Board of Directors
BRIAN GRUBER
PRESIDENT; AT LARGE
IRVINE & ROBERTS
VINEYARDS
Brian Gruber is a wine grower and winemaker in Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley. He is currently the winemaker at Irvine & Roberts Vineyards. Brian also founded Swallow Hill Vineyard, where he farms premium wine grapes in the rolling hills above Ashland.
Prior to his role at Irvine & Roberts Vineyards, Brian was the co-founder and head winemaker at Barrel 42 Custom Winecraft, a custom crush winery that makes wine for more than twenty clients. He was also the winemaker and co-owner for Quady North Winery, a 7,000 case, award-winning wine brand with international distribution.
Before co-founding Barrel 42, Brian spent five years at Troon Vineyard, filling numerous roles including vineyard management, winemaking, production, and general management. Brian came to Troon from Capital One, where he had an 11-year career as an executive in the Human Resources, Finance and Information Technology fields. Brian also spent six years in the wine industry in Virginia, creating and managing Walnut Grove Vineyards. Prior to Brian’s career at Capital One, he spent 11 years in the U.S. Air Force, including five years in the Air Force Personnel Command where he leveraged analytical models to make long-term policy recommendations on recruiting, training and retention.
Brian is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Economics and Operations Research. He also attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he received his Masters of Public Policy. Brian lives in Ashland, Oregon with his wife Marya. They have one daughter and three Dachshunds.
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ANDY STEINMAN
VICE PRESIDENT; WILLAMETTE VALLEY
WALTER SCOTT WINES
Andy Steinman is a Partner and CFO of Walter Scott Wines in the Eola-Amity Hills. He and his wife Sue are also the financial partners in Portland’s Canard and Le Pigeon restaurants.
Andy’s firm, Ethos Wine Industry Advisory, provides financial consulting and Mergers and Acquisition advisory services in conjunction with Global Wine Partners.
Steinman has focused his career on entrepreneurship, building successful businesses in Consumer-Packaged Goods, Computer Accessories and Software prior to focusing on the Wine Industry.
He graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with a BS in Management Science and earned his MBA from the University of Chicago.
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CRAIG CAMP
TREASURER; AT LARGE
TROON
VINEYARD
Craig Camp is a veteran fine wine professional with more than three decades of experience in every facet of the industry, including importing, exporting, distribution, marketing, sales, viticulture, and fine wine production. He has extensive hands-on experience in wineries in Italy, Napa Valley, the Willamette Valley, and now the Applegate Valley.
Camp is an industry leader and has been recognized for his work by The New York Times, Washington Post, Food and Wine Magazine and Saveur Magazine. He was named one of “Wine’s Most Inspiring People of 2020” by the Wine Industry Network. He is president of the National Board of Directors of the Rhône Rangers and on the executive committee and a board member of the Oregon Winegrowers Association. He is past president of the Applegate Valley Vintners Association and is a member of the board of directors of the Rogue Valley Vintners Association and the Oregon Winegrowers Association.
He came to the Applegate Valley to work in a region on the cutting edge of fine winemaking and is passionate about biodynamic winegrowing and winemaking in Oregon.
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BROOKE ROBERTSON
SECRETARY; EASTERN OREGON
DELMAS | SJR VINEYARD
Brooke spent five years working in the Napa Valley, tending to the high expectations of iconic vineyards and wineries. Additionally, Brooke has worked in Australia for Torbreck, focusing on small lots of highly sought after Rhône-style wines. Brooke completed her tenure in the Napa Valley as Viticulturist for The Napa Valley Reserve. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Oregon State University, an AAAS degree in Enology and Viticulture from Walla Walla Community College, and studied for a Master’s degree in Viticulture at Cal Poly; San Luis Obispo. She holds a UC Davis winemaking certificate and has completed the Simonit & Sirch Advanced Vine Master Pruners Academy. Brooke serves on the Board of Directors for the Oregon Winegrower Association, representing Eastern Oregon; is a Bâtonnage (Women in Wine) Level One Mentor; and created the Vineyard Technical Group for Walla Walla Valley in conjunction with Oregon State University and the Rocks District Winegrowers.
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ANNA MARIA PONZI
PRESIDENT EMERITUS; WILLAMETTE VALLEY
LAURELWOOD VINEYARD MANAGEMENT
Anna Maria Ponzi has dedicated her life to Oregon wine. At the age of four, she helped plant one of the earliest vineyards as her pioneering parents established one of the first wineries in the Willamette Valley. She’s had the rare opportunity of working in every aspect of the wine business and has served the industry in myriad ways, most importantly, as an ambassador for Oregon wine both nationally and internationally. In her former role as owner and president of Ponzi Vineyards, she envisioned and set in motion the transformation of Oregon wine country into a world class visitor destination. In 1999, she established the valley’s first regional wine bar and, in 2013, opened the valley’s first seated wine tasting experience. In 2020 she published her memoir Pinot Girl, and the following year successfully negotiated the sale of the family winery to Société Jacques Bollinger S.A. She continues to support the state’s wine industry through ongoing service for multiple organizations and her wine consulting and speaking firm, amponzi & company.
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TERRY BRANDBORG
UMPQUA VALLEY
BRANDBORG VINEYARD & WINERY
I sometimes say that wine found me, it’s true and I’m glad it did. My father was a physician in San Francisco and I had developed an interest in science, but there were a lot of fun distractions in the SF of the ‘60’s. I didn’t finish college and came back to the City and landed a job doing Longshore/Warehouse work on the SF waterfront. Wine found me when I made my first homemade wine in 1975. I joke my mistake was that it turned out very good. I then met a neighbor who was growing grapes in Anderson Valley, Mendocino and that’s where I really started to get into it. I got my garage bonded as a home occupation in 1986 making 300 cases of AV pinot noir and riesling. And then I took to the streets in the Bay Area and was able to place my wines in a number or well-known name restaurants and retail shops. In ’90 I moved to rented warehouse space in Richmond and the brand grew to about 2500 cases. My first IPNC invite was in 1994 and I began to get to know many of the Willamette pioneers. My life changed dramatically for the better when I met my wife Sue at big consumer and trade wine tasting in Jackson Wyoming in 1998. I had participated in that event since 1990 when a fellow I had met on a fishing trip became my broker for that market. Sue moved west a year later and fell into everything about the wine, and she also had her own day job. We began to yearn for our own spot. I had a long history in the Umpqua and had visited the pioneering winemakers going back to the early ‘80’s. But had not heard of Elkton. We learned that pinot noir, riesling and gewurztraminer were first planted here in 1972. We came and took a look after the Steamboat Pinot Noir Conference in 2001. Pretty much love at first sight. We found a great piece of property and moved here in 2002. We planted our vineyard and built our winery opening the tasting room Thanksgiving weekend 2002, pouring some of our CA wines. We have been very active in the Umpqua and Oregon wine industry and believe “a rising tide floats all boats.”
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ALEX SOKOL BLOSSER
LARGE WINERY
SOKOL BLOSSER WINERY
When I finally achieved Snapple Salesmen of the month at our local distributor, my mom decided to hire me at the winery to travel the nation selling our family’s wines. This was in July of 1998 and I remember still having hair! Since then, I have run our distributor sales team as VP of Sales, became the winery’s 4th winemaker in 2012, and in February of 2023 I became President of the winery and vineyard. Throughout all that time I have overseen our vineyards, forever tying me to the land and further reinforcing a simple truism: wine is made in the vineyard. After all these years and various roles at my family’s Estate, I am more excited than ever to take my past experiences and lead our team toward its goal every vintage: craft compelling wines worth putting on your table.
A little about me: I graduated from Portland State University with a philosophy degree in 1997 and then a MBA in 2003. I live on the vineyard with my wife, Ginny, and our golden retriever, Gus. We’ve raised two great men who are currently out finding their paths in life. When time allows, we love to take our RV out on adventures, read (especially sci-fi), and when the skies are clear, take my telescope out to wander around the heavens.
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NORA LANCASTER
ROGUE VALLEY
KRISELLE CELLARS
Nora Lancaster comes to the Oregon Winegrowers Association Board from over two decades in the Southern Oregon wine industry.
As a partner and the acting Director at Kriselle Cellars in the Rogue Valley, Nora comes with up-close experience in owning and operating a wine business, while championing the area, region, two nested AVAs, and the state. Nora has always believed that we are better together, that many voices are better heard, and that unity is makes us stronger. This is a deeply felt conviction that she brings to her personal life, to her business, and to the industry at large. Nora has served on many boards, committees, and advisory councils for the advancement of the wine industry and representation of the Rogue Valley, a place she cherishes. Nora’s love for wine runs deep and is a main contributor of her drive, as she sees herself as “powered by passion.”