WineBusiness Monthly Announces Honorees for 2024 Wine Industry Financial Symposium Leadership Dinner
WineBusiness Monthly, the industry’s leading publication for wineries and growers, is delighted to announce and honor three outstanding individuals in the wine industry at this year’s WineBusiness Monthly Leadership Dinner on Nov. 12, 2024. These distinguished professionals have made significant contributions to our industry, and it is with great pleasure that we recognize Carole Meredith, Bo Barrett and Roger Nabedian for their achievements.
Held the first night of the Wine Industry Financial Symposium, WineBusiness Monthly’s annual leadership dinner brings together CEOs, presidents and other VIPs to honor those individuals who have made positive differences at their companies and in the wine community. Each year, WineBusiness Monthly names its Top Wine Industry Leaders and this dinner will honor a select few who have made the greatest strides in contributing to the wine industry’s collective success.
The evening will begin with an hors d’oeuvres reception at 4:45 pm, followed by the leadership dinner at 6:00 pm. The Wine Industry Leadership Dinner is Invitation Only, as seating is limited.
Carole Meredith is likely best known for her research into grape genetics during her 23-year tenure as a professor in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis. She famously used DNA profiling methods to determine the origins of some of the world’s most important, and oldest, winegrape varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Syrah, and Zinfandel. In 1986, she and her husband, Steve Lagier, purchased a piece of property on Mount Veeder, spent years preparing the land and soil and planting vineyards before releasing their first commercial wine in 2000. Their wines were critically acclaimed and universally lauded but, in 2022 when the couple was ready to retire, they continued to buck trends and set precedent by doing the unthinkable: They sold their vineyard to winemaker Aaron Potts for $0. Rather than “cash out,” like so many others, no contracts were involved. They wanted to continue to live on the land and have the vineyard farmed by someone who would respect the spot and treat the vines well.