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Impressive credentials. Impressive advice.
Owner, Vineyard 29
Chairman (part-time) and cofounder, Covad Communications
Chairman and founder, Certive Corp. Chuck McMinn became interested in wine in 1978 when he arrived in Silicon Valley from New Jersey to take a product manager position at Intel. Now, Chuck takes lessons learned from his 25-year career creating, financing and advising technology start-up companies and applies them to improving the traditional, time-tested winemaking techniques in his current venture, Vineyard 29 in Napa Valley.
Chuck has a keen interest in measuring every aspect of the vineyard's operations, putting into practice a remembered motto from Intel: "If you can't measure it, you can't improve it." He is currently the part-time chairman of Covad Communications, a
Chairman (part-time) and cofounder, Covad Communications
Chairman and founder, Certive Corp. Chuck McMinn became interested in wine in 1978 when he arrived in Silicon Valley from New Jersey to take a product manager position at Intel. Now, Chuck takes lessons learned from his 25-year career creating, financing and advising technology start-up companies and applies them to improving the traditional, time-tested winemaking techniques in his current venture, Vineyard 29 in Napa Valley.
Chuck has a keen interest in measuring every aspect of the vineyard's operations, putting into practice a remembered motto from Intel: "If you can't measure it, you can't improve it." He is currently the part-time chairman of Covad Communications, a
publicly traded company he cofounded in 1996 to provide broadband data
services to homes and businesses using DSL technology. He is also the chairman and founder of Certive Corporation,
a provider of real-time business information analysis tools. Before founding Covad and Certive,
Chuck was the president & CEO of Visioneer Communications and a general partner at the venture
capital firm InterWest Partners.
Wine Director, Mina Group
Though food was Rajat Parr's first love, wine became his great passion. Luckily, Raj works in the best of
both worlds as wine director of Mina Group and its signature
restaurant, MICHAEL MINA, where he presides over a list of more than 2,200 wines from all over the world.
The restaurant and Raj's wine list were awarded Wine Spectator's Grand Award in 2005.
This is the first Grand Award presented to a restaurant open less than a year.
In 2003, Raj was named wine director of Mina Group where he is responsible for developing and managing the wine programs at each restaurant: MICHAEL MINA Bellagio (formerly AQUA Bellagio, Las Vegas), ARCADIA (San Jose Mariott), NOBHILL (MGM Grand, Las Vegas), SEABLUE (MGM Grand, Las Vegas) and the most recently opened, MICHAEL MINA (Westin St. Francis, San
In 2003, Raj was named wine director of Mina Group where he is responsible for developing and managing the wine programs at each restaurant: MICHAEL MINA Bellagio (formerly AQUA Bellagio, Las Vegas), ARCADIA (San Jose Mariott), NOBHILL (MGM Grand, Las Vegas), SEABLUE (MGM Grand, Las Vegas) and the most recently opened, MICHAEL MINA (Westin St. Francis, San
Francisco).
Previously, he was wine director of Aqua Development Corporation, where he oversaw wine lists for seven restaurants,
including AQUA (San Francisco). After beginning his career at Rubicon as an apprentice to master sommelier,
Larry Stone, Raj brought his expertise to Fifth Floor in San Francisco in 1999, which quickly received rave reviews
and the Grand Award from Wine Spectator two years after its opening. Raj is an ardent wine educator who has been
invited to host seminars as well as lead panel discussions at several of the country's most prestigious food and
wine gatherings such as Masters of Food and Wine, World of Pinot Noir, and the Aspen Food and Wine Classic.
Founder, Martine's Wines Inc.
Martine Saunier has been importing and collecting wine since 1969. She specializes in Burgundy, which was the
original focus of her wine importing company—Martine's Wines Inc., founded in 1979. She currently represents
a vast range of wine estates in France and Portugal, including Domaine Leroy and Domaine d'Auvenay; Denis Mortet;
Emmanuel Rouget; Domaine Perrot-Minot; Pierre Amiot; Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard, in Chablis; Château Rayas;
Domaine du Pégau; and Niepoort, in Portugal. A Paris native, Martine has also released two California wines
under her own label: Martine's Syrah and Martine's Viognier. She is a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier and a
national board member of the
American Institute of Wine and Food. She is also a Chevalier du Tastevin, and has
been decorated twice by France with the title Officier du Mérite Agricole.
President & cofounder, Kelley Transportation Services Inc. and Bay Cities Leasing LLC
Bill Shea has been collecting wine since the mid '80s. His cellar currently comprises some 12,000 bottles,
concentrated in red and white Burgundy, Bordeaux, Italian varietals and California Cabernets. Bill is the
president and cofounder (in 1984) of Kelley Transportation Services Inc. and Bay Cities Leasing LLC, equipment
manufacturing and leasing businesses in San Francisco (in 1998, he and his partner sold a majority stake in
Bay Cities Leasing to General Electric Credit Corp.).
Bill and his wife, Elizabeth, are active in numerous Bay Area charities benefiting children in life-threatening situations, including Sonoma County Children's Charities, the Sacramento Make-A-Wish Foundation and the World Croquet Championship Foundation
Bill and his wife, Elizabeth, are active in numerous Bay Area charities benefiting children in life-threatening situations, including Sonoma County Children's Charities, the Sacramento Make-A-Wish Foundation and the World Croquet Championship Foundation
(WCC). As WCC auction chair for seven years, Bill took the foundation
from an annual budget of $52,000 to more than $1 million; as a result, the WCC has donated more than $8 million
to children's charities in the past 15 years. The couple also participate in wine auctions in Napa, Sonoma,
Mendocino, and Santa Barbara counties that benefit children and healthcare.