Jeff Bitter is a life-long resident of California.  Born into a family vineyard operation, Jeff has always had a passion for agriculture and specifically grape growing.  Jeff is the President of Allied Grape Growers (AGG), a 500-member statewide grape growers cooperative marketing association.  AGG markets nearly $100,000,000 worth of grapes annually to wineries, shippers, packers and dehydrators.  In addition to managing AGG, Jeff is a fourth-generation grape grower on land he and his wife own and operate.

Jeff earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Business from California State University, Fresno and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the same.  Jeff is also a graduate of Class XXXII of the California Agricultural Leadership Program, a prestigious two-year fellowship program emphasizing leadership training and development for those involved in California agriculture.

Jeff participates on numerous industry boards, committees and task forces and spends his free time farming, serving at his church and enjoying family.  Jeff and his wife April have four children.  Recreationally, Jeff enjoys boating/watersports and can frequently be spotted tasting wines throughout California’s winegrowing regions.

Danny Brager is the Senior Vice President of Nielsen’s Beverage Alcohol Practice Area in the United States, supporting relationships with Nielsen’s many Beer, Wine, and Spirits clients, as well as with key industry groups and the media.  In this role, Danny and his team supports the differentiated needs of Nielsen's Beverage Alcohol clients, and provides business information, analysis and insights, focusing on the U.S. retail environment and consumer/shopper – who they are, what they buy, and why.  Danny has well over fifteen years of experience specific to the Bev Al industry, and for the past 30 plus years has held a variety of marketing and sales positions with Nielsen in both Canada and the United States.   He is a frequent speaker at many client and industry events on the subject of Beverage Alcohol retail and consumer trends. 

Danny holds an Honors Bachelor of Business Administration from York University in Toronto, Canada. After residing in Western Canada for most of his early years, and then moving to Toronto, he then relocated to Southern California in the mid-1990's, where he still lives.

Max Heinemann, Wine & Spirits Client Manager at Nielsen CGA had been working in the on premise world and in beverage management in Italy, France, Greece, England, The Netherlands, and the USA before moving into market research and data analytics. Currently based in Chicago he manages some of the biggest wine manufacturers in the USA.

Amy Hoopes is the President of Wente Family Estates. She was promoted to this position from the position of Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer, where she oversaw all global marketing and sales operations for the family-owned wine portfolio including Wente Vineyards, Entwine, Murrieta’s Well, Double Decker, and Hayes Ranch, as well as for the lifestyle operations, The Course, The Restaurant and the Concerts at Wente Vineyards. By combining the sales and the marketing operations, Ms. Hoopes is heading a long-term brand-driven sales strategy with the ultimate goal of positioning Wente Family Estates as the most respected family-owned winery in the world. Ms. Hoopes joined Wente Family Estates in 2007 as Vice President of Marketing with the primary goal of streamlining the company’s overall brand strategy and portfolio.

Paul Leary is a husband, father, business executive, entrepreneur and board member. He is the founder of Assemblage Consulting Group, a firm focused on optimizing the profits of consumer-packaged goods businesses in California.

As a leading Northern California entrepreneur and senior executive, Mr. Leary brings more than 20 years of business leadership, brand marketing, sales and operations expertise to his roles.

Leary’s continual business concern is to build a company’s brand equity and financial returns by ensuring product and service quality while spearheading niche sales & marketing strategies that create consumer demand in the direct and wholesale distribution channels.

Paul most recently served for 13 years as president and operating partner of Bespoke Collection, a multibrand and multi-channel enterprise based in Napa, CA. In the fall of 2008, Mr. Leary was instrumental in the launch of Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley, an art, wine and design collective in Yountville, CA. This business was sold
to Restoration Hardware (RH) in 2015.

During his seven-year tenure at St. Helena-based Duckhorn Wine Company, Leary oversaw the marketing and consumer sales for three distinct wine brands including Duckhorn, Paraduxx and Goldeneye. The Duckhorn brand portfolio and its assets were sold to a private equity group in 2007 and again in 2016.

“Over the last decade, the premium sector of the consumer-packaged goods industry,” Leary notes, “has become increasingly fragmented and competitive in a way that he believes renders mass advertising obsolete. The focus is on niche marketing, establishing direct relationships with clients, and maximizing the chain of influencers and peer-to-peer referrals. It’s up to the company to create the brand and then to let customers
tell the story,” Leary says.

Leary earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California. Additionally, he received a Certificate in eBusiness Strategy and Management from U.C. Davis Extension and a Certificate in Business Administration from U.C. Berkeley Extension.

Paul and his wife live in the Napa Valley with their son and daughter where he is a proud husband, father and member of the Napa community.

Rob McMillan is one of the top wine-business analysts in the United States and the author of Silicon Valley Bank’s highly regarded annual State of the Wine Industry Report. With decades of experience researching the wine business, his views are sought after and trusted by winery owners, journalists, entrepreneurs and investors. He is a prominent speaker, both domestically and internationally, and he is extensively quoted in national, regional and trade press. He has also been named several times as one of the Top 50 Most Influential People in the US wine industry.

Rob’s banking career has spanned 35-plus years — more than 25 with Silicon Valley Bank. In that time, he has held positions of increasing responsibility, including division manager of the Wine Group, executive manager of the bank’s Commercial Division and several years as a member of Silicon Valley Bank’s Managing Committee. He is currently responsible for establishing new winery relationships and offers private management presentations and strategic consulting to the bank’s clients across the portfolio.

Rob received a bachelor’s degree in finance/economics from Sacramento State University and an MBA from Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business. He has served on boards in diverse industries and continues to be an advisor to wineries and industry associations across the wine business.

Rob is a father of two. He enjoys the outdoors, travel and golf and takes any opportunity to play percussion and drums in live settings.