The Wine Institute has selected Jamie Ferman as senior director of international public policy. Prior to joining the Wine Institute, Ferman was with the U.S. Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration. She served as the International Trade Administration wine industry analyst since 2011 and worked on several Technical Barriers to Trade issues related to wine. 

In her new role, Ferman focuses on expanding export opportunities for wineries through the removal of tariff and non-tariff trade barriers.  

Chappellet Announces Employee Promotions and New Hire

Napa-Valley based Chappellet Winery announced several promotions and the addition of a new hire. 

Mitch Boyd has been promoted to the newly created role of vice president of global sales, Jacob Jata 

has been promoted to director of sales, east, and Amy Chappellet is now taking on the new position of director of trade relations. April Collins has been hired as director of sales, west. 

In their roles, Jata and Collins report to Boyd and receive support from Amy Chappellet and trade support manager, Lindsey Gorfine. Jata joined Chappellet in 2018. Prior to joining the company, he worked as a wine director at Ariadne Restaurant in Massachusetts, as a territory manager for Florida-based Johnson Brothers Liquor Company, and as a sales representative in the connoisseur division at Martignetti Companies. 

Collins 

has two-plus decades of experience in the distributor and winery side of the industry and for the last 14 years she has represented Chappellet as the owner of Vintage Wine Marketing.  In her new role, Amy Chappellet serves as a family ambassador and is in charge of hosting Direct-To-Consumer and trade events as well as traveling the world to build relationships with the winery’s distributor partners.  

Legend Napa Valley has a New General Manager/Winemaker

Custom crush facility and estate winery Legend Napa Valley selected Todd Nelson as its new general manager and winemaker. Nelson brings wine making experience from wineries across Oregon and California. 

As general manager, Nelson provides expertise on the expansion and improvement of Legend Napa Valley's facility      

Nelson holds a B.S. in enology and viticulture from Oregon State University and a B.A. in finance from the University of Maryland.  

Miner Family Wines Announces Promotion of Jenn Rossi

Jenn Rossi, an almost 10-year veteran of Miner Family Wines, has been promoted to the role of national sales manager, effective March 2023. She currently has wholesale placements in over 40 U.S. states.  

Rossi, an Ohio State University graduate with a degree in hospitality management, has worked  for Ohio-based Cameron Mitchell Restaurant Group initially as the beverage manager for Mitchell's Steakhouse and later worked as the assistant general manager and beverage manager for Ocean Prime. Later she was the managing partner and general manager of Marcella's Short North.    

Over the years at Miner, Rossi has held roles bridging the direct-to-consumer department and the wholesale department, according to a Miner press release.    

Retirement

On Aug. 17, Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits announced the retirement of Alison Herman, Senior Counsel Regulatory & Compliance, effective Sept. 1, 2023. In her retirement, Herman plans on launching her own legal private practice and will continue to serve in a legal consulting capacity for Southern Glazer's. Following her departure, Southern's legal and compliance departments will merge into one function and Alan Greenspan, Esq. has been appointed executive vice president and chief legal and compliance officer.

In this new role, Greenspan will be in charge of building on the company's compliance function, which was originally supported by Steven Becker, executive vice president and treasurer. Despite these changes, Becker will continue to advise on compliance and will retain his responsibilities around lender relations, corporate treasury, licensing and government affairs.          

Herman first became involved in the company in 1994 when she partnered with Southern Glazer's at a legal consulting firm and she later joined the company in 2008 as its first general counsel. In 2016, she was appointed senior counsel regulatory and compliance.