John Buechsenstein is a veteran California winemaker and wine educator. He has extensive experience making wine in the Napa Valley and other wine-growing regions of the California coast. He has directed wine study tours to the wine regions of Bordeaux, Champagne, Loire Valley and Rhone Valley in France. Buechsenstein recently served as the COO of Sauvignon Republic Cellars, specializing in Sauvignon Blancs from around the world, and, as a co-founder of California’s Rhone Rangers, has vinified nearly every major vinifera grape into a wide-variety of styles. He has also made award-winning wines at Fife Vineyards and McDowell Valley Vineyards. A world-renowned wine educator for more than 30 years, Buechsenstein is a recipient of the UC Davis Outstanding Teaching Award, and a lecturer on wine sensory evaluation at the UC Davis Division of Continuing and Professional Education. He has also served as a wine instructor at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. Buechsenstein is a past-president of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, a charter member of the Society of Wine Educators, and has served as a professional wine judge at wine competitions in the United States and abroad. He co-authored the Standardized System of Wine Aroma Terminology, known as the Wine Aroma Wheel, and has written for the Sommelier Journal.