Michael Bryan, Atlanta Wine School, Atlanta, Georgia

Triple-credentialed Michael Bryan is the founder and executive director of the Atlanta Wine School (AWS). The six-year-old AWS is the only wine-centric institution in the Southeast for consumers and the trade, providing a continuous learning experience with renowned international speakers. Since inception, AWS has connected with tens of thousands around wine pleasure.

Bryan speaks on wine-related subject matter for approximately 150 private, public and trade events per year. In addition to serving on the Education Advisory Board of the Society of Wine Educators, he holds that organization’s Certified Specialist of Wine credential. Additionally, he has obtained the Intermediate Certification with merit via the Wine Spirit Education Trust of London, and in 2006 was awarded the title of Certified Sommelier via the Court of Master Sommeliers, as well as being named an International Bordeaux Educator and Spanish Wine Educator. Bryan has appeared in numerous regional and national publications, along with radio and television spots, including guest “wine guy” on Alton Brown’s Good Eats, Good Day Atlanta and The Home Shopping Network. He is the publisher and editor of a monthly eNewsletter called Connect With Wine to over 22,000 wine enthusiasts with subscribers in seven countries. Additionally, he is the publisher and editor of Jane’s Monthly Dozen, a wine review column from Atlanta’s longest running wine reviewer, Jane Garvey.

Bryan has toured all but a handful of the major wine regions in the world. He created the “AWS Wine Room” during June 2007 in Roswell, Georgia, where courses and private events center on wine. The Society of Wine Educator’s CSW (wine expert) Training Program targeted at the wine professional was launched in November 2007 -- the first of its kind in North America. AWS has produced over 100 new CSW’s in Georgia in the first two years. Bryan’s deep-rooted passion around wine lead to the creation of AWS’ parent company, Connect With Wine, LLC, in 2002, an organization that uses wine to foster connections with people on multiple levels. He believes that life, like a fine wine, must be full, rich and balanced. He says AWS embodies his passion and allows him to share it with a great number of people.

Joe Davis

Arcadian Winery

Inspired by the great traditions of Burgundian winemaking, Joseph Davis has been making Arcadian Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah in California's Central Coast region since 1996. Using French artisan methods and hands-on vineyard management, his Arcadian label consistently receives high marks from the world's most respected wine writers. Following his gut instinct allows him the complete realization of his dream and his mission remains to make wines that fully express the uniqueness of the vineyard and the region while capturing the voluptuous flavor of the grape and the kiss of cool California breezes and warm sunshine.

Traditionally, Davis harvests fruit with much more modest sugar levels and much higher natural acidity than many of his fellow growers. The belief that Arcadian wines will continue to evolve in the bottle for years to come and that this continued evolution will ultimately produce a much more interesting wine is what drives Arcadian's -- and Davis' -- philosophy of winegrowing.

Carson Demmond, sommelier, The Modern, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Carson Demmond was born in Atlanta, Georgia, into a food-centric family and began working in some of the city's finest restaurants at a young age. In high school, she participated in an exchange program and fell in love with the French language and culture. She graduated summa cum laude from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, with a degree in French with a concentration in the literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, having spent half of her college career abroad at Paris X and Paris IV (Sorbonne), and at the Scuola Lorenzo de'Medici in Florence, Italy. Her Italian studies led her to work in Tuscany for Maria Teresa Berdondini, organizing gastronomic tours – a position which allowed her intensive study of the wines and cheeses of the region. A move to New York sparked the desire to further her wine studies, and she completed the American Sommelier Association's Viticulture and Vinification program, as well as their Advanced Blind Tasting. Demmond has been working at the Modern in New York City for two years.

Yves Durand, restaurateur, sommelier and author on Bordeaux wines

Yves Durand, noted wine consultant, author and lecturer, was born in the Bordeaux region of France. Following an apprenticeship in the classical European method, he worked in some of the most acclaimed restaurants in Europe. It was during this time that Durand gained the experience and recognition as an outstanding sommelier.

Durand immigrated to the United States in 1965, and quickly opened the very successful Rue de Paris Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1985, after winning top honors at both the regional and national competitions, he was named Best Sommelier in French Wines in the United States. In May of 1986, Durand represented the United States in Paris at the prestigious International Sommelier Competition where he finished 3rd for the world.

In 1987 he authored Connoisseur’s Guide to Bordeaux Wines, twelve years in the making, and is currently a frequent contributor to Where Magazine, as well as other regional and national publications.

Durand received one of the highest awards from the French Minister of Agriculture in September 1990 when he was decorated Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole for his achievements in promoting French wine and agriculture. In 1996 the National Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented Durand with an Emmy award for Best Performer for his television program “Wining and Dining with Yves Durand.” There were 600 entries, in 60 different categories, submitted for consideration.

Until June of 1998, Durand was President of the Sommelier Society of America, known today as the American Sommelier Association. “A sommelier’s sommelier,” Durand organizes and hosts’ for his colleagues of the “Chaîne des Rôtisseurs,” the “Commanderie de Bordeaux” and other wine tours to his native France, as well as Spain, Italy and Portugal. His entertaining, beguiling and whimsical style makes him a popular figure in the international wine circles.

Dick Grace, Grace Family Vineyards

Dick Grace’s personal values and commitments have shaped not only his own little life, but also the lives of countless other people worldwide.

First as a United States Marine Corps Officer, and then as a Senior Vice President for Smith Barney, Grace spent over 35 years cultivating his professional and financial success. According to Grace, however, the real story of his true success began when he turned his focus outward and embarked on the path of compassionate action.

In the late 1970s, Grace and his wife, Ann, started a small winery in the Napa Valley of California. Although the family began their venture with virtually no experience in wine making, the Insider’s Wine Line says, “the Cabernet Sauvignons that have evolved from the original one-acre vineyard on the property have now become legend, bringing at charity auctions more money than any other wine made in America.”

It is charity and compassionate action that is at the heart of Grace’s personal transformation and the mission of the Grace Family Vineyards. Known as much for its mission statement, “Wine as a catalyst towards healing our planet,” as for its prized wine, Grace Family Vineyards raises well over a million dollars annually for various charitable causes. Among those who have benefited from the profits of the vineyard are organizations caring for children with cancer, pediatric AIDS, abused children, and organizations serving the children of China, Tibet, India, Nepal, Mexico and, of course, America.

Grace is emphatic about his belief that donating money is only a small part of his charitable equation. As he explains, “the other part includes personal involvement and personal commitment to raising others’ awareness and being generous not only with one’s capital but also with one’s vision, time, energy, and most importantly, one’s love."

Grace has volunteered at Mother Theresa’s hospice in Kathmandu and in Calcutta, at homes for disabled persons, at children’s camps, and for a variety of other organizations alleviating the suffering of children and adults who are physically, emotionally, or financially disenfranchised. He also supports a number of Buddhist causes including Tibetan refugees in Kathmandu, Nepal and Dharmsala, India, and the monks at Shechen Monastery. Grace believes he exposes himself and the many other people who join him on his path to the purest of gurus; people who deal with life-threatening or life-altering disease or injury on a daily basis.

Grace commits a significant portion of his time and resources to raising awareness about the need to act compassionately. He uses every tour of his winery, every speaking engagement, and every possible personal encounter to share his stories and remind people that active participation in the lives of people in need can be as spiritually rewarding as inward-focused religious or meditative practice. Although his own spiritual path is centered in Buddhism, Grace focuses his practice on the universal importance of caring and compassionate action that unites all religions and spiritual teachings. He incents all whose life he touches to participate in the opportunity, if not the obligation, of decreasing the suffering of sentient beings around the world.

Mary Ann Hardman, Persimmon Creek Vineyards, Clayton, Georgia

As co-owner of the celebrated Persimmon Creek Vineyards in Clayton, Georgia, Mary Ann Hardman is determined to put Georgia on the map for the art of high quality winemaking. She is involved in nearly aspect of the family-owned-and-operated business, but places professional focus on sales, marketing and outreach. In addition, she oversees the winery’s tasting room, soon opening in a dedicated retail space in downtown Clayton.

A native of Macon, Georgia, Hardman is known for her southern hospitality, attention to detail and dedication to Persimmon Creek Vineyards’ wines. Steadfast in her support for local farming, chefs and products, the philosophy of “what grows together goes together” guides many of her efforts to place the wines in top restaurants, inns and, firmly in the glasses of individual wine enthusiasts around the Southeast. She is opening doors for highly recognized wine experts to realize Georgia’s winemaking potential and, for everyday wine lovers to experience something new in Persimmon Creek wines.

Since the founding of Persimmon Creek Vineyards in 1999 with husband and winemaker, William “Sonny” Hardman, Hardman has introduced Georgia wines to a range of internationally-known experts including Stuart George, Roger Dial and Hugh Johnson. In turn, the wines have earned recognition from Wine Spectator, Food & Wine, Napa-based wine journal Appellation America and London’s Dulwich Wine Society, among others.

Hardman pours her heart and soul into several community endeavors in almost equal portions as to the wine business and to her family. She and Sonny are loyal supporters of Atlanta’s Carter Center, Share Our Strength, Emory’s School of Medicine and FAITH, an organization to combat domestic violence.

She is also active in the region’s culinary community as a member of the Atlanta chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, Commanderie de Bordeaux and the Southern Foodways Alliance.

Caroline Hoogenboom, Persimmon Creek Vineyards

Caroline Hoogenboom’s experience in the world of wine began in France.  She spent many summers in Provence, where she was introduced to the beauty, lifestyle and culture of the region well known for its world class food and wine.

A South Carolina native, Hoogenboom received her undergraduate degree in Classical Civilization from Emory University in Atlanta.  After graduating, she returned to France to acquire her Sommelier Conseil degree from the Université du Vin in Suze-la-Rousse. 

Hoogenboom also spent time in Tuscany at Ornellaia, then came to the Napa Valley in 2001, where she met Sam Spencer of Spencer Roloson Winery. Spencer offered her the opportunity to spend a harvest season with his team, where she gained an excellent understanding of wine from the earth to the vine and the bottle and was ultimately hired as Assistant Winemaker.

She supplemented her hands-on knowledge of winemaking with classes in enology at the University of California at Davis before returning to school full time at the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France, to receive the Diplôme National d’Oenologue. She continued to apply her knowledge internationally by working at wineries in Burgundy and Bandol in France, as well as in Australia working with Chris Ringland.

Hoogenboom came back to the Napa Valley in 2006 to work with Philippe Melka and the team at Dana Estates as Assistant Winemaker.  The 2007 Dana Estates Lotus Vineyard recently received 100 points from Robert Parker.

Hoogenboom recently came on board as the Winemaker at Persimmon Creek Vineyards in Clayton, Georgia.  She currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, Deniz, and spends much of her free time tasting wine, traveling and working on her fifth language, Turkish.

Johannes Klapdohr

Executive Chef, Madison's Restaurant at Old Edwards Inn & Spa

Chef Johannes Klapdohr's culinary career spans an impressive variety of cuisines, global regions, techniques and prestigious positions. He was born in Germany into a family of four generations of hoteliers, restaurateurs and chefs. After his graduation, he studied in some of the finest hotels and restaurants under the best chefs in the world, including the Relais & Chateau "Hotel Bareiss" in the black forest, which has been in the top five of German hotels for decades; and Eckard Witzigman, one of only four chefs in the world to be named "Chef of the Century" by Gault Millau in his legendary "Restaurant Aubergine" in Munich.

After a year as executive chef of the restaurant Schloss Glienicke in Berlin, he decided to come to the United States and in 1998 was assigned the position of Chef de Cuisine at Nikolai's Roof, Atlanta's finest award-winning restaurant. He quickly earned himself a place in the best 100 Restaurants in the U.S. by Zagat and the Mobile four star award in 2000 making it the only four star restaurant in downtown Atlanta.

In 2004 he became the executive chef of The Lodge at Sea Island, the prestigious Mobile five star, AAA five diamond hotel off the coast of Georgia.. During his tenure, the Lodge became the number one small hotel in the U.S., including fine dining, and the top golf hotel in the world in 2007.

After 25 years in hospitality, he collaborated with The Chef's Garden Inc in Ohio, the leading sustainable farm in the United States, as executive chef of the Culinary Vegetable Institute. There he promoted the importance of bringing farmers, chefs and guests together focusing on the education of sustainability not only in agriculture but as a life style and successful business model through farm-to-table experiences.

In April 2009, he rejoined with Richard Delany, former general manager at the Lodge at Sea Island, to oversee the culinary operations of the Old Edwards Inn Hospitality Group and Old Edwards Inn & Spa.

The constant research of selecting the finest products in the region, as well as globally, has become Chef Klapdohr's ultimate passion. To nurture, develop and create sustainable, healthy cuisine that is uncompromised and environmentally responsible continues to be the essence of his culinary philosophy.

Janet Viader, Viader Vineyards & Winery

Janet Viader grew up in the Napa Valley on the vineyards of Viader Vineyards & Winery, which was founded in 1986 by her mother, Delia Viader. Janet Viader has been involved in the family business from a very early age and has witnessed firsthand the growth of the business and brand. Throughout high school, she spent summers working in the winery office and hosting winery tours. While in college, she represented Viader at special events in Europe and across the United States. In 2004, she received her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in Political Science after a year long student exchange at Sciences Po University in Paris, France. Janet Viader has spent time in Burgundy, Bordeaux and Tuscany improving her wine education, language skills and wine tasting palate. After graduation, she dedicated six months to a political research project in Argentina, where most of her family resides and where she immersed herself in the Mendoza wine region. She then spent a year working in the non-profit sector back home in Napa, providing legal services to low-income families, seniors and immigrants. In January 2007, she joined the family business as the director of sales and marketing for the United States and Canada. She also serves on the board of "NG: The Next Generation in Wine," a collaborative marketing group of second generation family winemakers.