2018 Oregon Wine Symposium | What’s Next for Oregon? Exploring Oregon’s Changing Wine Landscape

Bree Boskov, a Master of Wine specializing in wine education development, joined the Oregon Wine Board in April 2017. Born and raised in Australia, Bree’s career has had an intentionally international perspective. In Canada, sommelier roles in fine dining restaurants took her from Vancouver, BC to Nova Scotia and led to sommelier certifications and the Wine & Spirit Education Trust Diploma. Sales and portfolio management roles have taken her around Australia with one of Australia’s largest family owned wine companies, DeBortoli Wines and to Australia’s pre-eminent modern Spanish and Portuguese importer, The Spanish Acquisition in Melbourne.
Since 2008, Bree has been an independent wine industry management consultant specializing in education program development and sensory training, consulting to some of Australia’s finest independent retailers and wine education programs. She has provided market analysis for wineries and importers, brand analysis and wine business management consulting. Bree is also an experienced international wine judge and has held harvest and consulting positions in Australia, Austria, Portugal and the US.

Richard Mendelson is of counsel to the law firm of Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty in Napa, California, where he specializes in land use, alcohol beverage, and intellectual property law. He also directs the Program on Wine Law and Policy at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Richard is the author of “From Demon to Darling: A Legal History of Wine in America,” “Wine in America: Law and Policy,” and “Appellation Napa Valley: Building and Protecting an American Treasure.” He received his BA from Harvard College, then studied at Oxford University, earned his MA at Magdalen College, and his JD at Stanford Law School in 1982.

Dr. Liz Thach MW (pronounced “tosh”) is the distinguished professor of wine and a professor of management at Sonoma State University, where she teaches both undergraduate and wine MBA programs. She is an award-winning author who has published over 130 articles and eight wine books, including Call of the Vine, Wine – A Global Business and Wine Marketing & Sales. A fifth-generation Californian, Liz finished her PhD at Texas A&M University, and now lives on Sonoma Mountain where she tends a small hobby vineyard and makes Pinot noir. Liz obtained the distinction of Master of Wine (MW) in May of 2011, and she serves as a wine judge and on a number of non-profit wine boards.

Chris Tanghe MS was first exposed to wine as a part of the Culinary Institute of America curriculum. On the month of his 21st birthday, he took the introductory class with the Court of Master Sommeliers. Following completion of his degree at CIA and certificate with the Court, Chris continued to cook until he passed the Master Sommelier exam in May of 2013. He’s had the opportunity to work with a number of the best restaurants in the Pacific Northwest including The Herbfarm, Crush, Matt’s in the Market, Canlis, RN74 and Aragona. Chris is currently the Chief Instructor at GuildSomm and was named 2017 Wine Enthusiast’s 2017 Wine Star Award for Sommelier of the Year.