A native of Sonoma, and Captain Steve’s daughter, Lesley grew up in the wine country. In college she was a four time All American in professional basketball, competing in Germany, New Zealand, and Portugal. Lesley joined the family business after a career in the food service industry with wine country establishments. Being very familiar with local wineries she would recommend wines to clients to enjoy with their meals.
After a 20 year career in law enforcement, Lance changed directions and has been in wine tours for over 23 years. Having lived in the area for many years he was familiar with the wineries in the valleys. He is also a member of the Napa Valley Tour Guide Guild, a group of knowledgeable wine specialists that are “step-on” bus guides hired for corporate events and by large tour companies. After all these years he still loves what he is doing.
Dan had a 50 year career with General Motors in Detroit and owned a Chevrolet dealership for 19 of those years. Dan was always a “wine guy” drinking wine among the many Detroit beer drinkers. He moved to Sonoma after retirement in 2006. Dan has known Steve and Jean for 18 years and started hosting wine tours for them. He credits Steve and Jean for teaching him about the industry, the wine making process and the wineries.
David had a 35 year career in the capital medical equipment industry, “capital” meaning equipment starting at $100,000 or more, and retired as Vice President of a global capital equipment company. Throughout his career he learned about wines while entertaining doctors, as they would order the wines with dinners. Through his studies, David’s personal home wine cellar peaked at 750 bottles. With his knowledge of wine, David began hosting wine tours for several predominant wine tour companies in the Valley. He now has over 11 years creating and hosting private wine tours.
Tommy is Jean’s son and he had a career in the military and as a police officer in Portland, Oregon. In 2017 he moved back to Sonoma to help his parents with the wine tour business. He is currently in training working for his Sommelier level 2 certification. He interned at Cakebread Cellars and A Rafanelli Winery for several years. Tommy also works for Jam Cellars and hosts wine tours.
Mike is a native of San Francisco with family roots in New Orleans. He had a career in information technology and when his “tech job” moved to India in 2009, he decided to forsake Mumbai and remain in Napa. Looking for a more stress free career Mike turned to the wine tour industry in 2010, and began working for several top wine tour companies, creating itineraries for clients and hosting wine tours in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. He has developed a personal relationship with many of the winery owners and winemakers.
Tom had a 37 year career in marketing and advertising, owning a full service advertising agency for 20 years. He is also a professional chef and owned a catering company for 25 years. Today Tom has almost 20 years of experience conducting customized wine tours. He has been a judge and panel member judging professional wine competitions. He is an author and instructor teaching classes in proper wine tasting techniques. He has authored the Simplified Wine Tasting Kit, and the Insider’s Guide to Napa Wineries, and is currently working on the Insider’s Guide to Sonoma Wineries, and the second edition of the Napa guide.
Jean is a native of Maine where she got her degree in business management. She went on to owning a boutique store on the main street of her hometown while having a full-time career in accounting and operations. While visiting Sonoma, Jean went on a wine tour hosted by Steve. They hit it off and several months later, Jean moved to Sonoma and became Vice President of Operations for a high-technology company. Eventually, they were married and founded Ultimate Wine Tours together in 2014. Today, when you contact us you will be speaking directly with Jean. She creates the itinerary for you based on your preferences for wines. You will have Jean’s personal cell phone number so you can contact her directly.
Steve’s career in the restaurant industry including being a partner 11 fast food restaurants and Stim’s BBQ and Catering, which he made very successful for 11 years. It came time for a new direction in life and Steve pursued an education in wines, finishing in the top of the class. He then began doing wine tours for local wine tour companies in 2010, where he met and formed personal relationship with the winery owners and winemakers. With his business background it was a natural transition to own a wine tour company and he founded Ultimate Wine Tours in 2014. Steve’s philosophy is to have fun in whatever you are doing, and it has been said that he “has a Ph.D. in fun.”
