Mel Knox Barrel Broker

Representing the finest oak wine barrels

About Team Mel

It's hard to believe that in the 80s I sold all the barrels and kept records all by myself. Maybe that's why I was nervous every time I drove by IRS headquarters here. Now I have a staff that doesn't keep records in a cardboard box like I used to do.

Mel

In 1972 I was vaguely thinking about attending law school or graduate school when I got a job driving a delivery truck for a huge liquor store where two college friends were running the wine department. The next thing I knew I was a full-fledged wine nut.  From 1974 until 1981 I worked as a wine buyer for the Wine and Cheese Center of San Francisco. We ran a tasting bar with a fairly advanced tasting program. I can remember tastings of Sauternes going back to the 30s, clarets going back to the 19th century, older California wines, older Barolos and Barbarescos, German wines going back to 1937,  and so on.  One time we tasted every Ridge Monte Bello ever made - there were fewer examples then but it still took two days.  Through this store I met a tremendous number of winemakers, tasted wines from all over the world, and learned a lot. I started selling barrels in 1980 and have never stopped.

Julie Guffy

Julie prepared for her career in the wonderful world of barrels by earning two BS degrees from Cal Poly, one in Biology and one in Fruit Science.  Before joining the barrel world she worked at Byron as assistant winemaker/enologist and at Corbett Canyon as lab tech. Julie and her husband, Dave Guffy of the Hess Collection (now I know where Julie got the Francis Bacon she put over her desk) make wine from their own Syrah vineyard in Carneros  together. You can read about it here.

Rick de Ferrari

Our man in Oregon and Washington, Rick was graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in forestry engineering.  Rick represents Francois Freres in Oregon and Washington and Taransaud in Oregon and eastern Washington. Rick also owns and operates Oregon Barrel Works and makes wine under his own label, De Ferrari  Wine Works.. He has worked at Beaux Freres, Cristom and at Patton Valley. For more information, visit his

Tom Higgins

Tom hails from the Finger Lakes region of New York state and represents Francois Freres on the East coast.   After graduating from Bradley University with a degree in accounting and computer science, Tom spent a few years in the fast paced world of tech startups.  However, his love of wine led him to shift gears and begin working in the wine industry in the early millennium.  Tom worked in the cellars at  Chateau La Lagune and Calera, but decided he loved shoveling snow for 6 months out of the year and returned to his roots in upstate NY to focus on his own label, Heart & Hands Wine Company, with his wife Susan.