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.

Moke Berg
Since Moke (rhymes with smoky) got his degree from UC Berkeley in 1994 he has worked for restaurants, wine shops, and wineries. In 2001, I rescued him from Barcelona, Spain, where he was teaching English.  I put him to work selling barrels and wine.  Since then he has worked harvests in the northern Rhone and in Nuits St-Georges.

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 at www.guffyfamilywines.com.

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. His website is www.oregonbarrelworks.com

Marianne Asbury
Marianne is the quiet, shy woman who does the bookkeeping and makes sure I can drive by the IRS building without shaking too much.  She is married to her adoring husband Terry. They have twins, Kimberly and Jessica.

Melissa Basine 
Melissa is the most over-educated and the most computer savvy. She wears many hats, from General Office Manager to IT Director.  She is trying to program all of us into a paperless world, with increasing success. Thanks to her, I don\'t have to ask Moke where the "enter" button is.