Honorary Vintners

The Alliance for Vision Reach and our 2009 A Night for Sight Wine Auction are pleased to announce the following wineries as our 2009 Honorary Vintners:

Jorge Ordoñez, Fine Estates from Spain

Many have asked for guidance in selecting the best of Spanish wine in America. There are many well known wines but there are many others ones not found in the local market which are unknown treasures, made by small independent family bodegas (wineries). The question is how to identify them?

May we introduce you to Jorge Ordoñez, who imports Spain’s largest, deepest wine portfolio to America? He offers a balanced spectrum of what he believes to be the best of Spanish wine available in America across all price ranges. He draws from an astonishing portfolio – 140 wines from 48 wineries.

Jorge is from Málaga, along the Mediterranean coast of Southern Spain. He grew up working in his family's wine distribution business, loading trucks, visiting wineries, learning first hand all that there is to know about the wine business. When he went to the University of Córdoba he met his future wife, Kathy, who was spending her junior year abroad in Spain. Eventually they married and settled in Boston area where Kathy grew up.

Part of his heart was always in Spain and so, armed with his considerable knowledge of the wine making tradition and his understanding of the taste of Americans he travels the Spanish countryside in search of talented, family owned bodegas with a deep passion for wine. Many of these vintners own fantastically rich old vines yielding grapes of such quality he sometimes can’t fathom why no one has already discovered them.

It wasn’t an easy journey as more than a decade after the death of Franco in 1975, Spanish wine, once proud, had fallen to a regrettable state. However the country’s vineyards were like secret gardens, overflowing with old vines that could make superb wines. He visits the small family wineries he most respects; he sought to encourage them to be the pioneers in introducing the wonderful wines of Spain to his adopted country. When he began, Spanish wines were essentially unknown in America. Now through partnership with these artisan vintners, these wines are recognized as among the best in the world many earning scores in the high 90’s from wine connoisseur Robert Parker of the Wine Advocate, The Wine Spectator, and International Wine Cellar among others.

Jorge Ordoñez visits many bodegas in the course of each winter and spring. His goal is to promote the unique virtues of wine from the county that he loves, as well as to offer the many fines wines of his personal collection. His monogram appears on every bottle of his collection. He feels the future of Spanish wine production is in the grapes native to Spain, produced by artisans, and appreciated for their special qualities - - not in high volume products. When Jorge Ordoñez recommends a bottle of wine he does so with integrity, lack of pretension and his joyful approach to life. He includes wines from across the spectrums which are good values for the price. He wants you to enjoy life through the wines of Spain.

www.pridewines.com

Stuart Bryan, Pride Mountain Vineyards

Stuart Bryan is the National Sales Manager for Pride Mountain Vineyards. Since the winery’s inception he has been responsible for national distribution and winery direct wholesale sales in California.

Stuart is married to Suzanne Pride Bryan. “When Jim and Carolyn purchased the property and decided to make their first vintage, I was delighted to have my distributor network in place to get the Pride Mountain wines out into the national market place,” he says. Stuart first started in national sales as a sales manager for Chalone Vineyards and was the first National Sales Manager for Shafer Vineyards. Stuart founded and managed a national wine sales company for over 17 years that was well established at the time the Pride Mountain wines were first produced. During that time he represented a number of wineries throughout California along with his own wine production company. He has subsequently sold his company and is now working exclusively for Pride Mountain Vineyards.

Stuart is a graduate of Kalamazoo College in Michigan and worked on his dissertation at USC’s Marine Biological Laboratory on Catalina Island before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1980s and beginning his wine sales career.

Stuart and Suzanne travel extensively for the winery representing Pride Mountain Vineyards at wine auctions and other charitable events, conducting wine maker dinners and trade tastings. They have two grown daughters and live in Sonoma County.

www.beaucanonestate.com

Louis de Coninck, Beaucanon Estates from Napa Valley, California

Having grown up working in his family’s winery, Louis de Coninck went on to study winemaking at the prestigious winemakers program at the Universite Bordeaux. After working several vintages at various European wineries, he joined his father Jacques in Napa Valley with the goal of producing wines of finesse, complexity and structure. Following centuries of family tradition, Louis combines both the art and science of winemaking: on his father’s side, over two centuries history in viticulture, winemaking and marketing while his mother’s family, counts almost a century of devoted scientific research on winemaking techniques, now in collaboration with the University of Bordeaux. As a young man, Louis traveled to other regions, learning many innovative techniques and creative approaches to the challenges presented by nature.

Louis believes the best wine requires understanding the unique aspects of terroir at each vineyard - combining the right clones, farming techniques, and barrels to support the natural flavors the land has to offer. After eight vintages, Louis introduced the "Jacques de Coninck Selection Reserve" wines, named after his father. These limited-production wines showcase special sites within the vineyards that display exceptional nuance and character. After a further five vintages, he has discerned the areas that produce grapes best suited to stand on their own and created the Longwood Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon and the Ehlers Lane Chardonnay. These two wines are single-vineyard productions that truly exhibit the personality of their growing sites.

We carry forward the tradition of the de Coninck family and its 260 year Bordeaux heritage with a small production of 12,000 cases of wine a year. Louis de Coninck makes our wines with an emphasis of structure, mouth-feel and the natural luscious flavors of the fruit. Like all great winemakers, Louis excels at combining the delicious fruit from our Estate with carefully selected barrels and creating the final blend with supportive varietals to produce wines of complexity and structure. Beaucanon Estate wines are concentrated, richly-flavored and balanced. Wonderful with food, you can enjoy them right away or lay them down in your cellar to look forward to the additional nuance they will achieve.

www.steltzner.com

Tim Dolven, Steltzner Vineyards
Napa Valley, California

Growing up on the East Coast, Tim Dolven never imaged a life in California wine country. A graduate from Marietta College in Ohio, he earned a degree in Communications. Following graduation Tim decided to head to ski country and spent the next four years between Boulder, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1985 his fate changed upon his first visit to Napa Valley Tim was drawn in by the beauty and lifestyle of the valley, not to mention the numerous opportunities to go see The Grateful Dead perform. His career began on the public relations side of the wine business with Robert Mondovi Winery and Inglenook Vineyards. In 1986 Tim decided to try his hand at winemaking joining the crush crew at Joseph Phelps Winery. This ‘hands on’, school of practical experience lead production work at Quail Ridge Winery and Newton Vineyards. Tim was Assistant Winemaker with Honig Cellars, Havens Wine Cellars, Franus Wine Co., and Keller Estates. Tim joined Steltzner Vineyards in the spring of 2004 after working as winemaker for Bouchaine Vineyards. He is currently responsible for overseeing all aspects wine production at Steltzner Vineyards, working closely with the Steltzner Family to produce world class wines that embody the uniqueness of Stags Leap District of the Napa Valley.

www.blackstarfarms.com

Don Coe, Black Star Farms of Michigan

A graduate of Cornell Hotel School, Don Coe served 5 years in the US Navy and then managed restaurants and clubs before getting into the wines and spirits business. During his 23-year career with Allied Domecq Spirits & Wine, formerly Hiram Walker, Don was responsible for marketing and sales of group wines and spirits in various markets worldwide.

He serves as an Agriculture Commissioner for the State of Michigan and sits on the Traverse Bay Economic Development Corporation and Traverse City CVB Board. He is on the advisory committee for both the Great Lakes Culinary Institute and the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education at Grand Rapids Community College.