Meet our Judges

Virginie Boone

Virginia Boone s a contributing reviewer of California wines for Wine Enthusiast and also reports on the Northern California wine scene for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and its affiliate food and wine magazine, Savor Wine Country. She is also a regular contributor to Zester Daily, an online food and wine web site.

Deborah Parker Wong

Deborah Parker Wong, AIWS is Northern California editor for The Tasting Panel magazine where she reports on the global wine and spirits industries. In addition, she contributes frequently to industry publications including Sommelier Journal, Vineyard & Winery Management and Cheers magazines and writes a lively consumer drinks column for www.Examiner.com.† Deborah holds the Wine and Spirits Education Trust Diploma and is a member of both the London-based Circle of Wine Writers and the Wine Media Guild of New York

John Buechsenstein

John Buechsenstein has been a winemaker and wine educator in California for many years. Most recently the COO of Sauvignon Republic Cellars, specializing in Sauvignon Blancs from around the world, he has also made award-winning wines at Fife Vineyards and McDowell Valley Vineyards. John is a noted educator, serving as Adjunct Wine Faculty at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and UC Davis Extension where he has lectured on wine sensory evaluation for over 30 years. He is a past-president of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, a charter member of the Society of Wine Educators, and judges wines throughout North America. Among his many publications, he co-authored the Standardized System of Wine Aroma Terminology, known as the Wine Aroma Wheel.

Shauna Rosenblum

Shauna Rosenblum grew up a ‘cellar rat’ in Alameda on the site of what would come to be her father Kent Rosenblum’s Zinfandel empire namesake, Rosenblum Cellars. In 2008, her family sold Rosenblum Cellars and started Rock Wall Wine Company. During the first harvest at Rock Wall Wine Company, Shauna's enthusiasm for winemaking was apparent and she was named Winemaker in 2008. Since then, she has garnered many Gold Medals, Double Gold Medals, Best of Shows, and event the accolade of “Best Zinfandel in California.”It turns out, the fruit doesn’t fall far from the vine.

Joe Roberts

Joe Roberts, founder of the 1WineDude.com wine blog is a wine consultant and musician in the greater Philadelphia area. He is a Certified Specialist of Wine, and holds both the Level 2 (Intermediate, with Distinction) and Level 3 (Advanced, with Merit) Certificates in Wine & Spirits from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) based in England. He is also a member of the U.S.-based Society of Wine Educators, holding their Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) qualification, and belongs to the Wine Century Club. 1WineDude.com won Best Overall Wine Blog in the 2010 Wine Blog Awards.

Randy Caparoso

Randy Caparoso is a Denver based restaurant wine consultant and wine journalist who has devoted himself to a career managing, judging, speaking, producing and writing about wine since 1978. Randy has been honored as Sante Magazine's first Wine & Spirits Professional of the Year (1998) and has received the Restaurant Wine Magazine's Wine Marketer of the year two times (1992 & 1999).

Tina Caputo

Editor-in-Chief, Vineyard & Winery Management magazine
Columnist, Wine Review Online

Before joining Vineyard & Winery Management magazine in 2008, Caputo spent five years as the managing editor at Wines & Vines magazine. She began her career at the Wine Institute, and went on to work in public relations/communications for international wine importer Maisons Marques & Domaines USA. Throughout her career she has written about wine as a freelancer for publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, Harpers Wine & Spirit (UK) and Decanter. Since 2007 she has been a monthly columnist for Wine Review Online (www.winereviewonline.com).

Pamela Heiligenthal

Pamela is Enobytes co-founder and contributor. She has a decade of experience working as a restaurant manager, wine buyer and sommelier with certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers and Wine & Spirit Education Trust. True to her roots, she seeks varietal and appellation integrity when analyzing wines, and is always passionate in finding the next great bottle of wine.

Marc Hinton

Based in Portland, Marc Hinton is Enobytes co-founder. He has over twenty years experience in the food & wine industry and is committed to celebrating hospitality with pride. He is a wine blogger contributor to OregonLive.com (Wine Bytes) and has also appeared on Portlandís “Vine Time” on News Radio 750 KXL and on California’s Central Coast “From the Growing of the Grape to the Glass” on KUHL-AM 1410.

Mike Dunne

Mike Dunne is a Sacramento-based freelance writer, concentrating on wine and travel. He contributes a weekly wine column to The Sacramento Bee, where†for†much of three decades he was the paper's restaurant critic, wine columnist and food edtior. He also maintains the blog A Year In Wine
(www.ayearinwine.com).

Martha Dunne

Martha Dunne is a seasoned participant in the appreciation and estimation of wine. From nightly dinners with wine to commercial wine judgings, her palate is ready and anticipatory. She is administrator of WineGigs.com, a Sacramento tour, tasting and consultation business. In addition to wine culture, Martha is professionally interested in the two interior designs - home decoration and neurological variation, as in autism. Her book “”Wait, What Do You Mean?' Asperger's Tell and Show," was published recently.

Clark Smith

Clark Smith’s wine background includes retailing wine in the ‘70’s, producing wine in the ‘80’s and consulting on wine in the ‘90’s. Clark is also a wine educator--teaching at a variety Universities and Colleges including Fresno State, Davis, Napa Valley, Florida International and Missouri State—and serves as a wine judge at six different Wine Competitions. Clark writes a monthly column, The Postmodern Winemaker, at WinesandVines.com. At the core of Clark’s philosophy, to wit “the practical art of connecting the human soul to the soul of a place by rendering its grapes into liquid music.”

Don Neel, Practical Winery & Vineyard Journal

For 30 years, publisher Don Neel has traveled thru grapegrowing regions in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Europe to obtain the best sources of High-Quality winegrowing information (fact-checked and peer-reviewed when possible) to share with more than 3,000 subscribers and stimulate continuing improvement in the U.S. wine industry, plus Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.