Dr. Miguel Pedroza is an Associate Professor of Enology at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where he teaches winemaking, fermentation science, and general education courses on wine and viticulture. His research bridges chemistry, sensory science, and neuroscience, with a focus on how wine aromas develop in grapes, evolve through winemaking, and ultimately shape emotional responses in consumers.

Born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, Miguel holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Enology from the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain, and a B.Sc. in Food Science and Engineering from Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) in Mexico. His academic and professional journey spans multiple countries, with research and enology internships in France (Bordeaux and Jura), Italy (Piacenza), and the U.S. He previously served as Assistant Professor of Enology at Fresno State and was a postdoctoral researcher in cognitive neuroscience at the CNRS in Lyon, France, where he explored the brain’s response to wine through neuroimaging.

Miguel has conducted research on wine aroma chemistry, sequential fermentation with non-Saccharomyces yeasts,  innovative enological techniques, and has led or contributed to research projects funded by the USDA, the Agricultural Research Institute from the CSU, and international institutions. His current work includes studying the composition of Mediterranean varietals of the Central Coast of California and the relationship between aromas and emotional experience in wine.

An active mentor and public speaker, he regularly presents at scientific conferences and industry events. Since 2014, Miguel has also served as a wine judge at prestigious competitions across Europe, Mexico, and the U.S., including the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles and the California State Fair.

Miguel enjoys finding connections between wine, food, places, cultures, and people. In his free time, he loves cooking, playing guitar, hiking, soccer, golf, and spending time with his wife and young son.

Adrienne Ferrara is a faculty member in the Wine and Viticulture Department at Cal Poly, where she teaches wine sales and hospitality. She approaches the wine industry and its complex sales channels like a puzzle, aiming to demystify the various areas of wine sales and supply chain challenges much like the way we analyze microclimates and terroir.

In 2004, Adrienne and her husband, Chris Ferrara, co-founded their family brand, Clesi, which remains dedicated to producing Italian varieties from their ranch in Templeton, California. She also leads the Cal Poly wine internship program and oversees Cal Poly’s commercial wine sales.

Adrienne earned an MBA from Cal Poly’s Orfalea College of Business, concentrating in International Business. Prior to her position in higher education, Adrienne worked in brand management including positions at Wild Horse Winery and Vineyards, Laetitia Vineyard and Winery, Southern Wines & Spirits (now Southern Glazers).

Adrienne, Chris, and their three children love food and road trips to explore snow covered mountains and rivers with white water. In addition to WiVi and CCI, Adrienne loves to help local schools and non-profit fundraisers work with the wineries to support local causes.

A Central Coast native, Jason “JC” Diefenderfer has been on the winemaking team at Hope Family Wines since 1998.

No stranger to agriculture, JC grew up on his family’s ranch in Templeton, just south of Paso Robles. He and Austin Hope attended high school together and forged a friendship that remains today. JC managed farm and ranching operations for King Ranch until 1997 when he began working with the Hope family to design and build their crush facility in Paso Robles. Recalling exactly when and how he was bitten by the wine bug that would take him down a different path in farming, he says “it was the clear approach to winemaking that intrigued me about Treana & Liberty School: their passion and dedication to the vineyard.”

Jason started working officially for the winery in 1998 and apprenticed under then-winemaker Chris Phelps. He became the assistant winemaker for Liberty School in 1999, winemaker in 2006 and ultimately Director of Winemaking in 2012. Today, JC works closely with Austin Hope to craft the blends of all the brands: Liberty School, AUSTIN, Treana, Troublemaker, Quest, and Austin Hope. JC oversees all production operations with focus on winemaking.

He brings the whole package to the table: local agricultural roots; familiarity with the wines and winemaking of the Old World and the New; and over two decades of experience with Hope Family Wines.

Winemaker Casey Di Cesare joined Scheid Family Wines in 2017. His innovative spirit has served him well as lead winemaker for the Sunny with a Chance of Flowers and Metz Road brands, as he explores new techniques for making great wines.

One of the techniques he developed was a proprietary process to craft Sunny’s low-alcohol, zero-sugar, low-calorie wines. The wine quality created through this process helped catapult the brand to a top ‘Better for You’ brand in the market. Sunny has earned multiple 90+ point scores across the seven wines in its line-up, making it the highest rated wine in the category. In 2024, Casey also took the lead as Lean Champion at Scheid Family Wines, developing efficiency-improvement processes and projects across the portfolio.

Casey enrolled in Cornell University and received his Master’s degree in Enology while studying in the Finger Lakes AVA. Upon graduation in 2017, he joined Scheid Family Wines, where he has flourished with the creative opportunities that the broad portfolio offers.

Casey was named a 2021 Wine Industry Leader by Wine Business Monthly and in 2024, Casey was named a Wine Enthusiast Future 40 Tastemaker

Cynthia Lohr is a strategic marketing, communications, and branding professional with over 35 years of experience delivering measurable results that impact people, the planet, and profit for companies in the wine and technology industries and non-profits in the arts, the health and well-being of children and families and regional advocacy groups. As co-owner and Chief Brand Officer of J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, Cynthia collaborates with and oversees the company’s marketing and direct-to-consumer departments and is responsible for operational oversight with her fellow co-owners and executives, brothers Steve and Lawrence, and father, Founder Jerry Lohr.

Embracing a sustainability ethos and with a passion for climate justice, social equity, and servant leadership, Cynthia created the J. Lohr Touching Lives initiative in 2009 to help eradicate breast cancer in partnership with National Breast Cancer Foundation, IncÆ by donating three dollars from every bottle sold of her mother’s namesake wine, Carol’s Vineyard, to benefit early detection services for women in impoverished regions. Cynthia also co-founded the regional Bordeaux wine advocacy group the Paso Robles CAB Collective in 2012 and served as board vice president until 2020 and co-chairs J. Lohr’s DEI Committee. Before rejoining J. Lohr in 2002, Cynthia was VP at Alexander Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, serving B2B and B2C technology clients. She previously launched Yahoo!’s and led the company’s pre-IPO messaging, followed by the launch of Alexa Internet, leading the company through its acquisition by Amazon.com. Cynthia worked in education and business development before her time in technology, notably at PRx Strategic Marketing Communications, St. Mary’s College School of Extended Education, and the Oakland Unified School District.

Cynthia, a frequent speaker and moderator, has been featured at SF Climate Week, MKF Executive Wine Summit, Women of the Vine & Spirits, Unified Symposium, Kohler Food & Wine, and The Wine Institute, among other conferences. Cynthia was named a Wine Business Monthly 2023 Wine Industry Leader, a 2021 Woman of Impact by Silicon Valley Business Journal, and nominated for 2019 Wine Executive of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Cynthia serves as a board director for REACH Central Coast and J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines and in advisory board roles for Women of the Vine & Spirits, UC Davis College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences, Central Coast Insights/WiVi and Net Positive. Cynthia is a graduate of UC Davis, holds a master’s in public administration from the Cornell University Brooks School of Public Policy, is a member of the Pi Alpha Alpha Global Honor Society, and is a Climatebase Fellow.

Born and raised in New Zealand, Fintan (Fin) du Fresne has been making wine in California since 2001.  His Degree in Geology, Postgraduate Degree in Viticulture and Enology and MBA in Wine Business give him a well-rounded academic background.

Originally a viticulturalist, Fin transitioned to winemaking during harvest in 2001 but retains his passion for the viticultural side of the business.

After stints in Martinborough and the Hawkes Bay (NZ), Calera and Adelaida Cellars (California) he was hired as head winemaker at Chamisal Vineyards in 2006. Following the acquisition of Chamisal by the Crimson Wine Group he was promoted to General Manager and Winemaker.

In 2022, Fin transitioned to GM at Phase 2 Cellars, managing 13,000 tons of custom crush.

In 2018, Fin saw a need for winery specific contracting services on the Central Coast and started Winemech.  Since 2018, Winemech has grown to serve over 450 wineries between Temecula and the Santa Cruz Mountains.  Winemech has service contracts with 4 of the largest winery equipment suppliers and numerous smaller suppliers.  To support this rapid growth, Fin moved to managing Winemech full-time in June of 2024.

Fin is a current Vineyard Team Board member and past Board member for the World of Pinot Noir and SLO Coast Wine Collective.  Fin is a strong supporter of the Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture program, assisting with their commercial wine production and scientific programs for a number of years.

Gregory Gonzalez is the Director of Agriculture Operations for Bien Nacido, Solomon Hills and Carlyle Farming Company.

With 15 years of hands-on experience across California’s Central Coast and Central Valley, Gonzalez brings a wealth of viticultural expertise to his new role. Driven by a vision to not only preserve but also elevate Bien Nacido’s iconic reputation, Gonzalez is committed to bringing fresh ideas and a dedication to quality to continue enhancing the vineyard’s storied success for years to come.

Benoît LECAT is currently Head of the Wine and Viticulture Department at California Polytechnic State University in the USA. He was Professor of Marketing in the School of Wine and Spirits Business, ESC Dijon/Burgundy School of Business in Dijon, France but also Visiting Professor in different universities including HEC Genève, HEC Lausanne and UNESCO Department in Inter-cultural and Inter-Religious Exchanges at the University of Bucharest. His research has focused on management of luxury goods, fine wines and spirits with a specific interest on price premium, price determinants, m-commerce, scarcity, terroir and tourism. He was co-organising with Joëlle Brouard the International Conference on Innovation & Trends in Wine Management (ITWM) held in Dijon. He is teaching courses relevant to the wine industry such as Global Wine and Viticulture, European Wine Tour and Wine Business Classes. Recently, with his team, he implemented the new Justin and J. Lohr Center for Wine and Viticulture and fundraised more than 25 million dollars to make the Center operational.