North Bay professionals news: Napa Valley’s Amici Cellars, Nelson, Wine Business Institute, Wente Family Estates

Napa Valley’s Amici Cellars hired Dante West as assistant winemaker and promoted longtime winery employee Roberto Barboza to cellar master.

A graduate of the University of California David with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Viticulture & Enology, West spent the last five years working for many of Napa and Sonoma’s premier wineries, including Arista Winery, Mending Wall Winery, and Flowers Vineyards & Winery, the winery stated. As assistant winemaker, he will work alongside Amici winemakers Tony Biagi and Jesse Fox in the winery where he will oversee operations and assist in crafting Amici’s wines from Napa and Sonoma.

Barboza has 25 years of experience, including work at Cardinale, Provenance Vineyards, and Wattle Creek. He previously held the job of a cellar worker at Amici for the past four and a half years.

Amici Cellars is located only a few minutes from downtown Calistoga in the Napa Valley.

Robert Chaudron
Robert Chaudron

Robert Chaudron has joined Nelson as senior business development manager and will be based out of its Campbell and Santa Rosa offices, the company stated.

For the last nine years he has served both private businesses and Fortune 500 companies within the manufacturing, medical device, construction, automotive, and software sectors, the staffing company stated. His experience placing professionals in technical roles includes manufacturing, mechanical, quality, and controls engineers, software engineers, technical writers, superintendents, project managers, database administrators, helpdesk, and technicians, among others.

Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park recently recognized scholarship recipients.

A total of $44,150 was awarded to undergraduate and graduate winners. Here are some of the recipients:

  • Global Wine Executive MBA student Kelli Silva, trade relations specialist at Trinchero Family Estates.
  • Wine Executive MBA students Caitlin Vartain, brand manager at WX Brands; Marcia Torres Forno, winemaker at Matanzas Creek; Fabian Jauregui, former account executive at Ferrero Rocher; and Emily Porter, business operations manager at Sonoma State University.
  • Wine MBA student Fiona Fang.
  • Undergraduate Wine Business Strategies students Gianna Lendino, wine reservationist at Gundlach Bundschu Winery; and Haddie Daner.

Winners were selected based on accomplishments in the areas of academics, leadership, and community service. Institute scholarships are intended to offset tuition and educational expenses for students earning a wine business degree at SSU.

Carolyn Wente, CEO of Livermore Valley's Wente Vineyards, at North Bay Business Journal's Wine, Beer + Spirits Industry Awards event in December 2019.
Carolyn Wente, CEO of Livermore Valley's Wente Vineyards, at North Bay Business Journal's Wine, Beer + Spirits Industry Awards event in December 2019.

Carolyn Wente, CEO of Livermore Valley’s Wente Family Estates, America’s longest continuously operated family-owned winery, has received the Grande Dame Awardn from Les Dames d’Escoffier International (LDEI), a worldwide philanthropic organization of professional women leaders in the fields of food, fine beverage and hospitality.

A co-founder of LDEI’s San Francisco Chapter, Wente has been a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier for 31 years and has served on the national board of directors as well as in San Francisco.

The group stated that its Grande Dame Award honors a lifetime of outstanding professional achievement, excellence, and charitable/community contributions within the culinary industry and is bestowed annually. Wente, the sixteenth recipient of this international honor, will receive the award at LDEI’s first virtual conference to be held in October.

Founded in 1883, Wente Vineyards is the longest continuously-operated, family-owned winery in the country, now owned and managed by the fourth and fifth generations of the Wente family.

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