6/13-Michael Horn talks with Becky Zelinski & Luis Ribeiro

Becky Zelinski - First Crush Winemaking
First Crush is owned by Becky Zelinski and Lowell Zelinski, Ph.D. The couple also own Precision Ag Consulting -- a vineyard management company in Paso Robles and have been working with Paso Robles vineyards since 2003.

Becky Zelinski is a former journalist, photographer and event planner. She has more than 20 years experience in business administration and marketing. She heads up the marketing and event planning for First Crush and is the assistant winemaker. Becky also helps manage and markets their vineyard management company, and plans educational meetings and events for it. It is her photography from the First Crush 2008 maiden winemaking experience that helped inspire the First Crush concept.

Becky’s wine knowledge is self-taught. She has attended classes on winemaking, viticulture and wine appreciation, and essentially learned “by doing” by working with winemakers and growers in the industry.

Lowell Zelinski is a soil-plant-water relations specialist with nearly 30 years of experience in agriculture production. He consults on and manages vineyards for several Paso Robles growers. He has also worked as a University of California extension agent, taught at four California State University campuses and managed operations for two large agriculture companies. He is the viticulturist for First Crush and helps Becky with the scientific components of the winemaking process.

Luis Ribeiro - Enoforum Wines in Évora, Portugal

ENOFORUM is a commercial company created in the end of 2004 by a group of grape-growers and its wineries from Alentejo Region, a prestigious wine Region in the South of Portugal. The head office of Enoforum it’s located in the charming city of Évora – classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage site – in the heart of Alentejo Region.

With more than a half century of skilled wine production, and after having succeeded in reaching a prominent position in the Portuguese domestic market, this grape-growers decided to create ENOFORUM, a commercial company focus in the international wine markets.

Counting with the know-how and expertise of its shareholders and a sophisticated group of wineries, ENOFORUM therefore possesses the scale, resources and professionalism to fully satisfy international customer needs.

Through its own brands, ENOFORUM exports worldwide the strength of the Wines of Alentejo – Portugal.