Annie’s twenty-five years in the wine business could be aptly described as well-rounded curriculum of the wine business, with extensive studies in sales, distribution, importing and the wines of the Pacific Northwest. Following a stint in the fine dining world, her growing interest in wine led to a sales position with a prominent Oregon winery. That experience and evident acumen for the finer points of the industry set the table for new challenges, including roles in sales and management on the distribution side, followed by a ten-year foray into the import world, with VIAS Imports, a highly regarded purveyor of Italian wines. In 2022, Annie’s journey came full circle, landing anew in Cascadia at L’École Nº 41, one of the Walla Walla Valley’s pioneering wineries and perennially on the short list of Washington’s most respected producers.

Like well-made wine, a richly textured career is neither one-dimensional nor a chance occurrence. Annie cites an ever-deepening fascination with the way in which wine serves as a gravitational center for a widely diverse counterpoint of ideas, elements, genres, disciplines, cultures, and food (!). Not least, or course, is the wine’s special power to bring people together in a spirit of conviviality.

Annie lives at the edge of the Cascade mountains, where she relishes time on the trails with her two black labradors.