Chris Cameron

Jonathan Medard

Kerry Norton

Dan Zepponi

Stephen Lawrence

WINERIES AND WINEMAKING

Chris Cameron has been named the new winemaker for Summerwood Winery & Inn located in Paso Robles. Cameron will oversee the Summerwood portfolio and will continue to lead the ultra-premium brand.

Jonathan Medard has been hired by Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard as production manager. Medard had previously been the assistant winemaker at Newton Vineyards in St. Helena.

Robert Henson has joined Sarah's Vineyard in Gilroy, California as winemaker/general manager. Henson was previously with Michaud Vineyard and Winery as viticulturist, associate winemaker and a national sales manager.

Scott Ehrlich joined Ste. Michelle Wine Estates as product manager of Imports, New York. He was with Winebow as a brand manager for Italian Import Wines.

Jared Souza has joined Benziger's winemaking team as production manager, having previously worked for Vinovation. Sean Holcomb was also hired by Benziger as consumer relations marketer, having previously been with Etude Wines.

Kevin Commander joined J Vineyards and Winery as production manager. He has more than 10 years experience in cellar and production supervisor positions.

Kerry Norton has joined the Columbia Winery winemaking team as director of winemaking, bringing with him more than two decades of Northwestern winemaking experience and expertise. Prior to joining Columbia Winery, Norton spent eight years as winemaker for Covey Run in Washington. Prior to Covey Run, Norton was winemaker at Eola Hills Wine Cellars in Oregon.

Dan Zepponi, previously senior vice president, leading winemaking and vineyard management with Fosters Wine Estates, is now the president of Mission Hill Family Estate winery in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. Zepponi will oversee all operations of the family-owned winery, including viticulture, winemaking, sales, marketing and hospitality. He will work alongside the team, including chief winemaker John Simes and international consultants Michel Rolland and Pascal Chatonnet, to build Mission Hill and the Okanagan Valley to new heights. Mission Hill Family Estate is the major private vineyard owner in the region, with 23 distinct estates. The winery, which was named by Architectural Record as one of the world's four new outstanding wineries in the world (and only one in North America), came into prominence when the 1992 Estate Chardonnay was awarded "Best Chardonnay Worldwide" at the International Wine and Spirit competition in London.

Stephen Lawrence has joined Pahlmeyer Winery in the Napa Valley as national sales manager. Lawrence has held key management positions at Clicquot, Inc., Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, The Chalone Wine Group and Lockwood Vineyard. Earlier in his career he worked at retail wine stores in New York City (Morrell & Company) and London (Wiengott's, The Winery, Laytons Wine Merchants). Immediately after finishing his undergraduate education at Lord Williams College in Oxford, he worked in the cellars and wineries at Château de Chantigrive in Graves, Maison Joseph Drouhin in Burgundy and Hugel et Fils in Alsace.

Lynn Fritz, proprietor of Lynmar Winery, named Gordon Munroe as chief operating officer. Munroe joins winemaker Hugh Chappelle, consulting winemaker Paul Hobbs, consulting viticulturist Greg Adams and director of sales and marketing Derek Bromley in a role that will oversee all winery operations, sales and marketing. Munroe brings to the position international and domestic experience in fine wine management, marketing and sales as well as a background in the arenas of advertising and branding.

Gretchen Brakesman

The Ranch Winery in St. Helena has hired Gretchen Brakesman as sales manager. She has extensive experience in the wine industry and is responsible for business development, sales and client account management. The Ranch is a new custom-crush facility in Napa Valley. Prior to joining The Ranch, Brakesman was a wine industry sales representative for Ramondin Capsulas S.A., based in Napa, where she was responsible for Ramondin capsule sales to wineries in Napa, Sonoma and Lake counties. The Ranch launched operations in early 2007 after an investment group purchased the Zinfandel Lane winemaking facility from Trinchero Family Estates.

Hermann J. Wiemer, owner and founder of New York's Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard, and winemaker Frederick T. Merwarth, with his wife Meressa, have entered into a long-term business relationship that has Merwarth leading the winery, vineyard and nursery operations. Under the tutelage of Hermann Wiemer for the last six years, Merwarth has refined his talents in winemaking and vineyard management.

Rachna Sachainia was hired by Darioush as concierge. Sachainia has worked in the hospitality field for five years, previously with Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn. Cinzia Fasino has also been hired by Darioush as senior executive administrative assistant and was most recently executive assistant to the SVP of Imports at Winebow. Denis Ronchelli joined Darioush as controller. Ronchelli has financial experience in the agriculture, food processing and transportation fields.

Neville Falkenberg has been appointed chief winemaker for the Ross Estate in Australia's Barossa Valley. Falkenberg spent most of his career as part of the Penfold's winemaking team. He replaces Rod Chapman, who retired after 45 years in the Australian wine industry, including 18 years making Penfold's Grange. Darius and Pauline Ross bought the Ross Estate in 1993, and their first wines were released in 1999.

DISTRIBUTORS, IMPORTERS & RETAILERS

John Lyons was appointed a director of Queensland wine company Sirromet Wines. Lyons, who is based in Brisbane, has held senior marketing and sales positions with Bayer Australia Ltd. He then founded Marketshare Pty Ltd., which he sold in 2000. His current board appointments include Softlink International Ltd., Onetest Workforce Diagnostics, the Royal Children's Hospital Foundation and Jupiters Casino Community Benefit Fund. Sirronet was set up in 1998 and has over 160 hectares (392 acres) of vines mainly at high altitude at Ballandean in Queensland's Granite Belt.

Allan Cheesman will become non-executive chairman at U.K. wine company Berkmann Wine Cellars Ltd. He will take over from Joseph Berkmann, who set up the business in 1964. Berkmann will remain a director as well as chairman of the holding company Berkmann Holdings Ltd. Cheesman joined U.K. supermarket J. Sainsbury in 1971 and is credited with having revolutionized the wine retail business in U.K. supermarkets. He retired from Sainsbury's in 2002 and is currently a director of Berkmann Wine Cellars Ltd.

WaverleyTBS, a U.K. independent drinks wholesaler, appointed New Zealand-born Jeneve Williams as their new winemaker to the wine buying team. Williams has spent four years with Montana/Lindauer in New Zealand and has also worked on vintages in France, Australia and California. Her role will be to manage the WaverleyTBS winemaking projects in France, Spain and Italy as well as buying in Germany. She will also work on shadow projects as well as blending projects after vintage. Nathan Foote is WaverleyTBS' other winemaker.

Kathy Whaley has been appointed marketing director USA for South African wine brand Golden Kaan. Whaley's role will be to develop marketing and public relations initiatives for the brand. Whaley has spent the last six years with Constellation Wines where she was a member of the Canterra and Icon Estates teams. She was senior brand manager for Ravenswood. Golden Kaan is a joint venture between South Africa's KWV International and Germany's Racke International. Following two years of market research around the world, Golden Kaan was launched at Vinexpo in June 2003.

Johan Bestbier has been appointed general manager of South African producer, Kleine Zalze. Bestbier started his new job on August 1. He was previously managing director of KWV International. For the past two and a half years Bestbier was responsible for the repositioning of KWV International as well as leading the rebranding of KWV's portfolio. He also served on the main board of KWV Limited as an executive director. Kleine Zalze in Stellenbosch now has 80 hectares (198 acres) of vines.

INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS & SERVICES

Robert Morey joined ZORK as director of sales. Morey was previously with Janson Capsules.

In response to the growing demand for custom label solutions, Labeltronix has hired Bill Huey and Steve Bisceglia as Wine Label Specialists. For the past 12 years, Huey has helped wineries with market positioning and brand recognition as a consultant. He also has over 35 years of general labeling experience. As part of the pioneering Central Coast wine family that owned Bisceglia Brothers Winery, Bisceglia has a deep understanding of the challenges facing the industry. He has provided label sales services to both small- and medium-sized family winemakers. Bisceglia graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in marketing and psychology of sales.

WINE ASSOCIATIONS

Kristy Charles

The Anderson Valley Winegrowers hired Kristy Charles as executive director of the organization. Charles is a native of Anderson Valley and a local grape grower, but most recently worked in the public relations department at Wilson Daniels Ltd., a wine sales and marketing company representing some of the world's most prestigious wine properties. Previously, she was with The MacKenzie Agency in Sonoma County.

Erle Martin was named CEO of the as yet unnamed Leucadia National Corporation wine division. The division will encompass three Leucadia winery properties, Napa's Pine Ridge Winery, LLC, Oregon's Archery Summit and a new Washington property located in the Horse Heaven Hills. Martin was previously the president, wines, with Francis Ford Coppola Presents. Martin joined Niebaum-Coppola (now Rubicon Estate) as vice-president of sales and marketing in June 1996 and was promoted to general manager in July 1997. In December 1999, he was appointed president. Prior to that, Martin was with Young's Market of California, where he was a vice-president and head of their statewide fine wine division.

PUBLICATIONS

Blake Gray, a journalist who has covered the wine industry with distinction as a staff writer with the San Francisco Chronicle for the last three years, has left the paper to pursue new interests. He is among approximately 100 staffers leaving the Chronicle this summer in a cost cutting move.

OBITUARIES

Todd Williams

Todd Williams, aka "Dr. Toad," passed away on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007 at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in Sonoma County, a result of heart failure. He was 69. Williams, a native of Versailles, Kentucky, founded Russian River Valley's Toad Hollow Vineyards in 1993 with business partner Rodney Strong. Williams started in the saloon business, cutting a swath from Oklahoma to San Francisco to Montego Bay, Jamaica. Eventually, his no-holds-barred approach to life led him to discover his passion in California's wine business in the 1980s where he built a name for himself as a tireless advocate for small, premium producers. In the late 1980s and after several years in wine sales, he served as Shafer Vineyards' national sales manager and credits this experience for setting the tone of his nationally recognized, companionable approach to spreading "the gospel according to the Toad." In 1993, during a successful stint with his own sales company, Hillside Estates, Williams partnered with Rodney Strong, who had just sold his namesake winery. The two found a new project to pursue as their retirement dream, founding Toad Hollow Vineyards. Starting with Rod's Russian River Chardonnay vineyard land and Todd's sales expertise, they released 3,000 cases of Toad Hollow wines in May of 1994. Williams' limitless energy, acerbic wit and heady promotional tactics endeared the brand to a national audience who look forward to the next Toad Hollow Gazette or a new wine release laced with amphibian innuendo.

Elliott Millett

Sonoma-Cutrer Pinot Noir assistant winemaker Elliott Millett, 43, passed away on Aug. 10, 2007 after battling health problems for an extended period of time. Since joining Brown-Forman and Sonoma-Cutrer in 2002 he worked closely with long-time Sonoma-Cutrer winemaker Terry Adams to craft and launch the winery's Pinot Noir offering, the first non-Chardonnay produced by the winery since 1981. His first vintages have achieved great market success, consistently selling out and being placed in allocation, and the wine has been hailed by wine critics. Winemaker Millett is survived by his wife, Christina, twin sister Amber Brown and a younger brother, Aaron Millett. Millet and his wife were childhood friends, later high school sweethearts who attended the prom together. Originally from Massachusetts, he graduated from Fresno State in 1986 with a major in enology and viticulture. After working in the hospitality industry as a hotel manager in Boston, he gained winery experience at Trefethen and Rutz wineries before joining Sonoma-Cutrer. He was an avid skier, outdoorsman and traveler. The family has established a memorial fund at the Bank of the West (account 095134797) benefiting the American Cancer Society. A memorial service was held in Danvers, Massachusetts.

Baron Elie de Rothschild died of a heart attack at the age of 90. Elie de Rothschild died on Aug. 6 in the Austrian Alps. Born in May 1917, he took over the running of Château Lafite-Rothschild in 1946. Elie de Rothschild played a major role in restoring the estate following the Depression in the 1930s and the damage caused during the Second World War. In June 1940 the Germans requisitioned both Lafite and nearby Mouton-Rothschild, stationing troops at both properties. The Rothschilds recovered Lafite in 1945. According to the company website, Baron Elie led a program to restore the vineyards and the buildings, and to fully restructure the property's administration. He was also an active member of the wine community and one of the founding members of the Bordeaux wine guild, Commanderie du Bontemps of the Médoc, in 1950. He handed over the running of the estates to his nephew Eric de Rothschild in 1974. wbm