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22 WINES&VINES June 2015 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS CALIFORNIA New president at Boswell Rom Toulon, former wine director at The Restaurant at Meadowood and most recently managing part- ner at the wine store 24 Hubert in New York City, is the new president of Chateau Boswell. Toulon, a na- tive of France, started in the trade as a sommelier at a restaurant in the Loire Valley. New leadership at Crimson Wine Crimson Wine Group of Napa ap- pointed Nathan Stern to the post of vice president of direct-to-consumer (DtC) sales and Shannon McLaren as chief financial officer. Stern will oversee DtC sales for the com- pany's luxury wine portfolio, which includes wineries in Napa Valley and Healdsburg, Calif., the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere. Stern comes to Crimson from BevMo!, where he was most recently em- ployed as the head of customer relationship management. McLaren joins Crimson after working at Wente Family Estates in Livermore, where she spent four years as the senior corporate controller. Promotions at Vintage Wine Estates Lesley Larson was promoted to the post of vice president for marketing of Vintage Wine Estates. Larson joined Santa Rosa-based Vintage in May 2014 as the director of mar- keting, and her promotion is one of several at the company, which owns a portfolio of wineries in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino coun- ties and other regions in California. Marty Peterson was promoted from winemaker at Viansa Winery in So- noma to winemaker at Cosentino Winery in Napa Valley. Amy Ludo- vissy was promoted from enologist and assistant winemaker at Girard Winery in Napa Valley to the wine- maker post at Viansa. Ludovissy joined Girard in 2011. Stephanie Peachey, who has been with Vin- tage since 2012, is the new senior director of marketing for direct-to- consumer sales, and Claire Walsh was promoted from the post of wine club manager to director of wine clubs and customer service. Vintage also appointed Debra Eagle as senior director of busi- ness development. Most recently, Eagle was general manager for Hestan Vineyards in Napa Valley. Rinaldi new winemaker at Pellet Estate Tom Rinaldi is the new head wine- maker at Pellet Estate in St. Helena and will oversee all aspects of winemaking at the winery, which produces Cabernet Sauvignon from the historic Pellet Vineyard and Chardonnay from the Sun- chase Vineyard in the proposed Petaluma Gap AVA. Pellet Estate is owned by Krill Family Vineyards. Rinaldi started in winemaking at Freemark Abbey and then became the founding winemaker at Duck- horn Vineyards in 1978. He later would help launch Provenance Vineyards and Hewitt Vineyard. Joseph Phelps dies at 87 Joseph Phelps, who founded Jo- seph Phelps Vineyards in Napa Val- ley, died April 15 in St. Helena, Calif. Phelps, who was fascinated with wine from an early age, established an office of his family's construction business in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1966 and was soon involved in winery construction projects in Napa and Sonoma counties. In 1973 he began work on the winery at Joseph Phelps Vineyards and worked with winemaker Walter Schug to plant the estate vineyard. In 1978 his proprietary Bordeaux- style blend Insignia was released to resounding acclaim; the wine has been produced in each year since. Phelps names new VP, director of operations Joseph Phelps Vineyards of St. Helena appointed Sam Burton to the position of vice president and director of operations. Burton Regional News Rom Toulon N apa, Calif.—A day of im- mersion in wine packag- ing is scheduled for Aug. 19 at the former Copia building in Napa. The Wines & Vines Packaging Conference will include inspiration, education and practical solutions for winery per- sonnel dealing with packaging. Conference sessions, breakfast, lunch, a targeted trade show and wine reception are all included in the $199 registration fee. Featured speakers will include Joe Wagner of the Wagner Family of Wine, famous for Caymus Vine- yards and other brands that have used innovative packaging to be- come top-sellers in the market- place, and Andrew Haney of The Nielsen Co., who will present re- sults of an exclusive study done specifically for the conference on the retail shelf appeal of wines. Other major topics are "Status of Quality Control in Natural Cork," "(Almost) Unbelievable Glass and Label Innovations" and an interactive hour entitled "Speed Dating with Designers," during which registrants may have one- on-one consultations with wine packaging designers. Two technical tastings are of- fered to registrants. One will in- clude a presentation by assistant professor Hend Letaief from Cali- fornia State University, Fresno, on "Variation in Total Package Oxygen During Bottling," and the other will focus on comparative tastings of wines in alternative packaging like kegs and cartons, as well as various closure types. The inaugural packaging con- ference drew nearly 350 attend- ees. For more information and to register, visit wvpack.com. Examine Wine Packaging from Every Angle