Wine Country Women

Alanna Hanson is the co-founder of Hanson of Sonoma, but also an experienced film professional. Learn how this California girl, and her family decided to build something different in wine country. Discover how they are on the forefront of organic spirits in the united states; making a wine based vodka. Next up is a four year old whiskey. Find out some personal fact on Alanna including details of h...

Meet Nicole Marino who is an entraprenuer in the Napa Valley. Find out how a vacation to wine country led this Boston woman to pack her bags and move west. Discover her unique perspective on life. Learn her story and find out the details of a favorite memory with chef Thomas Keller. After spending the last decade living in various towns around the Valley, find out why Napa is now the perfect place...

Christine Hanna is the Proprietor and President of Hanna Winery. This California girl never thought she’d be running a winery one day. Discover how a career as a corporate event planner in the Silicon Valley, led her to working for the family business. Find out why they have two locations in Sonoma County, and what makes their sauvignon blanc so popular, they dedicate more than half of their inven...

Meet Katie Bundschu who is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Gundlach Bundschu and Proprietor of Abbott’s Passage. Katie is a sixth generation vintner whose family owns the oldest winery in California. While she was born and raised in Sonoma; discover her unique career path in advertising and college athletics, before returning home to work for the family business. Find out why she star...

Meet Kristen Stoller who owns several businesses in the Willamette Valley. She is also involved in the local community. Kristen’s family has deep roots in the region. Her grandfather’s construction company built some of the first iconic wineries in the area. Kristen is an Oregonian, but grew up in Greece, before moving back when she was in grade school. Today, she lives with her husband and three...

Meet Dena Grunt the CEO of Highway 1 Hospitality, but also a woman who is always up for a new adventure. Learn how Dena began her career at Nick’s Cove, a charming seaside resort in Tamales Bay, to run a successful hospitality business of restaurants, hotels, boats, and event space. Learn about a new property in Lake Tahoe previously owned by the Ferrari family for over sixty-years. Find out how D...

Episode 49 - Gretchen Boock, Dobbes Family Estate by Michelle Mandro

JoAnn Serafini is the Proprietor of Shibumi Knoll Vineyards. Discover how this upstate New Yorker landed in the Napa Valley owning a winery and living in a 1921 cottage. Learn how she started her career working with celebrities in the television industry before moving on to the world of advertising and telecommunications. Find out the meaning behind the wine brand and what makes it different from...

Laurie Shelton is the proprietor of CAMi Vineyards, but also a wife, mother and artist. Learn how she began her career in the wine industry which evolved into creating a boutique wine brand. Discover the story behind the name of her wine and it's label, and who gave her wine a fantastic rating. Learn about her new space in Calistoga which combines her passions. Find out why she paints, and much mo...

Leslie Frank is the proprietor of Frank Family Vineyards in Calistoga. Discover how this former TV anchor/reporter started her career in Canada, but quickly landed in the United States. While she never thought she’d leave the news businesses, falling in love had her making a career change. Discover how she met her husband during a girls trip to the Napa Valley. Learn about their home nestled in th...

Jodie Morlet is the proprietor and general manager of Morlet Family Vineyards and Morlet Selections in the Napa Valley. Discover how her first job as a tour guide at UCLA helped prepared her for the career she has today. Enjoy learning how she met her husband in France. Discover how the initial friendship and letter writing turned to marriage. Find out how she and her winemaker husband decided to...

Meet Jeni Olsen who is the founder and executive director of Teens Connect in Napa. Learn how this successful graphic designer became a teen activist who is changing the lives of kids. Find out how the organization helps kids with programs that supports, engages, and empowers them using a focus around art, wellness, peer mentoring and volunteer projects. Discover how this California girl found lov...

Sara Fowler is the Director of Winemaking and Vineyards at Peju and Calmere in the Napa Valley. She’s managing 6 vineyard properties and making 40-different wines between both brands. While she’s been a winemaker for 25-years, learn how her parents first introduced her to the business with beer. Learn how she started her wine career at Kendall-Jackson. Discover what makes Sara such a successful wi...

Ranko Anderson is the Proprietor of Kale Wines. Find out how a career in politics and banking helped prepare her to run a successful wine brand in the Napa Valley. Learn how Kale Wines differentiates itself from other wines by focusing on Rhone varietals. Learn all of this and more including how Ranko would spend her perfect day in the wine country.

Meet Tracy Vogt who is the proprietor of Charlie’s Acres an animal rescue organization in Sonoma, CA. Learn about her love for animals and how this initiative became so important to her. Find out why she chose to move to Sonoma, what’s ahead for her business, and how you can help. Discover how this vegan enjoys life in wine country and so much more.

Meet Julie Atwood who is a business owner and community preparedness activist in Sonoma County. She is a Californian who settled in Sonoma Valley in the 1980’s. Learn about the unique features of the 70-acre property including details of a 1850’s Sears catalogue house and other structures on the land. Find out how this experienced rancher uses her skills and experience to make a difference in the...

Prema Behan is the Chief Operating Officer of a wine enterprise, but also a wife, mother and experienced jungle explorer. Discover the incredible story of this California woman who began working for successful entraprenuer Bill Price in 2000 and now runs his wine business and is an owner of a luxury winery. Discover how a great mentor, a rich culture and team environment led to her growth within h...

Gina Hennen is the winemaker at Adelsheim Winery in the Willamette Valley, but also a wife and mother. Learn how an opportunity to work harvest changed her career path from being a successful engineer. Discover why the mix of science and creativity is a satisfying combination. Learn about Gina's career path at Adelsheim which started as a cellar hand in 2007. Find out how her supportive husband he...

Andrea Johnson is an award-winning photojournalist, but also enjoys adventure travel and yoga. Discover how this Oregonian woman whose family is rich is history started her career at Nike. Learn how the experience working in corporate America shaped the future of her career. With successful entrepreneurial parents; it may be no surprise she decided to start her own business. Find out how Andrea en...

Annie Shull is the Proprietor and Director of National Sales, Marketing and Distribution of Raptor Ridge Winery, but also a dedicated civic leader and meditation instructor. Learn the unique path this Minnesota woman took to begin a career in the wine industry. Find out what makes her winery a little more special than most in the area. Discover why Oregon’s Pinot Camp is so important to her and le...

Susan Sokol Blosser is a pioneering entrepreneur, civic leader, visionary, author and, the matriarch of Sokol Blosser Winery and is from one of the four families who founded the Willamette Valley wine region. Learn about Susan's first career in education before pursuing a new career path when she landed in Oregon with her husband. Discover how their winery received world recognition as the first t...

Meet Taylor Serres who oversees the agriculture division of her families business, Serres Corporation . Learn how this Sonoma Valley girl was born and raised on her families Ranch and still calls it home today. Discover the history of her home and how her shabby chic farmhouse style works perfectly with mounted animal heads. Find out why she doesn’t mind being called a tomboy. Learn why the Fourth...

Lauren Belden is a passionate branding expert and co-founder of Belden Barns in Sonoma County. She is also a wife and mother of two. Lauren is a New Yorker who is happy to now call California home. She spends her week living in San Francisco and weekends at their winery. Her most exhilarating, rewarding and exhausting job, is raising her children. While Lauren developed a career in the branding wo...

Remi Cohen is the Chief Operating Officer of Lede Family Wines, but also an accomplished dancer and music enthusiast. Discover why this New Yorker decided to go to college on the west coast. Learn how an opportunity to be a harvest intern led to a career in the wine industry. Find out how she spends her days; even though no two are alike. Learn how she likes to enjoy a day off in the Napa Valley a...

Marla Bedrosian is the Proprietor of Domaine de la Riviere in Sonoma County. Find out how this hospitality professional from New York decided to get into the California wine business. Discover how this bi-coastal woman is able to keep a good work/life balance while successfully being a wife and mother.