The Chalone Wine Foundation and Sonoma State University's Wine Business Program have selected Reed Foster of Ravenswood Winery and David Stare of Dry Creek Vineyard as the first "Entrepreneur-in-Residence" instructors.
Both have long, successful careers in the wine industry, founding wineries and serving as community leaders along the way.
Foster and Stare will teach a course entitled, "Wine Entrepreneurship," which will instruct students on how to write a business plan for a wine-related business. They will also help students develop case studies and mentor local wine start-ups.
David Hehman, Director of Sonoma State University's Wine Business Program, says "We are excited to have two well-known industry veterans kicking-off our new program, which will enrich the student experience and help our faculty build stronger industry relationships."
Foster co-founded Ravenswood Winery, a nationally acclaimed Zinfandel producer, with Joel Peterson in 1976. He also co-founded the San Francisco Vintner's Club, serving as its president for six years and for another fifteen was an officer of the Draper & Esquin wine retail shop.
Foster holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Williams College and an M.B.A. from Harvard. He is currently a trustee and officer of the Woods Edge School in Oakland, CA.
Stare established Dry Creek Vineyard in 1972 after enrolling as a graduate student in enology and viticulture at the University of California at Davis. As a wine industry community leader, he has served as President of the Society of Blancs, the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley and the Sonoma County Wineries Association. Stare holds a degree in Civil Engineering from M.I.T. and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University.
Chalone Wine Foundation, an organization that awards scholarships to students studying the art or science of wine or food and provides financial grants to wine-related nonprofit groups, is underwriting the Entrepreneur-in-Residence program.
Sonoma State's Wine Business Program is the first university curriculum to focus exclusively on the business dynamic within the wine industry.
For more information, please visit www.chalonewinefoundation.org and www.sonoma.edu/programs/winebiz
