The Wine Institute

Jun 14, 2006 Paul Dolan

SAN FRANCISCO - Paul Dolan, a partner in Mendocino Wine Company in Ukiah, was elected Wine Institute's board chairman yesterday for the 2006-2007 fiscal year at the 72nd Annual Wine Institute Meeting of Members held at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco. Also elected were Jay Indelicato of Delicato Vineyards, headquartered in Napa, first vice chairman; Margaret Duckhorn of Duckhorn Vineyards in St. Helena, second vice chairman; Raymond Chadwick of Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, headquartered in Napa, treasurer; and Tom Klein of Rodney Strong Vineyards in Healdsburg, secretary.

A native of Oakland, California, Dolan earned a master's degree in enology from California State University, Fresno, and a bachelor's degree in business and finance from Santa Clara University before going to work at Fetzer Vineyards. In his 27 years there, he helped oversee the transition from a small, family-owned winery to a global company. He has served on the board of the Business for Social Responsibility, the President Clinton Council on Sustainability, and is a founder of Wine Vision, an industry-wide strategic planning initiative.

Dolan is a fourth-generation winemaker descended from winemakers at the original Italian Swiss Colony and the winemaking Concannon family. Mentioning his grandfather, Edmund Rossi, as an organizer of the Wine Institute and the Wine Advisory Board and chairman of the Wine Advisory Board for several years, Dolan said he was "honored to carry on his family tradition."

As Wine Institute chairman, Dolan wants to continue the organization's leadership in building programs and alliances that reflect and communicate the core values of the industry. "The Sustainable Winegrowing Program grew out of the strong family values of the industry in that it encourages responsible practices in the environment and communities in which we do business. The program's best practices manual is an historic document that sets an example for the agricultural world to emulate," he said.

Dolan said the U.S. Market Development program also "provides our family wineries the opportunity to express their pride in our family values and diverse wine regions that are so much a part of California's unique lifestyle and cuisine."

The Wine Institute is the public policy advocacy group for California wineries and affiliated businesses, which now has a record 928 members accounting for 95 percent of California wine production and 85 percent of U.S. wine production. Based in San Francisco, with offices in Sacramento, Washington, D.C., six regions across the U.S. and 11 foreign countries, the Wine Institute is guided by 80 vintners who are members and alternates of an active board of directors. The board elects the chairman and officers on an annual basis. Robert P. Koch is President and CEO of Wine Institute.