Klei's scientific background and endless curiousity led him to his career in the wine industry. In 2005, he graduated from Eastern Washington University with a degree in biology, looking to use his biology degree in a laboratory, Klei completed an internship in the lab at Snoqualmie Winery in Eastern Washington for the 2005 harvest.

After the harvest, he worked in a few other laboratories, but quickly found that none of the other jobs could match up to working at a winery, when a full time lab position opened at SMWE, Klei jumped at the opportunity to return to the industry. As his time there progressed, Klei found he was interested in more than just the laboratory side of winemaking.

With the support of the winemaking team, Klei found his true passion for the industry. In 2008, Klei was named enologist for Columbia Crest out of Patterson, Washington, and in 2012 he was promoted to assistant winemaker. In 2015, Klei began overseeing winemaking for motto wines.

As of 2018, Klei is now head winemaker at Seven Falls Cellars.

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Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a "certification in first globally-recognized course" as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards.

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Jill Gedra is the Owner of Lait Cru Brasserie and Nickel City Cheese & Mercantile, which operate side-by-side in the Horsefeathers Building on Buffalo’s West Side. After graduating from the New England Culinary Institute, Jill worked in kitchens across the country, extending from San Francisco to the Midwest, and found her niche – cheese. Jill gained experience as a cheese monger for several high-end grocers in Nantucket and Minneapolis, while raising her two young children.

Upon moving home to Orchard Park, NY, Jill opened Nickel City Cheese & Mercantile in Buffalo’s Elmwood Village. The European-style gourmet cheese and specialty food store has since grown into a bustling business, supplying countless local restaurants with cheese and other exclusive items, as well as offering Western New Yorkers unique, gourmet products.

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The First Underground, Commercial Barrel Cellar in Central Texas

Grape Creek Vineyard's terroir has a rich legacy beyond it's recent wine history. The property sits on what is believed to have been a Comanche campground. Evidence of their presence is in the form of spearheads, arrowheads and skinning tools found on the property. The banks of Grape Creek afforded the native tribes access to year-round water and cool breezes.

In 1985, Ned and Nel Simes, the original owners of Grape Creek Vineyards, began a 20 year journey to create a recognized winery in the Texas Hill Country. They planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay and also established the first underground, commercial barrel cellar in Central Texas, which can be seen on our tours. Ned passed away in 2004 and the Heath's purchased the property and business from Ned’s heirs in early 2006.

The Heath's have a Vision

Brian immediately embarked on a renovation and expansion of the property. This included transforming what once was the residence into the Tuscan Villa tasting rooms you see today. A new rock bell tower and entry were added off highway 290 and an aggressive program of vineyard planting and investing in substantially improved wine production capabilities was undertaken. Beginning in 2011 Grape Creek completed phase one the current state-of-the-art wine production facility, and contine to add to it today. The winery is featured on our cellar tours. The new tour tasting room and art gallery was launched in 2014 and the trattoria and terrace patios were opened in 2015, only to transform into a fine dining restaurant in 2017. Every year Brian says he is done building for a while, but none of us believe him!

Grape Creek looks forward to providing you with a unique, old world experience and serving exceptional wine. You can order wine online and Belong! to our wine club family so you can enjoy Grape Creek Vineyards year round!

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Michella Chiu is the Director of Brand Marketing at GREAT WINE, Inc. She plays a crucial role in managing the company’s strategic plans in marketing, public relations (PR), and sales. Companies Chiu has worked for successfully gain publicity in important media outlets including Forbes, Entrepreneur, monster.com, and U.S. News & Report etc.

Chiu went to Columbia University for her M.A. in East Asian Languages and Culture (History track) and Princeton University for her Ph.D. in History. She also holds certificates including Strategic Leadership for Supervisors from the University of Washington, and Wine & Spirit Education Trust WSET Level 3. Chiu’s education ignites her interest for wine history and concepts behind wine for consumption.

As a prolific researcher and marketing professional, Chiu gained numerous academic research experiences as a historian at University of Chicago and the Rockefeller Foundation. She received invitation to publish from the University of Cambridge and Indiana University presses. In recognition of Chiu’s passion and academic excellence, she was invited to visit University of Washington as a Visiting Scholar from 2015 to 2016.

Out of her busy times, Chiu takes a number of leadership roles in the community to help young people explore their career options. She is the Vice President of the Princeton Club of Western Washington, a Member of the Columbia Alumni Career Coaches Network, and a Member of Versatile Ph.D. – student-run organization aiming to help Ph.Ds and Ph.D. candidates look to non-academic jobs. She also has a newspaper column on graduate school application tips.

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Leslie is the founder and owner of Vino 301 Wine Concierge, a Maryland wine tours and events company. She established the company with two goals in mind: first to celebrate the contributions of the local vintners and boutique wine producers and secondly every customer should be thrilled and delighted when attending a Vino 30l event. Leslie is an advocate for locally sourced food and wine. She holds Level Two, Award in Wines and Spirits (WSET). Prior to joining the wine tourism industry, she worked several years in the public policy industry for public and non-for-profit organizations.

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I'm Chris Hanson, and I'm the Tasting Room Manager for Laurentia Vineyard & Winery. I've only been in the position for two short months, but I've learned so much in that small time span!

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Tim has over 30 years of proven success in the wine industry with positions in public relations, trade relations, marketing and sales, event management and wine education. His experience includes positions at prominent adult beverage companies; such as E&J Gallo where he served as Marketing Director Fine Wine Communications, Peak Wines as V.P. of Marketing and Communications, Trinchero Family Estates as Director of Trade Relations, with Heublein Wines as Director of Trade & Public Relations, and sales assignments with both Seagram and Heublein.

Tim has experience with all types of Media, National Accounts, Wholesale Distributors, Restaurant, and Retail segments. Tim has served as a Wine Judge at over 200 Wine and Spirits Competitions here in North America. He’s currently the Director of Wine Judging at the San Francisco International Wine Competition and the Chief Judge at the Central Coast Wine Competition. Tim speaks frequently on assembled panels at many wine industry events.

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Laurie Forster is one of America’s leading wine experts and author of the award-winning book The Sipping Point: A Crash Course in Wine. Laurie is a Certified Sommelier, National Speaker and TV personality who is not afraid to tell you her first wine came from a box. Her edgy approach to demystifying wine caught the eye of major networks and led her to guest appearances on Dr Oz, FOX Morning News, Martha Stewart Living Today and ABC News at Noon.

Laurie regularly speaks across the country where she edutains a client list that includes MetLife, Discovery Channel, Microsoft, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, LG Electronics, National Association of Catering Executives, American Cancer Society and McCormick & Company to name a few. She’s performed her comedic wine tasting at legendary locations like Carolines on Broadway, DC IMPROV, Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah’s Casino, City Winery NYC & Chicago and Broadway Comedy Club.

Forster is also the host of The Sipping Point and her mobile application “The Wine Coach” was listed as one of the Top 8 Wine Apps in Wine Enthusiast. A former software sales executive, Laurie’s wine career began in Manhattan where she studied with the American Sommelier Association to obtain her certificate in Viticulture and Vinification. Laurie has since earned an Advanced Certificate with Merit from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET). She has also trained with the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley.

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Stacie is a Certified Silver Pin Sommelier /North American Sommelier Association / AIS / WSA (nasommelier.com) and Co-founder of SPLASH Productions (www.splashpros.com), producers of Wine, Cuisine & Art exhibitions and video productions/documentaries, television/digital publicity and marketing for wineries and regions. She is contributor to "Good Food" on KCRW-FM, Los Angeles' NPR flagship station and the Sommelier Journalist writing the wine column for the award-winning online magazine, MY LA Lifestyle (www.mylalifestyle.com).

She is Vice President of the Board of the National Association of Wine Retailers (www.nawr.org) working to “free the grapes” via direct shipping from wineries to retailers and consumers nationwide. For Du Vin Wine & Spirits in West Hollywood she is the marketer specializing in the wines of Italy and Latin America.

Her most passionate areas of work are as a spokesperson, educator, journalist and Course Co-Creator (AWS - American Wine Specialist and the Olive Oil Specialist course) with North American Sommelier Association (www.nasommelier.com). In this capacity Stacie is a cheerleader and able to communicate, educate and encourage students to develop and continue their knowledge in wine and food. An equal passion is functioning as a judge for wine competitions in the US, Argentina and Mexico.

Along with her work in the wine industry, Stacie is the founder and CEO of Point Media (pointmedia.com), a digital video production firm specializing in the music industry, developing music videos, multi-cam concert productions and apps. At times her two passions of wine and video production crossover. Stacie is producer of the one-hour award-winning documentary for Wine Spectator magazine. She is an Emmy Award winner for her news and journalism work with NBC. As a product/brand spokesperson she has conducted international webcasts and shows for Bertolli Foods and Saeco and is spokesperson for the Baja Winemakers and Chefs Association.

Stacie relates to the quote from Francis Ford Coppola regarding similarities between the wine and film businesses:

“The process is the same, with three stages. In film, you gather the source material. That's the research or the story material or the writing. The gathering in wine is the gathering of the grapes. The second phase in film is, you take what you've gathered, which some days was good, some days was bad, and through the editing you assemble, just as in wine you taste the different lots and then you assemble what you think is the best wine. Then you have the third phase, which is the entire process of finishing, which in film is all the sound and mix and color correction and finally taking it to theaudience. In wine, it's the same thing, the fining and the aging and the bottle aging and ultimately putting it into the package.”

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