Meet the Judges

Gerald Weisl

Gerald Weisl is a young whippersnapper in the wine industry despite having 5+ decades of experience. His family owned a small, neighborhood liquor store in Burlingame, California that he transformed into a major retail wine "destination." His passport is stamped with numerous wine countries as he routinely embarks on industrial espionage "missions" in an effort to acquire more wine knowledge. He's a longtime wine industry pundit and has been a judge for more than 15 years at the prestigious San Francisco International Wine Competition judging. Weisl began tasting wine when the Napa Valley had perhaps slightly more than a dozen wineries. 

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Dr. Valery Uhl

Dr. Uhl is the Chief Judge and director of the “North of the Gate” Wine Competition for the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, California.  She judges a variety of national and international wine competitions. She holds a degree in Viticulture Management, and graduated Cum Laude from UC Davis where she was a taster for UC Davis' Enology and Food Science Departments.  Her family owns Gold medal awarded Pinot Noir vineyards in the Russian River Valley AVA. She has written papers and given lectures across the country on the health benefits of wine and also educates various Bay Area clubs on wine and food pairings.

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Ken Molinaro

Ken Molinaro has spent many years living internationally and is currently enjoying retirement from a career in the Hotel Industry.  Ken is from the same Italian upbringing and appreciation for high quality ingredients, he considers himself to be a true gourmand and excellent cook. For over twenty-five years Ken has been involved in the California wine business tasting some of the finest wines in the world, developing one of the finest palates at Copper Hill.

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Tim McDonald

Based in Napa Valley, Tim McDonald founded a full service marketing communications consulting company in 2006.  As a 25 year wine industry veteran, Tim held positions with, E & J Gallo as marketing Director Fine Wine Communications,  Peak Wines as V.P. of Marketing & Communications, Director of Trade Relations with Trinchero Family Estates, Heublein Wines as Director of Trade & Public Relations and sales assignments with Seagram and Heublein.  Tim has experience with all types of Media, National Accounts, Wholesale Distributors, Restaurant, and Retail segments.  Tim has served as Wine Judge at over 100 Wine Competitions her in North America and spoken frequently on assembled panels at many wine industry events.

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