CHIK BRENNEMAN is the Winemaker and partner for Baker Family Wines. In 1998, Chik graduated with a Master’s degree from UC Davis’s school of Viticulture and Enology and upon graduation, he went to work for Amador Foothill Winery, in Amador County, CA, Terre Rouge Easton Winery, and eventually became the production lab manager at Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi in Lodi California. In 2006, Chic was approached by the University of California at Davis to manage their winery. Chik retired from the University in March 2019 to devote full-time energy to Baker Family Wines. As well as being an enthusiastic home winemaker, in any given harvest he will make wine from over 50 different varietals. Chik also writes the “Varietal Focus” column in every issue of WineMaker magazine.
ALISON CROWE is the Vice President, Winemaking for Napa-based Plata Wine Partners, a 500+ case wine company servicing retailers, restaurant groups, and multiple wine brands. Alison holds a BS in Fermentation Science, a BA in Spanish, and an MBA from UC-Davis, is the author of The Winemaker’s Answer Book and has been writing the “Wine Wizard” column in WineMaker since its inception in 1997. She is Co-Chair of the Carneros Wine Alliance and serves on the Program Committee for the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, the largest wine industry trade show in the western hemisphere. Though she makes wine on a commercial scale, Alison loves nothing more than helping the hobby- and micro-vintners achieve success and satisfaction with projects at home. She lives in Napa, California, with her husband and two young sons.
PAT HENDERSON Pat Henderson is a veteran with more than thirty years of winemaking experience resulting in hundreds of gold medal winning and 90+ scored wines. Previously he has been chief winemaker for Kenwood vineyards, Valley of the Moon Winery and Hedges Cellars and he currently works as a winemaking consultant and wine educator in the Sonoma Valley. In addition to his work making wine, he also teaches winemaking classes for UC Davis Extension and Santa Rosa Junior College. A graduate of the Viticulture and Enology program at the UC Davis, Pat supplemented his formal education by interning at five different wineries while getting his degree. After graduation he worked in both the Napa and Sonoma valleys before taking his first position as head winemaker at Hedges Cellars in Washington State in 1995. After returning from the Northwest he became winemaker at Valley of the Moon Winery where he worked for six years before returning to Kenwood Vineyards where he had previously served as enologist 10 years before. Pat is a member of The American Society for Enology and Viticulture as well as the Society of Wine Educators and is co-author of the book About Wine; a textbook on wine for culinary students. He has also written articles for Winemaker Magazine and Practical Winery & Vineyard and has judged numerous wine professional competitions.
WES HAGEN, “Backyard Vines” Columnist, WineMaker Magazine for over 20 years, has taught the Food and Wine Pairing program at Allan Hancock College for 14 years, and lectured on the history of wine and Santa Barbara wine at the Smithsonian, SommCon, ESRI, Cornell University, Caltech, and many other prestigious institutions. He has worked as vineyard manager and winemaker at Clos Pepe Vineyards and Estate Wines in the Santa Rita Hills for 20 years, 8 years with Bien Nacido/Miller, and is considered an industry leader in Santa Barbara wine, having served for more than a decade on the boards of directors for both Santa Barbara County Vintners and the Santa Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance.
MAUREEN MACDONALD Maureen is a University of Vermont graduate with 19 years professional experience in the beverage and wine industry. She has studied oenology and cider making at Cornell University, Penn State, and Naugatuck Valley CC. She holds experience in both viticulture and oenology as a field manager and head winemaker for commercial vineyards. After years of working as a consultant to many vineyards, she now is the head winemaker for Hawk Ridge Winery, in Watertown, CT, where she makes 34 different wines. When she isn’t hard at work in the lab or winery, she is often judging commercial and amateur competitions or making hard cider and beer at home with her beloved dog, Dylan and cat, Harvey.
JENNY AND MARCUS MEADOWS-SMITH share a passion for wine and food, which led to them develop Great Bear Vineyards. As a boutique winery, Great Bear Vineyards produces about 2,000 cases a year, most of which are sold at the winery and through a wine club it runs. The winery has gained a reputation for its grapes, some of which are sold to Napa Valley wineries, a 45-minute drive from Davis. Marcus Meadows-Smith and his wife, head vintner Jenny Meadows-Smith, bought the former tomato, sunflower and corn ranch about 10 years ago, incorporating historic buildings into the business, including the barn and original homestead, built around 1860. Jenny Meadows-Smith, a chemist, attended the University of California- Davis’ renowned viticulture and enology program. Marcus is the former CEO of AgraQuest, a biopesticide company, he is recognized as a pioneer, selling the company to Bayer CropScience in 2012. The couple planted 10 acres of grapevines, about 600 olive trees, lavender and assorted fruit trees around the property. They process and sell olive and lavender oils and donate fruit to local charities.
MARC AND MATTHEW NORDEMANN-KELLER are brothers and Partners/Co-Owners of Corks Winery Brampton Inc., an award-winning Ferment-On-Premise Winery located just west of Toronto in Brampton, Ontario Canada. Marc and Matthew have won a combined 23 medals from the WineMaker Amateur Winemaking Competition across multiple categories as well as yearly Readers Choice awards for Best Wine Making Store in their Market. Having both apprenticed under experienced kit winemakers, Marc and Matthew have made and sold thousands of wine kits for customers all over the Greater Toronto Area in Canada. 
BOB PEAK Before joining The Beverage People in 2003, Bob was General Manager at Vinquiry, a wine testing laboratory in Windsor, California. Bob holds a degree in Chemistry from Harvey Mudd College and has pursued additional studies in wine at Santa Rosa Junior College and the University of California-Davis extension. Bob has a 1/3 acre hobby vineyard where he grows Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and writes the “Techniques” column for the magazine. 
CLARK SMITH has been in the wine industry since 1972 and making wine since 1976. Besides producing an eclectic mix of wines under and his own WineSmith label, he has dedicated for four decades his widely varied talents as a consulting winemaker, inventor, author, musician, and teacher to the Wine Industry throughout the globe with a particular focus on supporting small winery businesses. Besides service to small winery business throughout the country, we also work to support the Sonoma community. 
J. RICHARD SPORTSMAN, PH.D. is the President of Vinmetrica, a company specializing in products for wine, beer and kombucha analysis, with a focus on simplicity, low cost, and quality. Rich has a Ph. D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Arizona and was the Vice President of Reagents and Assays at Molecular Devices from 2002-2008. He has over 25 years experience in life sciences research and development.
KEN AND LEAH STAFFORD Leah has worked in the wine industry on and off since 1990 and has been a wine educator since 1996. She became a wine judge in 2018 through the UCDavis program. Leah is a certified specialist of wine, Certified American Wine Expert, WSET3, Sommelier and grow her own grapes, making wine with her husband, Ken, Best of Show Estate Grown Wine Winner, WineMaker Competition, entered entered the wine world early by growing up on winery-owned property in central California where his father worked for 40 years as a maintenance supervisor keeping all of the winery’s equipment in operation. In 2011 Ken started making wine and traded labor in a small commercial vineyard for Zinfandel grapes. In 2015, Ken and his wife, Leah, purchased a home that included property with about an acre of planted vines to support their winemaking hobby and interests. Having retired, he and his wife have immersed themselves in the wine world with constant focus on making ongoing improvements to their vineyard and with his wife’s involvement, developing the skills and knowledge to make award-winning wines.
