Mary Baker

Dan Panico and I have over fifteen years of experience in winemaking, winery hospitality, and winery management. We were once gainfully employed by larger wineries and enjoyed paid vacations, 401K plans, and free travel to national wine festivals.

Having thrown all that over for artisanal winemaking, and limited production, vineyard designate wines, we can now proudly state that we are a microwinery . . . with a microbudget.

In addition to my winery and marketing duties, I occasionally help Dan on the crush pad and in the vineyard. When I'm not dressed in farmer fatigues and rubber boots, I enjoy lecturing on wine appreciation and food-and-wine pairing.

I recently finished my term as a director of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, where I was instrumental in changing the name to our current friendly moniker, creating a $1 million marketing budget, hiring a new executive director, and revamping the association's accounting system, phone network, and staff flow. Unfortunately, we also tripled everyone's dues.

In my spare time, I am working on my second cookbook, a collection of essays, a novel, and a pilot for a cable television cooking show.