2017 Speakers
Laura Catena, MD, Bodega Catena Zapata, Managing Director
Special Guest / Guided Wine Tasting
Dr. Laura Catena, a fourth-generation winemaker and pioneer in high-altitude viticulture research, leads her family’s iconic Mendoza winery in producing Argentina’s most celebrated and influential wines. She is currently managing director of Bodega Catena Zapata and has been called "the face of Argentine wine" for her active role in studying and promoting the Mendoza wine region and Argentine Malbec.
Cheron Cowan
Panelist
Cheron is the General Manager and Wine Director of Harold’s Meat + Three restaurant located in New York City and has worked in high profile NYC restaurants for 20 years, including Gramercy Tavern and Blue Hill. As the 2016 US representative for the South African Wine competition, Cheron was the only female of the 8 international finalists selected. She is a certified sommelier with the Court of Masters.
Dorothy Gaiter
Panelist
Dorothy J. Gaiter, Senior Editor of The Grape Collective, conceived and wrote the Wall Street Journal’s wine column, “Tastings,” from 1998 to 2010 with her husband, John Brecher. She has been tasting and studying wine since 1973, and with Brecher has written four wine books. She has had a distinguished career in journalism as a reporter, editor, columnist and editorial writer at the Miami Herald and the New York Times, as well as at the Wall Street Journal, which twice nominated her writing on race for the Pulitzer Prize, and once for “Tastings.”
Maria Garcia
Panelist
Maria Garcia is an LA native with degrees in political science and history from the University of California, Los Angeles. She worked under Master Sommelier Chris Miller at Spago Beverly Hills and has gained certifications through the Court of Master Sommeliers. Maria most recently was the wine director at République restaurant in Los Angeles, where she curated a cellar of approximately 1800 selections. She is currently consulting and providing private sommelier services.
Jennifer Thorpe-Moscon, Ph.D.
Panelist
Jennifer Thorpe-Moscon, PhD, has been Director and Panel Manager at Catalyst since April 2013. As Panel Manager, she develops and expands Catalyst’s research panels globally as a part of the effort to extend progress for women and businesses around the world. Prior to joining Catalyst, Jennifer worked as a biostatistician at Mount Sinai as well as an instructor of master’s-level statistics at New York University. She has led several research labs of up to 13 researchers in both corporate and academic settings. Additionally, she authored the book How Geek Girls Will Rule the World (2013).
Miriam Caporali
Guided Wine Tasting
Miriam Caporali is Valdipiatta’s owner and general manager. From 1997 to 2002, Miriam worked closely at her father’s side at the winery, learning all the various aspects of winery management. Sharing her father’s passion for Montepulciano’s terroir and its ancient winemaking tradition, she decided to dedicate herself completely to the family business, taking over its management in 2004. Miriam has been member of the board of the Consorzio del Vino Nobile for 8 years, she is qualified as a professional Sommelier (AIS - Italian Sommelier Association) and she is also member of the Woman of Wine Italian Association.
Alexandra Pereyre de Nonancourt
Guided Wine Tasting
Raised at the House of Laurent-Perrier in Tours-sur-Marne, Alexandra has been immersed in the champagne industry since early childhood. Along with her sister Stéphanie, today Alexandra is fully involved in many aspects of Laurent-Perrier’s business. Her primary focus is on the strategy and development of this independent and family-owned House alongside current Board Chairman Stéphane Dalyac and Michel Fauconnet, Laurent-Perrier’s third Cellar Master since the House’s post-war renaissance.
Nathalie Tollot
Guided Wine Tasting
Nathalie Tollot knew from a young age that she wanted a career in the winemaking business, and she spent her childhood in the domaine working alongside her father. After attended high school in Beaune – the heart of Burgundy wine country – Nathalie began working full-time at Domaine Tollot-Beaut. Nathalie became the first female president of the Burgundy Groupe des Jeunes Professionnels de la Vigne in the 1990s.