Vineyard & Winery Management Magazine

Prior to joining Wattle Creek, Tamara served as President of Windsor Vineyards from 2005 - 2007 where she undertook the structural and marketing changes necessary to maintain Windsor Vineyards profitability and stability. Windsor Vineyards is the largest U.S. shipper of wine direct to consumer. When Foster's Wine Estates decided to divest their global portfolio of direct to consumer businesses, Tamara led the internal sale process for the American division, including investor presentations and due diligence for both IWA and Windsor Vineyards.

Tamara entered the wine industry in 1998, when she joined with International Wine Accessories (IWA), a leader in online and catalog sales of wines accessories to consumers and retailers. Tamara led the IWA marketing team to annual double-digit sales growth in the following 3 years. Tamara rose through the company, serving as VP of Operations and finally as President of IWA from 2004-2007. Prior to entering the wine industry, Tamara served as General Manager of Cryer Creek Kitchens from 1990-1998.

Sara Harrie, Consumer Direct Sales Manager, La Crema Winery
Sara Harrie, Consumer Direct Sales Manager for La Crema Winery, developed her interest in the wine industry while spending college vacations discovering Sonoma County. Upon graduating from California State University, Fresno, Harrie put her background in chemistry to work in a winery lab and eventually worked as the harvest enologist for a Sonoma winery.

Deciding to take a sabbatical from the wine industry, Harrie opened her own corporate concierge business providing services to start-up companies in Silicon Valley, and also worked as an event supervisor for various professional sports teams. These ventures continued to develop Harrie's impeccable style in gracious hospitality and exceptional customer service.

Harrie returned to the wine industry in 2005 when she was hired by the Hospitality Department of the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center. In 2006, she went to work with La Crema Winery where she and her team have continued to develop La Crema's loyal customer base.

Sam Lando, Director of Operations, Kosta Browne Winery
Sam Lando, Director of Operations for Kosta Browne Winery, arrived there in January of 2008 after a myriad of wine experiences! His extensive experience in the wine world has included working at wineries both big and small, which has enabled him to accumulate knowledge on many levels. As Associate Internet Marketing Manager at Allied Domecq Wines, Sam gained valuable experience with online marketing strategies and helped develop research opportunities, as well as managing multiple consultants. This valuable insight gave way to a broad understanding of the emerging direct-to-consumer channel. This prior experience led to his position as Direct Marketing Manager at Beringer Blass Wine Estates where he continued to increase his knowledge in direct-to-consumer marketing, traditional marketing/brand management, budgeting, business development, and product development. He shifted gears in terms of winery size when he went to work for Williams Selyem Winery as their Director of Sales and Marketing. He was very successful in increasing their annual sales, public relations strategies, member retention and acquisition tactics. New challenges came to Sam when he went to work for Kuleto Estate Winery, heading up their national sales department. This experience provided him with more marketing and sales experiences, not to mention numerous challenges. He was very successful in increasing their traditional sales and guided the development of a new wine club/continuity program.

Sam's love for Pinot Noir brought him back to the Russian River Valley to be a part of the Kosta Browne team. Aside from his prior relations with Dan Kosta and Michael Browne, his unique set of experiences and understanding of direct-to-consumer, traditional marketing/sales and customer service has been a valuable asset to the Kosta Browne team. Sam and the Kosta Browne team strive to create exceptional Pinot Noir, systems and services to deliver an unparalleled experience and value to their customers.

Elizabeth Slater, Marketing Savant, In Short Direct Marketing
Elizabeth Slater is a marketing savant, internationally recognized within the wine industry as a seminar and workshop leader, speaker, and trainer. Specializing in all facets of direct marketing, her seminars, presented with humor and enthusiasm, are jammed with innovative, useful and easy to implement concepts and information. Through her company, In Short Direct Marketing, Elizabeth works with small and large wineries, winery and state associations. While consulting on all facets of creating and implementing marketing and public relations programs and strategies, her focus is primarily aimed at marketing wines directly to consumers.

Elizabeth's career in marketing, advertising and sales has spanned a number of diverse industries and provided her with an extensive breadth of knowledge and experience. She teaches classes in wine marketing at Santa Rosa Junior College in Sonoma County. She writes a regular marketing column for Vineyard & Winery Management magazine and creates marketing programs and plans for individual winery clients.