years. Sales increased from $13 million to nearly $19 million and profitability improved. Peter understands how to grow small businesses. He comprehends how to get things done within the constraints of a small business. Peter also built little known products and categories into successful national businesses in a number of senior executive roles with branded, national retail chains, including Egghead and The Sharper Image.

Peter has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School (1978), and an undergraduate degree from Princeton University, where he graduated magna cum laude.

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AmazonWine - Dini Rao

Dini V. Rao is part of the team building AmazonWine.

Prior to her move to Seattle, Dini spent the past ten years in wine including her time as a Wine Specialist at Christie's auction house in NY, a Sommelier at Grill 23 & Bar in Boston, and in wine sales at the boutique wine shop Lower Falls Wine Co in Newton.

As a WineSpecialist at Christie's, Dini inspected, tasted and evaluated wines from premier collections around the world, advised collectors on buying wine, and led tastings for Christie's clients.

Dini dividedher time at HBS and spent her first year as part of the class of 2005,but withdrew from the program when she was offered the position at Christie's. After three years as a Wine Specialist there, Dini returned to HBS and graduated with the Class of 2008 in Section F. Dini also holds her Diploma from the Wine & Spirits EducationTrust (WSET).

Now Dini works on the team that will launch AmazonWine.com.

Channing Daughters Winery: Walter Channing Jr.

Walter Channing Jr. is partner in Channing Daughters Winery, Long Island, NY. Channing planted his first Chardonnay vines at his Bridgehampton, Long Island farm in 1982. From the winery website:

Atlantic breezes cool our vineyards creating a climate hospitable to a wide array of fascinating grape varieties. At Channing Daughters we grow and create wines from the white varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Tocai Friulano, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat Ottonel, Malvasia, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Bianco, and the red varieties Merlot, Blaufrankisch, Pinot Noir, Dornfelder, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Soon the reds Teroldego, Refosco and Lagrein will join them. We are the only winery on the East End growing and producing wines from many of these grapes. Our home is a beautiful plot of land in Bridgehampton that contains twenty-five acres of vines, our small winery and tasting room. We source about fifty percent of our grapes from special sites and people on the North Fork.

Mr. Channing's business life includes the following: He is a founder and partner in C.W. Group, a venture capital business focusing on investments and business development in the healthcare, biotechnology, and managed-care provider service sectors. C.W. Group, its first fund started in 1983, has invested in over 40 companies and has acted as lead investor or originator of 25. Mr. Channing is a member of the Venture Advisory Committee of the Brigham and Womens's Hospital in Boston and the Center For The Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at The Harvard School of Public Health.

After graduating from Harvard College and Harvard Business School (class of 1967) , Channing moved to New York City and became involved in healthcare consulting and later venture capital investing in start-up medical businesses.

ON THE ARTISTIC SIDE:
On the side, Walter Channing followed in his father's footsteps, working with wood. He found a preoccupation in recovering and reworking discarded materials. The demolition of Hudson River piers led to a new focus: rescuing the wood from destruction. Hundreds of feet of strong seasoned wood were scheduled to be hauled out to sea for burning, but Channing stashed away as much of it as he could. Over the next few years, the wood was reborn as furniture, interior walls and art objects, all illustrating the form and quality of the original wood. Later he retrieved discarded trees from the Easthampton dump. This led to a new medium: roots and trunk forms. More recently he created his own personal dump in Bridgehamtpon to have on hand a ready inventory. The nobility of stumps about to be plowed into oblivion became a cause for Channing. He reworked them and gave them a new identity, often with a touch of humor.

Channing's work has been shown since 1975 at such places as the O.K. Harris Gallery, the Webb and Parsons Gallery, Handschin Gallery, Basel, Switzerland; the Indianapolis Museum of Fine Arts and the Root Art Center, Hamilton College. Other shows: the Squibb Gallery in Princeton, New Jersey, and the Elaine Benson and Louise Himmelfarb Galleries in the Hamptons. He also routinely shows his work at the annual Century Association's Sculpture Show in New York City.

More recent work includes inverted, whole trees mounted on scaffolding, chain saw carvings, wood "Berms", and curvilinear stacking of wood. Some of these portray tree roots in an anthropomorphized form, acting like and even imitating humans. The mischief goes on as carved human figures return the gesture, imitate and mime the nethers of the tree.

Channing's studio is in Bridgehampton, Long Island.

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Moet Hennessy - LVMH : Guillaume Penot

Guillaume Penot is the Managing Director - Western Europe at Moet Hennessy - LVMH, headquartered in Paris, France.

Past wine industry positions include Director of Strategy and Development at Moet Hennessy - LVMH from 2005-2008. Prior to joining Moet Hennessy, he was Regional Managing Director at Maxxium Worldwide, Hong Kong and Amsterdam for six years; Maxxium Worldwide is responsible for the sales, local marketing and distribution of many of the world leading premium spirits and wine brands. Maxxium is owned by two equal shareholders: Beam Global Spirits & Wine and The Edrington Group.

Other wines and spirits industry experience includes Managing Director of Remy Australia, based in Sydney, and Chief Financial Officer of Remy Americas, based in New York.

Guillame earned his MBA in International Management from INSEAD in 1990, and his BA in Finance and International Affairs in 1984 from Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Bordeaux-Ecole de Management.

He is a graduate of the 2002 Advanced Management Program of Harvard Business School.

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Global Wine Partners: Scott Becker

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Scott Becker is Vice President at Global Wine Partners, specializing in wine industry mergers, acquisitions and investments. Global Wine Partners provides investment banking services for wine business transactions, including mergers & acquisitions, valuations, strategic advisory, asset management and corporate finance services in raising debt and equity capital. The bank has wine investment joint ventures with private equity firms and other major financial institutions. The bank is headquartered in St. Helena, CA.

Scott started with Global Wine Partners in 2007 and joined the firm full-time in 2008 after completing his Master's in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

He previously worked with Cargill, Inc. in corporate development. Before business school, Scott served in the U.S. Air Force as a Special Agent in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy summa cum laude in civil engineering in 2001.

Scott was Co-President of the Harvard Business School Wine & Cuisine Society and is currently pursuing his Diploma through the Wine and Spirit Education Trust.

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