Jean Arnold Sessions named interim head of Sonoma County Vintners

Jean Arnold Sessions, former president of Hanzell Vineyards in Sonoma, has been selected as the interim executive director of the Sonoma County Vintners trade group.

Sessions takes over from Carolyn Stark, who resigned earlier this month for personal reasons after a year on the job. The nonprofit trade group represents 170 members and is a leading voice in the local industry.

Sessions served as president of Hanzell Vineyards in Sonoma from 2002 to 2013. She is founder of the Jean Arnold Group, a wine industry consulting firm, and creator of Women in the Business of Wine, a web-based mentoring resource for women in the wine industry.

She served on the board of directors for the Sonoma County Vintners from 2003 to 2009. She takes the helm on Feb. 22.

“Jean was definitely on our short list,” said Caroline Shaw, executive vice president at Jackson Family Wines and president of the Sonoma County Vintner’s board of directors. Russell Joy, a board member and president at Patz and Hall Wine Co. in Sonoma, first put forth Sessions’ name.

“We started to float her name, first with the executive committee and then with the full board and to a ‘T’ (there was) unanimity in terms of the yeses,” Shaw said.

Corey Beck, president at Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Geyserville, wrote in a group email that Sessions worked with his grandfather in the 1980s and “have loved her ever since.” Dan Goldfield, partner at Dutton-Goldfield Winery in Sebastopol, chimed in: “Do it - home run.”

The board will continue to search for a full-time replacement and Sessions said she would like to be considered for that position.

“I think we need to see how the fit is,” Sessions said. “There are a lot of people out there and this (decision) was fast. I want to prove myself.”

Sessions will help lead the group as it holds its second annual barrel auction on April 29 as well as the Wine County Weekend events from Sept. 2 to 4, which it hosts with the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Foundation.

Sessions said she plans to do a lot of outreach, especially with vintners in the various regions around the county. One challenge in the position is that it represents 17 varied American Viticultural Areas, some that have strong trade groups, such as Dry Creek Valley, and others that are new without many resources, such as the Fountaingrove District. Sessions noted that she has either lived or worked in about five wine appellations in the county.

“I work in a really collaborative fashion,” she said. “I am transparent and I really believe in a lot of communication.”

Sessions will appear in front the membership on Wednesday at the Vintners Inn during the group’s annual meeting.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.