Pascal Durand, ENESAD at the University of Burgundy in Dijon
Pascal Durand is a specialist in wine marketing and management strategies for the wine industry. He is also a recognized wine expert, operating in several French and international wine competitions. Owner and operator of a small family vineyard in Beaujolais, he consults for wine and vine industry on subjects including wine marketing, vineyard production and management, wine education and policy.

Following graduation from the prestigious School of Agriculture and Viticulture of Montpellier, Durand specialized in wine economics and marketing as an academic. Professor and director of graduate studies at the College of Agriculture of ENITA, the national School of Agriculture of Dijon-Burgundy, he established the program at the National Diploma of Oenology of the University of Burgundy and taught wine economics for 20 years.

In 1990, Durand was named director of GIST, the new Vine and Wine Research Institute of Burgundy, in charge of coordination of research and extension efforts in viticulture and enology, involving up to 150 research personnel in Burgundy, Alsace and Champagne. A visiting professor and lecturer, Durand worked on the US East Coast, where he participated in the development of the Pinot Noir wine industry, as adjunct professor at the College of Agriculture of Cornell University.

Tim Gaiser, MS, Director of Education, Court of Master Sommeliers Americas
Tim Gaiser is a nationally renowned wine expert and Master Sommelier. He is currently the Director of Education for the American Chapter of the Court of Master Sommeliers as well as an adjunct professor for the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley.

Tim has experience in all phases of the wine industry—online, wholesale, retail, winery, and restaurant—including stints at Heitz Wine Cellars in the Napa Valley and Bix and Cypress Club restaurants in San Francisco. He has developed wine education programs for several restaurants, winery schools and wine distributors, and taught classes at every level of wine education. Prior to developing his wine expertise, Tim received an M.A. in Classical Music. He played classical trumpet as a freelance professional and as an extra with the San Francisco Opera until 1988.

Javier Merino, Management and Marketing Professor, University of Mendoza, Argentina
Javier Merino received a degree in Industrial Engineering granted by Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in 1980, and in 1982 he graduated from a postgraduate course in Project Assessment at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Currently, Javier Merino is Director of Área del Vino, an Argentinean company specialized in wine business communication, training and consultancy, including two graphic publications and leading websites in wine business analysis (www.areadelvino.com and www.winesur.com). These websites weekly send newsletters to more than 40,000 subscribers. He is also the Editorial Director of Bodegas de Argentina’s magazine Vinos & Viñas.

Merino teaches Business Economics at Universidad de Mendoza and a Master in Wine Business at Universidad Maza. He has produced more than 50 publications related to his specialty. These publications include magazines, newspapers and books. He has also led more than 100 market researches, investment projects and company diagnoses about competitiveness and restructuring.

Pierpaolo Penco, Director, Executive Masters in Wine Business Program,
MIB School of Management Trieste, Italy
Pierpaolo Penco joined MIB School of Management Trieste, one of the leading Italian business schools, in 2002 after experiences on multimedia communication and a Master in Tourism Management. Here he matched his professional skills with a personal passion for fine wine. He has been on the tasting panel of the main Italian wine guide, Gambero Rosso/SlowFood, for five years.

Currently Pierpaolo is the director of the Wine Business Department, in charge of education, research and communication for the wine industry. He lectured on Wine Business, Marketing and Tourism at MIB, Bordeaux Business School, University of Nova Gorica and CIRVE Conegliano (Padua University). As a consultant, he worked with several Italian Appellations (DOCs), associations, individual wineries and consulting agencies (Wine Intelligence) in the field of corporate strategy and image, communication & PR, brand analysis, product development and wine tourism. Since 2008 he has been the managing director of the Friuli Isonzo Wine Appellation. His articles have been published in the major Italian wine magazines, websites, and on his blog, winebusiness.

Liz Thach, PhD, Wine Business Professor, Sonoma State University
Dr. Liz Thach (pronounced “tosh”) is a management and wine business professor at Sonoma State University in the Wine Business Institute, where she teaches in both the undergraduate and Wine MBA programs. In addition, she has 15 years of executive and management level experience at Fortune 500 companies and has done consulting and research projects for more than 40 different wineries. Liz has published over 90 articles and four wine books, including Wine – A Global Business and How to Launch Your Wine Career. A fifth generation Californian, Liz finished her Ph.D. at Texas A&M and now lives on Sonoma Mountain, where she tends a small hobby vineyard and makes garagiste wine with her husband and daughter.

Paul Wagner, President Balzac Communications & Marketing
Paul Wagner formed Balzac Communications & Marketing on April 1, 1991. He is an instructor for Napa Valley College’s Viticulture and Enology department, and the Culinary Institute of America, as well as an international guest lecturer for numerous universities on communications, public affairs, wine and wine marketing.

With Liz Thach and Janeen Olsen, he authored a book, Wine Marketing & Sales, Strategies for a Saturated Market, which won the Gourmand International Award in 2008 for the best wine book of the year for professionals. He is a regular columnist for Vineyards & Winery Management Magazine and has judged many national and international wine competitions. He is a founding member of the Academy of Wine Communications, a member of the nominations committee of the Culinary Institute of America’s Vintner's Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Spadarini della Castellania di Soave in 2005. In 2009 he was honored with a “Life Dedicated to Wine” award at the Feria Nacional del Vino (FENAVIN) in Spain.