Certified sommelier Liz Martinez is a hospitality and wine professional with over two decades experience designing award winning wine lists, training staff, and managing service for some of America’s best restaurants. Liz has won awards for wine and service from every major national wine magazine and a range of local publications. In 2019, she was awarded Food & Wine magazine sommelier of the year.

Her illustrious résumé includes positions at Carmine’s on Penn in her hometown of Denver, CO, Boulevard Restaurant in San Francisco, Topolobampo and Purple Pig in Chicago. In 2017, Liz relocated to Detroit to serve as Wine Director at luxury steakhouse Prime+Proper and today she serves as Director of Beverage and Hospitality at Birmingham Michigan’s Madam restaurant, where her wine program was nominated as a semi-finalist for the prestigious James Beard Foundation awards.

During her career, Liz has consistently elevated service and wine standards in a wide range of restaurants throughout the United States. Her commitment to thoughtful, humble, organized, polished, and anticipatory service continues to delight guests and draw widespread acclaim.

Follow her on Instagram at @winenomadic.

Alexandra O'Gorman is the Vice President of Community Relations at Foley Family Wines & Spirits (FFWS), overseeing community engagement across nine regions, including Sonoma County, Napa Valley, and California’s Central Coast. She leads FFWS’s social impact and sustainability efforts, fostering meaningful local and industry partnerships.

With over 20 years of experience, Alexandra has held leadership roles at renowned wineries like Ramey Wine Cellars, Hanna Winery, and Francis Ford Coppola Winery. She holds a BA and MBA from Sonoma State University’s Wine Business Institute and is a Certified Sommelier.

A California native, Alexandra grew up in Carmel and has lived in Sonoma County since 2002 with her husband and two children.

Born overseas, Caleb Taft spent his formative years in San Diego. Dinners with the family taught him the value of food, the meaning of community and the power of cooking. After college, he began cooking professionally, but a move to San Francisco brought him into the world of wine. He worked as a retail wine buyer for a few years, before becoming the National Sales Manager for Vinum Cellars, where he sold wine in 30 states as well as a few international markets. After Vinum Cellars, Caleb joined Nopa restaurant as a manager in their first year of operations. It was a masterclass in service, food and wine, and the restaurant would anchor and eventually help revitalize the neighborhood. He left to become the Wine Director and manager of Camino, in Oakland. Led by Chez Panisse alum Russell Moore, Camino specialized in hearth-cooked foods, with a concise, all-organic wine list. Caleb then returned to retail at Arlequin Wine Merchants in SF, which has a legendary cellar stocked with deep verticals of the best producers from Burgundy, Champagne, the Loire Valley and California. He later joined Nari Restaurant in San Francisco as the opening general manager. Owned by chef Pim Techamuanvivit, Caleb built a diverse team focused on service, crafting experiences at a very personal restaurant that challenged guest palates and fine dining conventions, which earned a Michelin star. He currently works as a freelance writer while he starts a winery in his new, adopted home in Washington State.

You can follow his wine adventures on Instagram @organolepticon

Kelsie Earnest is a respected hospitality leader in Napa Valley with more than 15 years of experience in service-driven industries. She began her career with Starbucks, where she quickly rose through the ranks to manage high-volume locations, refining her approach to team leadership, customer service, and operational excellence. After relocating to Wine Country, Kelsie brought that same focus on people and performance to the luxury wine industry. She has held key leadership roles at celebrated properties such as Chimney Rock and Domaine Carneros, where she oversees the visitor center hospitality team. Known for her thoughtful and calm leadership style, Kelsie is passionate about building inclusive, high-functioning teams and creating career pathways for women in wine. Her deep operational knowledge, and people-first mindset, continues to shape the guest experience and workplace culture at every level.

Melanie Eitel is a Wine Educator and Sommelier working in the wine industry in an up and coming part of New Hampshire called Appolo Vineyards. Melanie is passionate about creating an environment of learning about wine so that everyone can feel comfortable about asking questions at a wine tasting. Through a fun and hospitality focused winery, Melanie and the team at Appolo Vineyards have created a place for all to gather, grow and be themselves in an industry that has been known for being closed off and elitist. Melanie truly believes that if you open a bottle of wine at a table full of strangers, when the bottle is empty the table is full of friends.

Patrick Miner has spet the better part of the last three decades in hospitality. His journey has taken him from barista to busboy and all the way to Wine Director.  He has worked in restaurants encompassing concepts as diverse as chain family restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, fast-casual, and Michelin starred outlets. He has loved every minute of it! Patrick has achieved the Advanced certification through the Court of Master Sommeliers, and he is pursuing the MS title.

Tiffany Tobey graduated from Texas Tech University with dual Bachelor's degrees from Texas Tech University in Restaurant, Hotel, and Institutional Management (RHIM) and English. After spending a semester studying Wine Tourism in Italy abroad, Tiffany discovered her love of wine. This discovery spurred her to return home and earn her place with The Court of Master Sommeliers. She comes to the club after working as the wine director at SER Steak + Spirits at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, TX. At SER, Tiffany built an award-winning wine program and collection. She has previously focused on education, tastings, and world-class pairing dinners. Most recently Tiffany was part of Major Food Group and opened the New York Michelin Star restaurant concept, Carbone here in the Dallas Design district. While her experiences there were something she will carry with her forever she is very excited to get back to running her own wine program and bringing the flair of Michelin level hospitality to a more intimate setting.

Previously Tiffany has judged multiple years at the Sommeliers Choice Awards in San Francisco, the Seattle Wine and Spirits Awards in Washington, the Houston Rodeo Wine Competition, the Texas Master Classic Wine Competition, the Somm Journal Wine Competition in Las Vegas, and most recently the Texas International Wine Competition (TWGGA) in Grapevine, Texas. She has consulted for multiple publications such as Forbes, Tasting Panel Magazine, VinePair, Southern Beverage Journal, Wine Enthusiast, Business Insider, Food & Wine Magazine, and The SommJournal Magazine. She is currently continuing her education through Texas Tech University, where she is pursuing her Graduate Degree in Viticulture. The wine connoisseur dreams of starting a vineyard and making her own wine someday! In just the past few years Tiffany has been fortunate to study in some of the World’s most interesting wine regions including Israel, Uruguay, and Italy.

Recently, Tiffany was tapped by the 2012 Netflix Documentary: ‘SOMM’ creators (Jason Wise, Christina Wise, Jackson Myers, Diane Carpenter, and Brian Reshefsky) as a contributor to their latest project -- SOMM TV, a food and wine streaming network. She will serve as the Texas Representative on an upcoming series titled “SommTV - The History of Wine”. Ms. Tobey is also a proud member of the Dallas Chapter of the Les Dame d’Escoffier International, a philanthropic organization of Women leaders in the food, beverage, and hospitality industries.

@tiffanytobey

@tiffanystoast

Shari’s responsibilities included overseeing daily operations at tasting rooms, providing comprehensive training for staff and volunteers. She demonstrated exceptional time management skills, offering educational resources to staff, maintained strong guest relationships, organized and executed events both on and off-site. While managing wine club services efficiently, Shari monitored member accounts and databases, nurtured relationships with wholesale accounts, handled retail product purchasing and inventory management. In the winery, she assisted in bottle inventory management, collaborated with the wine maker on tasting profiles and pricing strategies for wine varietals. Shari actively participating in various winery functions.