April – Dennis Martin, Winemaker Fetzer Winery
After reviewing several of the Fetzer white wines recently, I was surprised when I got the chance to interview Dennis. “Should I call him Mr. Martin?” “First of all, Dennis would be on the floor laughing if you called him Mr. Martin. Dennis or Denny is fine.” So the e-mail process went when I tried to nail him down for an interview, through a third party. The back label of most Fetzer Vineyard bottles has a quote from Dennis and gives his title as simply – wine maker. It is not until you read the Fetzer Vienyards, web site that it dawns on you that he is more than just the wine maker. Try Vice President for one. Also he is the creator of Fetzer Reserve. As you would expect, Dennis is involved in all major winemaking decisions, including grape selection, tasting, and blending. The interview will last for about forty minutes. If you have any questions that you would like Dennis to answer, I will see if he is available for a second call and ask those questions. If you would like to ask the questions yourself, there will be a limited number of telephones lines available so you can call in and ask the questions yourself. I think it will be a lot of fun.

Teri Cirillo, Director of Human Resources at Brown-Forman Wines
Teri was agreeable to being interviewed. She was even agreeable to a second call interview. Getting the appointment was a little more difficult. We made it for one day and the next day she wrote and canceled and asked for an alternate date. We agreed on a second date and so far so good. The first question on my list of questions for Teri is: “Can you list four or five career titles in the wine industry that women have the best chance to break into?” Another question I am asking is: “Some people in their forties and fifties are looking for a mid life career change. How would a woman prepare herself, so she could enter the wine industry, at something other than an entry level?” I probably have more questions than 40 minutes will allow and Teri said she would be willing to do a second call. So I will ask the questions of readers or the readers can call in and ask questions themselves.

As wine industry professionals commit to the telephone interview, I will post their bio information on this page, so stay tuned to find out more about Cara Morrison, Dawn King, Erin Collins, and others as I get them confirmed for interviews.

About the Conference Call:
I only have two hundred telephone lines available for the conference call. It sounds like a lot, but 200 people isn’t very many when you consider all of the readers who look at this site every week. To keep the number of callers down to only those who really want to be on the call, I will be announcing the conference call dial in number, date and time to subscribers to the newsletter e-mail list. If you want to get the telephone number of the call, the access code and instructions on how the call is going to be conducted, you need to subscribe to the newsletter e-mail list. Fill in your e-mail address in the box at the bottom of this page to get on the list. Remember: We do not sell your e-mail address and we do not send SPAM.

Until next time, let me know what is on your mind, and how you are doing, O.K.?

Jim Fortune - Bella Online Wine Guy