Amy Hoopes is the President of Wente Family Estates. Hoopes’ role includes oversight of sales, marketing, hospitality and retail operations for the family-owned wine portfolio. This includes Wente Vineyards (the oldest, continuously operated family-owned winery in America), Murrieta’s Well, Entwine, Hayes Ranch, Angel’s Ink and Unsullied brands, as well as the lifestyle operations: The Course, at Wente Vineyards, Wente Vineyards Tasting Lounge and Murrieta’s Well Tasting Room.

Ms. Hoopes is heading a long-term brand-driven strategy with the ultimate goal of positioning Wente Family Estates as one of the most respected family-owned wineries in the world. Ms. Hoopes joined Wente Family Estates in 2007 as Vice President of Marketing. She worked on the alignment of brand strategy and portfolio mapping, together while managing Wente 4th and 5th generation family members. Today, she focuses on brand strategy and guest experience, working with a team of marketing, sales and hospitality leaders at Wente.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 with a degree in Anthropology, Ms. Hoopes joined E. & J. Gallo’s Management Achievement Program and her last position after 10 years of diverse responsibilities was a Director of Marketing at E. & J. Gallo Winery. In this capacity, she oversaw marketing of the Value Wine Portfolio, as well as new product development and innovation for wines and spirits.

Ms. Hoopes lives in Pleasanton with her husband and two daughters.

Erik McLaughlin is CEO of Metis, llc. With offices in Oregon and Washington, Metis provides strategic consulting, financial planning, and M&A advisory services to the adult beverage and hospitality industries throughout the Pacific Northwest. In 2019 Erik was named one of the Top 50 Wine Industry Leaders in the world by Wine Business Monthly.

With nearly three decades of experience in the fine wine and hospitality industries, Erik provides the unique industry specific insight, connections, and operational expertise to maximize value and guide clients through successful transactions.

Erik graduated cum laude from Linfield College in the Willamette Valley and is a fourth generation native of the Pacific Northwest. Erik lives in Walla Walla with his wife and their four children. In his spare time he enjoys skiing, coaching youth sports, and sharing great wine with friends.

Devin Joshua is a 20-year wine industry veteran who has assembled, managed and led a series of effective winery teams throughout his career. In previous roles as General Manager of Judd’s Hill Winery and National Sales Director at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, he created organizational growth by identifying and promoting the unique core traits that make each brand compelling.  He was instrumental in launching Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon as well as The Profile Collection Block Series wines.

Since 2018, he has been the Managing Director of Direct to Consumer Sales at Merryvale Family of Wines, with the core mission of creating sales and service excellence by supporting each team member in reaching their full potential. Devin lives in Napa with his wife and two young children, with whom he plays pickleball in his spare time, working on his full serve potential.

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.

Paul Mabray has been a powerful change agent in the wine industry for over twenty years. He began his career working in traditional three-tier sales and marketing with Napa Ale Works and later innovating direct-to-consumer sales and marketing models with Niebaum Coppola. Since then, he has been at the forefront of all major digital trends for the wine industry, working with WineShopper.com and Wine.com when they entered the wine-digital space. He founded two companies that have significantly changed the US wine landscape for digital. First by introducing winery e-commerce with Inertia Beverage Group that transformed into WineDirect.com pioneering winery e-commerce and then again introducing social media and social customer relationship management with VinTank.com. He is considered the wine industry’s foremost futurist and thought leader, harnessing the power and potential of digital tools and methodologies to move the industry into the future.