Steve Bader is the owner/operator of Bader Beer & Wine Supply in Vancouver, Washington.  Steve opened his home beer and wine supply shop in 1992, selling primarily beermaking products.  The evolution of the industry led Steve to move to a larger location to add wine ingredients, wine kits, and more equipment.  In 2003 Steve opened up a wine-on-premise (Bader Winery) next to his retail store.  Steve has written articles for WineMaker and Brew Your Own magazine, along with serving on the editorial review board for both magazines since 2000.  Steve will be speaking on "Keys to Better Cleaning and Sanitation" and "Berry Fruit Winemaking."

Norman Banks began making wine in 1968 as a home wine maker in California and has been making wine almost every year since.  He has made wines from mead and melamels through fruit and many more grape varietals, as well as brewing beer.  He has been sampling wines and visiting wineries wherever living or assigned from Australia to New Zealand.  Norman grows grapes in Vancouver: Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris/Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Syrah, and Muscat since 1987.  He currently makes 6-8 varietals every year, mostly from eastern Washington grapes and has been assisting at commercial wineries in Clark County for 6 years.  Norman has been the head Winemaker at Confluence Winery since 2007, and is also currently the head Winemaker at Pheasant Valley Winery.  Norman is a member of:  Clark County Home Winemakers, Columbia-Willamette Enology Society (Executive Board Member), and Southwest Washington Wineries Association.  

Jim Bernau has been part of Willamette Valley Vineyards since 1983.  He serves as its first employee and helped turn WVV into Oregon's leading producer of wines selling at $15 and above only three years after its first release of Pinot Noir.  He has built a world class Oregon winery by organizing the energy and resources of thousands of wine enthusiasts, and helped Willamette Valley Vineyard grow to over 4,500 owners.  He has contributed his expertise in governmental affairs and served as President of the Oregon Winegrowers Association.  His lobbying contributions have earned him the industry's Outstanding Service Award and most recently the Founder's Award for his work on establishing the new Oregon Wine Board.  Jim will deliver Friday's keynote address and sit on the "Northwest Pinot Roundtable" discussion.  

Peter Brehm, owner of Brehm Vineyards, has been helping amateur winemakers make better wine for over 35 years. He founded the retail shop Wine and the People in Berkeley in 1970 and began introducing home winemakers to fresh premium and ultra-premium grapes from renowned regions such as Carneros, Dry Creek, Stag’s Leap, Rutherford Bench, the Columbia River Gorge and Willamette Valley. He also has experience working at wineries such as Cape Mantelle in Western Australia and Cloudy Bay Winery in New Zealand. In 1991 he created White Salmon Vineyard and Winery and recently assisted in the birth of the Columbia Gorge AVA. Brehm Vineyards is a leading provider of fresh and frozen grapes. Peter will speak on “Northwest Grape Growing” and also answer questions during the "Northwest Winemakers Question and Answer" panel.  

Chik Brenneman is the Winery Manager and Winemaker for the University of California at Davis.  He is responsible for supporting the teaching and research winemaking activities.  In any given harvest he will make wine from over 50 different varieties.  Prior to coming to UC Davis he worked as the Production Lab Manager for Woodbridge Winery in Lodi.  He has worked  as cellarmaster for both Amador Foothill Winery and Domaine de la Terre Rouge in Amador County’s Shenandoah Valley after receiving his Master’s Degree in Enology in 1998.  He started making beer and wine at home in the early 1990’s. Chik will lead two seminars, “Ways to Rosé: Saignée, Blending, and Early Pressing” and “Keys to a Great Crush & Press.”

Shea A.J. Comfort is a long-time amateur brewer and mead maker.  Shea helped start MoreWine! in 2000.  Over the next four years he did intensive fermentation research on yeast, oak, MLB, tannins, and oxygen, created and taught an amateur winemaking program, educated the company staff, and created a series of technical "how-to" manuals.  He has been a contract winemaker for Lallemand since 2001, creating yeast and MLB trials for them.  Shea has also helped start up Sterling Albert Winery as head winemaker, has been consulting winemaker for Olin Wines for 2 years, and has most recently started an independent winemaking consulting business.  Shea will help attendees "Adjust Your Must for Better Wines" and also speak on "Improving Wines During Aging."

Rich Cushman is the winemaker and owner at Viento Wines.  A native Oregonian, he has been making wine for over 25 years.  After studying for two years in the Masters program in Enology at UC Davis, Rich traveled to German, where he apprenticed at the Burklin-Wolf Vineyard.  Rich's winemaking philosophy is straightforward:  to make wines that are balanced and consistently good to drink.  He strives to bring out the best in the grapes without over-processing.  Rich's vast experience in establishing successful wineries and winemaking protocol have made him a very sought after wine consultant.  Rich will answer questions during the "Winemakers Question and  Answer" panel and also provide tips during the "Northwest Pinot Roundtable".  

Sigrid Gertsen-Briand is the Technical Support Manager in North America for Lallemand, Inc., a manufacturer of a wide variety of winemaking products including dried yeasts, yeast nutrients and enzymes. She has a B.Sc. degree in Microbiology from McGill University in Montréal. She started her fermenting career in the quality control lab of Mosti Mondiale, a kit and fresh juice supplier. She then worked at Pelee Winery in Ontario before joining Lallemand. She will lead seminars on "Preventing and Fixing a Stuck Fermentation" and "Same Grape, Different Yeast Strains: A Tasting". 

Wes Hagen received his viticultural and winemaking training from the University of California at Davis extension program. He is the Vineyard Manager and Winemaker for Clos Pepe Vineyards in Santa Barbara County, California, where he grows Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for a variety of wineries including his own. Wes also covers the world of backyard vineyards for WineMaker writing our “Backyard Vines” column every issue since 2000 as well as on his blog on winemakermag.com. Wes will be leading winemakers with:  "Grape Growing Boot Camp", "First Year Care for your New Vineyard", and "Pro Tricks for your Home Vineyard". 

Pat Henderson is the Senior Winemaker at Kenwood Vineyards in the Sonoma Valley. In addition to his work at Kenwood, he is also a winemaking instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College where he has taught since 1991. Pat is a graduate of the Viticulture and Enology program at the University of California at Davis. After graduation he worked in both the Napa and Sonoma Valleys before taking his first position as Head Winemaker at Hedges Cellars in Washington State in 1995. After returning from the Northwest he became Winemaker at Valley of the Moon winery where he worked for six years before returning to Kenwood Vineyards where he previously served as Enologist 10 years before. Pat co-authored the book “About Wine”; a textbook on wine for culinary students. He will speak on "Evaluating Wine Like a Pro" and "To Malo or Not? Keys to Making the Right Decision".

Tristan Johnson is the manager of MoreWine! in Concord, California, a major retailer of winemaking equipment and supplies for both hobby and professional winemakers. Tristan runs MoreWine's testing lab, answers questions for customers as well as acting as the assistant winemaker for their onsite commercial winery. He also enjoys brewing his own beer. Tristan will speak on "Calibrating your Winemaking Tools" and "Caring for Stainless Steel Equipment". 

Lisa Jones is a 10 year veteran of the wine industry.  She is currently the Assistant Brand Manager at RJ Spagnols and is a member of their Core Tasting Panel for new product development.  She leads wine tasting for RJS and answers technical questions from winemakers.  While studying for her Food & Nutrition Degree at the University of British Columbia, Lisa was President of the UBC Winetasting Club and is currently working to complete her Sommelier training.  Lisa will answer questions during "Wine Kit Q&A" and also lead the seminar "Avoiding Common Kit Mistakes".  

Daniel Pambianchi is the General Manager of Maleta Estate Winery in Ontario and was recently awarded the Ontario “Wine of the Year” trophy for his oak-aged Vidal icewine. Many hobby winemakers are very familiar with his popular book “Techniques in Home Winemaking” as well as his “Techniques” column in every issue of WineMaker. Daniel also serves as the magazine’s Technical Editor reviewing all articles for accuracy. Daniel will lead two seminars:  "Troubleshooting Your Wine" and "Stabilizing Wine Like the Pros".

Eleni Papadakis, winemaker at Domaine Serene, earned a B.Sc. in Enology from CSU Fresno and has broadened her understanding of old and new-world techniques by participating with winemaking teams globally.  From tractor to end consumer, Eleni has pursued her interest in wine with Wine MBA studies at the Bordeaux Ecole Superiore de Commerce in Bordeaux, France and its partner universities in Santiago, Adelaide, and Davis.  Prior to joining Domaine Serene, Eleni worked as a winemaker in the cool-climate of California's Santa Cruz Mountains, making her ideally suited for the unique challenges of producing ultra-premium wines in Oregon.  Eleni will provide tips during the "Northwest Pinot Roundtable".  

Bob Peak, Partner in The Beverage People, a home winemaking and homebrewing shop in Santa Rosa, California, planted his backyard hobby vineyard in 1999.  Before joining The Beverage People in 2003, he was general manager at Vinquiry, a wine testing laboratory in Windsor, California.  As a home winemaker, Bob’s most recent award was a silver medal at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair for his 2006 Chardonnay.  Bob holds a degree in Chemistry from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California, and has pursued additional studies in grapes and wine at Santa Rosa Junior College and the UC Davis Extension. Bob will lead us in:  "Making Wine from Grapes Boot Camp", "Testing for SO2", "Testing for Malolactic", "Testing for Acid", and "Testing for pH".

Tim Vandergrift has worked in the home beer and wine industry since the early 1990’s and has been the Technical Services Manager for Winexpert Limited, a kit manufacturer based in British Columbia, since 2000. His responsibilities at Winexpert include product development, quality assurance for raw materials, technical documentation, consumer education and translating winemaking protocols for home consumers. Tim writes the “Wine Kits” column in WineMaker magazine and blogs about wine kits on winemakermag.com. Tim will answer questions during "Wine Kit Q&A", and also speak on "Tips, Tricks, Tweaks, and Inside Peeks: Making the Best Wine (Using Kits)" and "Making Sparkling Wine from Kits".

Jeff Waddell is owner and winemaker of East Fork Cellars, is a fourth generation wine grower, and began growing grapes in the Northwest about 9 years ago.  Jeff and his wife Stacey enjoy helping the avid wine enthusiast learn everything about viticulture and the wine business.  East Fork Cellars grows Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay grapes on their vineyard.  In addition to making wine from their own vineyard, East Fork specializes in creating wonderful blends of red varietals grown on a vineyard they manage in Northern California.  Jeff will speak on "Keys to Blending Wines".