About Us

Johannes Scheid

Co-Founder

Raised on a family winery in the Mosel Valley of Germany, Johannes developed strong legs on the infamously steep slopes and an even stronger passion for the European style of winemaking. His curiosity led him to study Viticulture and Winemaking at Geisenheim University, Germany’s premier college for the wine industry where winemakers such as Egon Mueller studied and earned their degrees. All the while, he worked in his free time with his family, constantly implementing new techniques and improving the quality of their winery.

His insatiable thirst for knowledge on different regions and winemaking styles brought Johannes to Sonoma, California for the 2009 harvest for Schug Carneros Estate, where he and Jenny first met. He was invited back two years later on a year-visa, on which he held the Enologist/Assistant Winemaker position during the second half. He’s worked in production for different wineries at the Mosel, including Heymann Loewenstein and S.A. Prum, as well as a consulting winemaker there.

Degree

Johannes studied and earned a Bachelor of Science in Viticulture and Enology from Geisenheim University in Geisenheim on the Rhine River.

Contact Info

Johannes@BottleTalks.com

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Jenny Scheid

Co-Founder

Born in the 80s and about a half hour south of Napa and Sonoma Valleys, Jenny’s parents hauled her along on their wine tasting trips throughout her childhood. She saw the incredible development of the valleys that started with free tastings. As Napa and Sonoma’s wine countries developed, so did her palate, curiosity and affinity for wine. It wasn’t until high school, browsing through a list of areas to study, she came across Wine and Viticulture at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Jenny took on Agriculture Business Marketing, accenting it with a minor in Wine and Vit. Throughout college, she picked up serving and wine service gigs, as well as a tasting room position with Talley Vineyards.

Postponing her entry into the ‘real world,’ she worked as a harvest intern at Schug in Sonoma in 2009, where she and Johannes met. The internship came and went quickly, and she was back on the Central Coast by December, as an event coordinator for the World of Pinot Noir, held annually in March. Since then, she’s held positions in tasting room management, sales for an importer/retailer, as well as service for a high end wine bar, and has completed harvests in California, Germany and New Zealand. She holds Level I in the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Degree

Jenny studied at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, California where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Business with a concentration in Marketing and Minor in Wine and Viticulture.

Contact Info

Jenny@BottleTalks.com

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Our Mission

Through harvests in California, Germany and New Zealand and traveling to countries in between, we noticed a need for a platform to connect wine professionals doing the same thing we were:

In a time period of economical, technological and environmental growth, the wine industry is not one to be left out. The wine world is rapidly evolving with technology, practices and relationships.

With new technology in agriculture, water is being conserved and recycled, machines are using less fuel, and new ways to preserve the environment are coming forth every day. All this technology is equally benefiting the integrity of the land, but also committed to preserving and increasing the quality of the wine they’re used to produce.

Ideas and theories practicing holistic viticulture and winemaking, laissez-faire production movements, organic and biodynamic processes are having a revolutionary effect on the way we treat and respect land. Lieu dit labels are gaining respect in leaps and bounds, as they’re focusing on parcels of blocks of vineyards, satisfying endless niches and filling the gaps in styles.

On a personal note, the industry is still disconnected. There are now traveling winemakers, serial-crush wine professionals, hemisphere-hopping to learn about and make wine; winemakers, students and seasoned sommeliers alike are traveling at any given moment to discover new wine regions, visit the vineyards whose wines they’ve had or sold halfway around the world, just to touch the soil in which they grow. The cultures of wine and travel are deeply connected, yet there is no community in which to foster the development of the intercontinental relationships of people whose passions, careers and lifestyles intermingle so easily. There is an unmet need to connect the wine world on a personal level.. For as small as it claims and brags to be, there is a disconnect between wine professionals in transit and stationary. Let’s bring them together, online and in person.

We’ve provided a place for a community of like-lifestyled individuals whose passion brings them together. Bottle Talks is a place to share information, ask and answer questions, find resources and mentors, and most importantly grow one’s knowledge and deepen one’s understanding for people, places, and wine.