Members

The following are profiles of those who have paid the annual membership fee and submitted their profile information to the Club Secretary.

Member	Position	Company	Profile
Riccardo Accurso	Co-owner	Amazing Mendoza Tours www.amazingmendoza.com	Riccardo was born in New York City, but was taken to San Francisco, California at the age of three. Perhaps due to that early experience, he has exhibited a pronounced tendency to keep on traveling and living in places such as Mexico (many repeated visits over many years), England (Fulham, London, for a year), Spain (Madrid, 2 years, Malaga 1 year), Greece (Skopelos Island for a year), India (nine months in an ashram). As a result of this accumulated travel experience, Riccardo feels that he has much to share with others in terms of cultural understanding. This is what he hopes to impart to the tour groups he brings to Mendoza: travel is sharing cultures.
Paolo Addis	Co-owner	Addis-Cassinelli Vineyards	In November 2005, Paolo and Elisabetta Barberis Cassinelli purchased an 18 hectare vineyard in San Carlos. They are now in the process of developing and managing the property as well as preparing to make wine with their own grapes that will be harvested in March, 2006.
Karma Apo Tsang	Owner	Karma Restaurant	Karma was born in Sikkim, India to Tibetan parents who had escaped to India with 150,000 Tibetans led by the Dalai Lama. At 24 years of age, Karma moved to England, where he formed a part of the small Tibetan community in London and worked as a volunteer for the Tibet Foundation and Free Tibet Campaign. As a member of the Tibetan Art Community he traveled to Scotland, Wales, and Chile to perform Tibetan folklore dances. Karma was also a bodyguard for the Dalai Lama when he visited Europe. In 1996, he traveled to Argentina to participate in the movie “Seven Years in Tibet,” which was filmed mainly in Mendoza. The following year, Karma studied traditional dance and instruments at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in India. He then returned to Mendoza for good to launch his catering business. In September of 2005, Karma inaugurated his own restaurant in Chacras de Coria, Mendoza called “Karma.” The dishes at Karma are based on traditional Indian and Tibetan cuisine, with special ingredients and combinations of unique oriental flavors.
Emil de Balthazar	Co-owner	Alambic International S.A. www.PrimoVodka.com www.AlambicInternational.com	Emil is a Canadian-Hungarian national. With his partner Lindsay Davidson, he is building and renovating an old bodega in Maipu for a distillery operation of vodka and various fruit brandies. He has been living for the last two months in Chacras de Coria and will be residing there permanently.
Myriam Bardinet	Vice President	Pro Europe Foundation	Myriam is French, 29 years old, and arrived in Mendoza a year and a half ago. Being an international lawyer and also specialist in political science, she created Fundación Pro-Europa. The objective of the Foundation is to strenghen social, political and commercial links between private companies and/or public authorities from Argentina and EU countries.
Arnold Bock	Retired	Government of Ontario Canada	Although retired from his former career with the Government of Ontario Canada, Arnold remains an active investor and promoter of Argentina to many of his foreign friends. He is always alert to opportunities for Argentina to benefit from what it has to offer outsiders. Arnold is also alert to anything in the outside media which purports to explain Argentina to their foreign audience.
Richard Bonvin	Winemaker	Mendoza Vineyards www.mendozavineyards.com	From 1989 to 1994 Richard attended winemaking school between Chateauneuf and Changins in Switzerland, with training in the vineyards and the winery at “Les Celliers De Champsec” in Valais. From 1995 to 1999 he was in charge of “Cave Du Chavalard” in Switzerland. In 2000, Richard managed the harvest at “La Bodega Miolo” Porto Alegre, Brazil. From 2001 to 2004 he was in charge of “Cilmor Winery” for African Terroir in Worcester, South Africa. Since October, 2004, Richard has been in charge of Mendoza Vineyards, which is a wine company based on exportation around the world. He is busy with a new project for Argentina – in 2004 Mendoza Vineyards was the second biggest exporter of Argentinean bottled wine in the UK. The main company is based in South Africa.
Arjan Bouthoorn	Wine exporter		Arjan Bouthoorn is 31 and from The Netherlands. He worked for 4 years as an account manager of which 3 of them for the dutch market leader in mobile telephony, KPN Mobile. After that, he fulfilled his wish to travel around the world. During this travel he found his love here in Argentina and since march 2005, they live in Mendoza. At the moment, he's preparing a start for his own wine-export business.
Christian Brenn	Owner	Swiss Miniature	Chirstian is the owner of Swiss Miniature, a Swiss Chalet Restaurant in the "Colonia Suiza", near Cacheuta. He has lived in Mendoza for over ten years.
David Burt	Owner/General Manager	Servicios y Recursos Geofísicos	David has been living in Mendoza for 5 years now and working throughout North and South America in the mineral exploration industry. Two years ago after leaving a major mining company he started a small business based in Mendoza to provide geophysical and logistics services to the mining industry in Argentina and Chile. He also manages the Chilean affiliate of an Australian geophysical services company and provides geophysical consulting services to number of companies throughout South America.
Elisabetta Barberis Cassinelli	Co-owner	Addis-Cassinelli Vineyards	In November 2005, Paolo and Elisabetta Barberis Cassinelli purchased an 18 hectare vineyard in San Carlos. They are now in the process of developing and managing the property as well as preparing to make wine with their own grapes that will be harvested in March.
Judith Clinton	Sales Executive	Diageo	Judith is a sales and marketing executive with almost ten years experience with Diageo in Ireland. She holds a degree in European Business Studies and German and spent two years working in Germany and six months working in San Francisco. She also holds the WSET.
Jerome Constant	Owner & Manager	CJC S.A./Anna Bistro	In association with his brother Cyril Constant, Jerome has elected Mendoza to start his life as an entrepreneur. He has opened an innovative concept of Bar-Restaurant in the heart of Mendoza called Anna Bistro (161 Juan B. Justo) and he works also on mushroom exportation to the EU (morilla esculenta y conica). A Finance Major, Jerome worked first as an auditor for 4 years in Paris and then was in charge of the direction of two Canadian subsidiaries of a French advertising group.
Duffy Crane	Chief Operating Officer	The Vines of Mendoza	Ms Crane has been the Vice President of Operations of The Vines of Mendoza since April 2006. In 1991 Ms Crane received her Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from the University of Texas at Austin and in 1996 she received her Doctorate of Jurisprudence.
John Ecklund	Co-owner	Postales del Plata www.fincaogawa.com	John came to Argentina in 1988, bumming around fly fishing and drinking wine, and is still here. He co-founded Postales del Plata S.A. in 2003 and co-founded Southern Cross Land S.A. in 2005. Having sold out of both of these businesses John spends his time working his own finca with life partner Martha Mafferra and growing grapes on Finca Ogawa.
Carl Emberson	General Manager (now of the Hyatt in Sao Paolo)	Park Hyatt Mendoza www.mendoza.park.hyatt.com	Carl is a graduate of the Swiss Hotel Assoc Management School “Les Roches” in Crans Montana Switzerland - the General Manager of the Park Hyatt Mendoza has been working in the Hospitality industry in South America since 1985, covering Punta del Este in Uruguay, Valle de Las Lenas Resort in Mendoza, Restaurants and Catering in Buenos Aires, and with Hyatt international in Acapulco, Mexico; Sao Paulo, Brazil and now back in Mendoza. Carl is married with 2 children and is a keen Rugby fan and an avid Golfer.
Sabine Emberson	Consultant (now in Sao Paolo)	Independent	Sabine is a graduate of the Swiss Hotel Assoc Management School “Les Roches” in Crans Montana Switzerland – in conjuntciotn with her husband Carl Emberson, she has been working in the Hospitality industry in South America since 1985, covering Punta del Este in Uruguay, Valle de Las Lenas Resort in Mendoza, and Restaurants and Catering in Buenos Aires. Over the last few years, Sabine has mixed between leading Charity entities in Mexico and Brazil as well as representing different Resorts from around the continent.
David English	President	English & Associates www.english-associates.com	David has been doing business in Argentina since 1998 and living in Mendoza since 2003. He is President of English & Associates, a consulting firm whose mission is to help clients find the ideal property in Mendoza to meet their investment, retirement or vacation needs and then oversee development and management. David holds an Executive MBA from Austral University’s Instituto de Altos Estudios Empresariales (IAE) in Buenos Aires.
Carolyn Gallagher	Owner	Uncorking Argentina www.uncorkingargentina.com	Carolyn is the founder of Uncorking Argentina, “The insider's excursion to wine, food and adventure in Argentina." She is a wine educator, language teacher, adventurer and tango dancer who divides her time between homes in Mendoza, Argentina and Sacramento, California. A native of California, she was trained in Geography and Linguistics at the University of California Santa Barbara. Carolyn passionately shares the riches of Argentine wine country through her unique trips, presentations, classes and products.
Vlad Gasic	Owner	Apex Realty Argentina, LLC	Vladimir is an Ivy League graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Economics and Spanish Literature. He has over 25 years of small business process development experience in real estate, information technology and consulting.
Matthieu Grassin	Winemaker	Independent	Matthieu Grassin is an independent consultant in Viticulture and Oenology in the Mendoza area. He has more than ten clients: Wineries (Valentine Bianchi), Vineyards (CARINAE SA) and export enterprises. He has lived in Mendoza for 6 years.
Stéphane Gouffé	Owner	Jour et Nuit www.chefgouffe.com	Stéphane is a Chef who came to Mendoza in 2004 with a concept to combine private catering for a maximum of 25 persons with high-end food and wines. He is married to a Mendocina and has two children.
David Handel	Director (now in Bolivia)	Orquesta Sinfónica UNCuyo www.orquesta.uncu.edu.ar	David Handel is Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Bolivia and since early 2005 also of the Orquesta Sinfónica UNCuyo, Mendoza, Mendoza's principal orchestral organization. First noticed by Kurt Masur, famed conductor of the New York Philharmonic and Leipzig Gewanhaus, David has led orchestras throughout the world, including programs for international radio and television broadcast. In 1993, David was one of a few young conductors selected to conduct the New York Philharmonic in a preview of young conductors at Carnegie Hall. David has performed widely in the United States, Europe, Asia and in Latin America. Twice a fellow of the prestigious Fulbright Program, David Handel is a laureate of the Chicago Artists International Program and has received numerous awards including two Rackham awards, the Marguerite Lapp Scholarship for Exceptional Musical Talent, two Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Illinois Arts Council awards and a fellowship from the Leipzig Gewandhaus. He has represented the United States in Latin America and Central Asia as a recipient of United States Information Agency awards and as a Cultural Ambassador through the United States State Department Cultural Specialist Program. Most recently, David was featured in an NPR (National Public Radio USA) profile and will soon be featured in a New York Times human interest feature.
Dan Hathaway	Owner	Andino Property www.andinoproperty.com	Dan is 37, married with 2 children (aged 4 yrs and 8 months) and has lived in San Rafael for almost 2 years, with his Argentine wife. He enjoys traveling, jazz, piano, sailing and living in Argentina. He has a farm near Monte Coman but lives in the centre of San Rafael.
Kelly Hays	Independent	Independent	Kelly has lived in Argentina for the past 10 years and was a key person involved in the construction of the Park Hyatt Mendoza. She is married to an Argentine.
Ellen Hoffman	Owner	Amazing Mendoza Tours www.amazingmendoza.com	Ellen Hoffman and her partner Riccardo Accurso live part-time in Shepherdstown, West Virginia near Washington, D.C. and part-time in Mendoza. They are the owners of Amazing Mendoza Tours which operates luxury escorted tours in the region. Ellen is a free-lance journalist specializing in writing about personal finance and retirement issues. She is the author of two books on retirement and serves as the online retirement columnist for Business Week magazine in the US, and is a frequent contributor to the magazine. A former resident of Spain, she has traveled extensively throughout the world, has written two travel books and still does travel writing occasionally.
Filippo Invernizzi	Vice President	Avalon Outdoor www.avalons.net	Filippo Invernizzi is co-founder of Avalon Outdoor, Fishing and Diving Center. His beautiful fly-fishing operations are located in Jardines de la Reina, Isla de la Juventud and Cayo Paredon, all in Cuba, and he has just recently arrived in Mendoza. Here he will continue to develop the marketing and communications aspects of his company, along with new and exciting endeavors in the near future.
Duncan Killiner	Consultant	Cellar World www.cellarworld.com.ar	Duncan is a ‘Kiwi’ winemaker who specialises in red wines. After working in boutique wineries at home, Duncan spent the next 8 years chasing the Autumn as a flying winemaker. He has worked more than 50 harvests including most wine producing countries. Currently Duncan is General Manager of Cellarworld Argentina; a company specialising in wine production and exports for South America and owner of DK wines a Uruguayan based consulting company. He has lived in Mendoza with his family for 2 years.
David Kingsbury	CEO/Partner	Gransud S.A.; Kingsbury, Grubb & Assoc. www.gransud.com	David Kingsbury is an Australian trained winemaker, and has been ex-patriated 13 years - Eight in Bordeaux, France in consulting and winemaking projects worldwide, and the last five in Mendoza. He is currently CEO of Gransud S.A. a company importing oenological supplies, and is a Partner in Kingsbury, Grubb & Assoc. a consulting group specialising in the South American wine industry.
Jason Mabbett	Winemaker	Gransud S.A. www.gransud.com	Jason Mabbett is a winemaker at Bodega Escorihuela. Previously he has worked in Australia, California and New Zealand in similar positions. He has lived in Mendoza for one and a half years and is married to a Mendocina. His future plans include the importation of viticultural products and developing his own range of wines.
Sean Maddox	Founder & Director	WelcomeToMendoza.com www.welcometomendoza.com	Sean was born in Australia and raised in the USA Midwest. He first lived in Buenos Aires in 1982 for a year, and has since then lived and visited in different parts of the country over 17 times, fueling his passion for Argentina. In 2005 he, his Argentine wife and children moved to Mendoza from San Diego, California where he works in conjunction with Pacific Ethinix on projects including relocation, family media, Internet strategy/marketing, and property research/presentation. Sean utilizes his experience in procurement, logistics, import-export, property research, travel industry, office automation/process improvement, and wide array of computer and Internet skills to help provide services to the “learning-Spanish” community in and outside the Mendoza province.
Jeff Mausbach	Public Relations Director	Bodega Catena Zapata www.catenawines.com	Jeff is from the United States and Public Relations Director for Catena Zapata winery.
Martin Mendel	CEO and owner	Mendel Schwartz S.A.	Martin has been in Mendoza for a little over 3 years. He lives with one leg on each side of the Andes mountains, traveling every fortnight to Santiago for a "long weekend" to overlook his business there and spend some time with his family. Martin is divorced and his 4 daughters live in Chile. For over 25 years in Santiago, and 3 years in Mendoza, Martin (Architect) has been in the construction, development and real estate businesses. Among his first projects in Mendoza are housing projects in DALVIAN neighborhood and the MODIGLIANI BUILDING on 41, Alem St. almost corner San Martin Ave. For 2006, he's working on joint ventures with other Chilean investors.
Peter Meuli	Owner	Finca los Amigos www.fincalosamigos.com	Peter’s Finca Los Amigos Mendoza Vineyard Village provides an attractive combination of a small, traditional style village and a very private resort. This exclusive and unique but at the same time quite affordable concept offers investors not only the possibility to become the proprietor of a 9.9 acre vineyard but also to make their own wine. An experienced team of Agronomists and Oenologists, supervised by Peter (who has an from MBA Columbia University), assists clients and takes care of all the necessary jobs and tasks that clients want to delegate.
Deborah Monteith	District Manager	Australian Trade Commission www.austrade.gov.au	Deb has been living in Argentina since 1987 and has been working with Austrade for the past 12. In February this year she opened Austrade's Mendoza office and has the task of identifying opportunities for and assisting Australian exporters of wine and fruit-growing technology, education, tourism - and in any other area that comes along. Prior to joining Austrade, she was Assistant Manager at El Casco Hotel in Bariloche, Argentina.
Thomas and Yvonne Phelan	Owners	La Vida Buena Vineyards www.argentinevineyardsforsale.com	Thomas and Yvonne live in San Rafael and Mendoza. They fell in love with Argentina while visiting Buenos Aires in 2007. The couple went for a three day conference and stayed three months, during which time they visited the Mendoza province. They looked at a zillion vineyards for sale and finally opted to purchase 109 acres of blanco land and develop it into boutique 5 - 10 acre vineyards. They have sold five so far and have ten left to market.
Alexandra Puche	Executive Bilingual Secretary	Bodega Norton www.norton.com	Alexandra was born in Mendoza, Argentina, but grew up in Melbourne, Australia and is an Australian Citizen. She is a former employee of the Passina Products Group in Mendoza (Dutch and Swiss capital) where she was Head of Foreign Trade Department and Bilingual Executive Secretary for 8 years. Alexandra is also a former BUCI Bank Trading (Mendoza) and Westpack Banking Corporation (Melbourne) employee. She is currently employed by Bodega Norton S.A. (Austrian capital) as Bilingual Executive Secretary for Management. Alexandra also does private tutoring and translation/interpretation work.
Philippe Rolet	General Manager	Alta Vista www.altavistawines.com	Since January 2002, Philippe has been managing Alta Vista. The winery, located in Chacras de Coria, focuses in the expression of the Argentinean Terroirs, working with a philosophy of quality and pleasure. He formerly worked in a similar position in the Chilean wine industry. He is married with two children and lives in Chacras de Coria.
Olivier Ruhard	Owner & General Manager	Oenos Wines www.oenoswines.com	Olivier is a French winemaker, who has lived in Mendoza for about 9 years. He gained considerable experience in international winemaking when he was working as a flying winemaker for French company Jacques and François Lurton. He has been working for Catena's winery Escorihuela, and was part of the global winemaking modernization that occurred in Mendoza in the last decade. For the past two years, Olivier has been producing and exporting his own wines, ODYSSEA, mostly in Europe and the United States.
Xavier Saez	Production Manager	Villavicencio www.villavicencio.com	Xavier, 29 years old, was born and grew up in Provence, France. He is a graduate of the national agribusiness engineer school of Paris. After experiences in sugar processing and cosmetics industry (L'Oréal), he is now working for the Danone Group's Beverage Business Unit since 2000 (Evian, Volvic). The Danone Group recently transferred him to Villavicencio as the Production Manager. He has been in Mendoza for 4 months.
Andres Sarmiento	Director of Sales, Latin America	Medafor, Inc. www.medafor.com	Andrés is a professional in International Business who is in charge of the Latin American Marketing and Sales activities for a US company in the surgical area. He has worked in this company since its initial operations overseas.
Alessandro Speri	Owner	Speri Vineyards www.speri.com.ar	Alessandro’s hometown is Pedemonte di Valpolicella (Verona/Veneto) in Northeast Italy. Valpolicella is known worldwide for its Amarone (a very particular red wine – made from grapes with botrytis cinerea). His family has owned a winery in Valpolicella since 1876, the Speri Viticoltori. Now Alessandro’s brother is working there. He left Milan in August 2002, where he earned a law degree and was working as strategy marketing manager. Alessandro decided to live in Mendoza, applying the same style of Italian wine making (high-quality standards). In Mendoza, he met Maria Eugenia, who is now his wife. Their boutique Malbec winery project lies in a small town in the south, La Consulta (Valle de Uco).
Nigel Stoddart	South American Director	Thomson Grass Valley	Nigel is a television broadcast engineer and the South American Sales Manager for Thomson Grass Valley, a major equipment manufacturer. He has lived in Argentina in two different opportunities, from 1978-83 in BsAs, and since 1990, Mendoza. Has also lived and worked in the Sultanate of Oman, USA, Mexico, Korea and Hong Kong. Nigel is married to Mirta, the owner/director of the New England English Institute in Mendoza, and they have four children, all currently university students.
Philippe Subra	President	Carinae Winery www.carinaevinos.com	Philippe was born in Bordeaux. He came to Mendoza in 1998 to be General Manager of Distrocuyo SA, the electric transmission company of Cuyo. As an electrical engineer, his career with Electricité de France required him to move to Mendoza to manage Distrocuyo SA. After more than 4 years, he decided with his wife Brigitte to stay in Mendoza and begin their new project of making wine in their boutique winery, with their own production of grapes from Perdriel and Cruz de Piedra.
Charlie O'Malley	Founder & Editor	The Wine Republic Magazine www.wine-republic.com Trout & Wine Tours www.troutandwine.com	Charlie arrived in Mendoza in January 2006 after a mammoth three year journey around South America. He is Founder and Editor of The Wine Republic, Mendoza's only English-language magazine, and Owner of Trout & Wine, a company specializing in wine tourism.
Carlos Troconis	Co-founder	Via Gourmet www.viagourmet.com	Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Carlos arrived in Argentina three years ago, when he was twenty years old. He is majoring in Business Administration at Juan Agustin Maza University in Mendoza. When living in Venezuela, he worked in TOYOTA, and he also started his own business, a gastronomy guide website for Caracas. His new project “Via Gourmet”, is an international trading company whose purpose is exporting fine products such as premium wine and olive oil, amongst others.
Stephen Vletas	Co-founder	Postales del Plata www.postalesdelplata.com	After years of guiding fly anglers, Stephen co-founded Westbank Anglers in 1986, and then began exploring the world in search of the finest fly-fishing destinations for Westbank’s travel clientele; everywhere from the Bahamas, to Alaska, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Costa Rica, the Seychelles, and points in-between. Along the way the Bahamas became a second home (Jackson Hole the first), which led him to become the author of The Bahamas Fly-Fishing Guide (Lyons 1999, 2002, 2005). He has also written a novel and many magazine articles for national publications on subjects ranging from fly-fishing in saltwater to gourmet wine tours in South America. After selling Westbank in 2002, Stephen had even more time to spend hopping from island to island, and to rediscover and renew his passion for Argentina. Thanks to John Ecklund, Mendoza is now his “third” home. When not working with Postales del Plata guests and clients, Stephen can be found laying down first tracks on Rendezvous Mountain or in Las Lenas, casting a fly to bonefish in the Bahamas, or sipping a nice Malbec in Valle de Uco.