Originally from Texas, Jeff’s passion for wine started while at the University of Texas at Austin. He began his career at Central Market in Austin, Texas one of Austin’s premier wine destinations. After graduating Jeff moved to California where he worked as a salesperson for a wholesaler in the San Francisco Bay Area but his passion for restaurants and service drew him further north.

His sommelier career began in Napa Valley working at Tra Vigne Ristorante in St. Helena, California. He joined the Bastianich Hospitality Group in 2009 at Osteria Mozza under the auspice of James Beard award-winning chef Nancy Silverton. In 2011, he moved to New York City to become the wine director at Del Posto Ristorante, and in 2014 Jeffrey became the Beverage Operations Director of the entire company. In this role, he oversaw the beverage programs for Babbo, Del Posto, Esca, Lupa, Otto, Babbo Pizzeria and others.

In 2019 Jeff left the Bastianich group and began his consulting career and a web series about wine, life and culture called Sip Trip. Jeff’s consulting business took off quickly with Hometown BBQ, Red Hook Tavern and the brand-new luxury hotel in the Barolo region Casa di Langa. Jeff helps his clients create beverage lists and service standards to entire programs of hospitality.

In October of 2021, the Brooklyn Nets hired Jeff to oversee the beverage program at the Barclays Center to help usher in a new era in how wine is viewed in the sports entertainment space. Apart from Jeff’s day job, he is a passionate advocate & practitioner of BBQ in all of its guises & glories, a father of a daughter and happy husband.

Michaela Morris is a freelance wine writer and educator, splitting her time between Canada, Italy and the UK. As a regular contributor on Italian wine for Decanter, she presents masterclasses and leads wine tours on the magazine’s behalf. She also writes for several other international and Canadian publications such as Meininger’s Wine Business International and Quench.

In addition to writing, she moderates seminars, speaks at conferences and judges wine competitions around the globe. As of 2024, she is the joint Regional Chair for Piedmont at Decanter World Wine Awards.

With a career in wine spanning over 25 years, Michaela’s previous roles include managing a portfolio of premium Italian wine for a Canadian importer, overseeing the Bordeaux En Primeur campaign for a boutique retailer, curating cellars for collectors and working in fine dining restaurants.

Michaela holds the WSET Diploma and was a longtime guest lecturer for the program. She is also a certified Italian Wine Expert through Vinitaly International Academy earning the top mark in VIA’s inaugural year in 2015. She is an Honorary Chianti Classico ambassador as well as Vini del Piemonte’s ambassador in Canada speaking on behalf of both.

Prior to getting in the wine industry, Michaela worked as a fashion model and spent several years cycle touring and working her way around Europe before earning a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics and French from the University of British Columbia. A one-year exchange program led her back to France where she discovered the region of Burgundy and decided to pursue a career in the wine.

Justin Noland is Vice President of Digital Experience for Treasury Americas at Treasury Wine Estates, one of the global leaders in wine. From the start of Justin’s career in wine, he has worked to bring digital transformation to business, marketing, and consumer experiences. He, working with an incredible team, is enabling new technology and building better ways to connect with customers online.

With vast experience in marketing, Justin specializes in a channel-agnostic approach to digital marketing, giving brands the opportunity to deepen their engagement with a consumer, explore new experiences, learn through data, and support the customer towards the purchase path of their choice. He is a marketing leader with a vision to drive positive change in the wine industry and help new generations of wine drinkers engage with brands through digitally native channels.

Jessica Dupuy is a Texas-based writer, educator, and consultant focusing on wine, spirits, food, and travel. Her work has been published widely including in Decanter, Forbes, Texas Monthly, Food & Wine, Imbibe, GuildSomm, SevenFifty Daily, VinePair, and Wine Enthusiast. She is also co-host of the wine-centric podcast, Another Bottle Down.

Jessica has earned a Diploma in Wine from the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust (DipWSET), and is a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, a Certified Specialist of Wine and Spirits through the Society of Wine Educators.

She has authored six cookbooks with renowned chefs including the James Beard Award-winning chef Tyson Cole’s “Uchi: The Cookbook” and James Beard Award-nominated chef Ford Fry’s “Tex-Mex: Traditions, Innovations, and Comfort Foods from Both Sides of the Border”. Jessica has also penned two regional culinary explorations in partnership with Southern Living magazine about the history and food traditions of the American South and Texas. Her latest book, The Wines of Southwest U.S.A. (Academie du Vin), examines the emerging wine regions of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.

Jessica holds a Bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science from Trinity University and a Master’s degree in Journalism and Magazine Publishing from Northwestern University’s prestigious Medill School of Journalism. She is a member of Les Dames D’Escoffier and a regular wine judge at the TEXSOM International Wine Awards.

Chris Struck has worked in the food & beverage industry for twenty years and holds undergraduate degrees in Culinary Arts & Food Service Management from Johnson & Wales University and an Executive MBA in Food Marketing from Saint Joseph’s University.

He has gained industry certifications from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust, Society of Wine Educators, Court of Master Sommeliers, and Deutsche Wein und Sommelierschule in Koblenz, Germany.

NYC restaurant experience has included Craft, Racines NY, Union Square Cafe, and Ilili, where he recently served as Beverage Director. He presently serves as the NYC Ambassador for Wines of Alto Adige.

In addition to working as a sommelier and consultant, Struck taught beverage and marketing classes as an Adjunct Lecturer in the Hospitality Management Department at the City University of New York’s (CUNY) CityTech Campus for five years, and previously served as Program Director of America’s oldest wine school, the Sommelier Society of America.

After a career in the wine industry that took him from working as a Chef de Rang in fine-dining restaurants in Australia to serving as a fine wine manager and brand ambassador in the United States for Jermann and Lux Fine Wines (Jermann’s U.S. importer), Felix has proudly represented Friuli Venezia Giulia in key international markets for Italian wine. His experiences, including that of a Sommelier, inspired him to develop a personal style of wine communication.

Since 2020, he has been creating communication projects in the wine sector aimed at conveying the true identity of wine labels. Authenticity and truthfulness are the foundation of the storytelling he offers to the companies he collaborates with, aligning with current trends to communicate unique experiences while boosting digital brand awareness and driving business growth.