Owners/Editors
The Preiser Key Travel Guides

STEPHEN EXEL is a freelance food editor, writer, and recipe developer. He is contributing food editor for Traditional Home and a former food editor for Better Homes & Gardens magazine. His work has also appeared in Country Home, Figure and Deck, Patio, & Pool magazines; and he has done recipe development for, among others, Quaker Oats and Heineken. A native Chicagoan, his culinary career spans almost 30 years and includes food editorial, restaurants, and public relations and marketing for chefs, restaurants, food commodity boards, and branded food clients including Wilton, Stolichnaya, and M&M/Mars.

Pierce Carson,
Wine/Food Writer,
The Napa Register.

The Napa Valley's favorite Welshman, Graham Jones -- or "Jonesy" is a veteran of two previous Carneros Heritage Fest chef competitions. Born and raised in Carmarthan Wales, he trained under Franco Taruschio at the Walnut Tree Inn in Wales (1987's UK Restaurant of the Year) and went on to work on three continents for Relais & Chateau properties. Jonesy makes culinary magic happen at Regusci Winery..  He is a Number One Fan of American Lamb!

Melissa Teaff - One of the Napa Valley's top caterers for the past 30 years, Melissa Teaff Catering has just been awarded "Best of Napa & Sonoma 2009" for 10 years running. Using a state-of-the art gourmet kitchen in Napa, Melissa has long been in the forefront of matching the best of her culinary talents with a passion for great food, hospitality and creating the "wow" experience to create noticeable splendor above and beyond the natural beauty of Northern California. Find out more information about Melissa at www.mtcatering.com.

Brian Streeter, Resident Chef of Cakebread Cellars, started cooking at the age of 14 in his hometown of Allentown, Pa. A graduate of the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, VT., Brian draws on the cuisines of the Mediterranean where food has historically been linked with wine. He is the co-author of the Cakebread Cellars Cookbook and the winery's host of the American Harvest Workshop for chefs to increase their appreciation of the linkage between American viticulture and artisan food.

Joanne Weir is a James Beard Award-winning cookbook author, cooking teacher, chef and host of the popular television cooking series "Joanne Weir's Cooking Class” on PBS. She has written 20 cookbooks, including the companion cookbook to her “Cooking Class” series, Wine Country Cooking, and a connoisseur’s handbook on Tequila: A Guide to Types, Flights, Cocktails and Bites. A fourth-generation professional cook, Joanne spent five years cooking with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley after receiving her Master Chef Diploma. Her ultimate calling has been teaching, and she travels and teaches cooking classes throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, South America, England, France, Italy, and Spain. Joanne lives in San Francisco. Find out more information about Joanne at www.joanneweir.com.