Lindsay Hoopes is the CEO and Majority Owner of Hoopes Vineyard. Her father Spencer Hoopes founded Hoopes Vineyard in Oakville in 1983 and later founded Hoopes Vineyard in Yountville in 1999. Lindsay continues the operation with her two sons. Today she has re-created the winery to be an “oasis” which includes an animal sanctuary and extensive gardens as well as a picturesque winery location. A trained litigator, she was an Assistant District Attorney in San Francisco and today teaches law at UC Law in San Francisco while also running the winery.

Stuart Smith founded Smith-Madrone at the top of the Spring Mountain District growing region in the Napa Valley in 1971. The winery is recognized for its estate-grown Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and proprietary Bordeaux blend, Cook’s Flat Reserve. Smith has taught viticulture and enology at local colleges and served on the County’s 1998 Napa River Watershed Taskforce and was a member of the 2008 General Plan update. He also has chaired the 1986 Napa Valley Wine Auction and was a member of the Board of Directors for the Napa County Farm Bureau in 2000. Stuart is considered an expert on dry farming as well as mountain viticulture. Smith-Madrone produces only 4,000 cases a year.

Heather Brakesman-Griffin is a partner of Summit Lake Vineyard, founded by her father Robert Brakesman in 1971, and general manager of Summit Lake Vineyards & Winery LLC, founded in 1984 on the mountain growing region of Howell Mountain in the Napa Valley. The winery is recognized for its estate-grown Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon, and is the longest family owned and operated vineyards and winery on Howell Mountain, producing only 2,500 cases a year.