People love lists; they can be a great source of education and discussion. But making a list such as this is not an easy process. Who are the most influential wine people in the U.S., and how exactly do you define ‘influential?’ Does influential mean people who move markets, impact consumers, inspire winemakers, and create debate? In a word, yes. These 100 people, from winemakers to law makers, bankers to bloggers, and sommeliers to celebrities are definitely people who influence wine; how it is made, marketed, perceived, sold, shipped, purchased and shared.
As this is the first annual IntoWine.com list, we hope that it will help educate you about the wonderful world of wine right here in America. To help assemble this list we asked for suggestions from a lot of people, many of whom are named here, though they did not name themselves (well, OK, one guy did). We are grateful for all the help we received in compiling this. And we chose to release it today, January 29th, as it was on this day in 1919 when the lunatic policy of Prohibition was ratified on a national level. So to honor winemakers, wine drinkers and wine lovers of every conceivable demographic, we hope you use this list, comment on it, share it and learn from it, and continue to enjoy being into wine!
100-Bill Knight: of The Wine House in Los Angeles opened his doors 35 years ago and has been a destination for savvy wine buyers ever since. Revenues hit $20 million in 2011 and 45% of their wine sales are California wines. Knight competes against the major U.S. retail chains in his market by focusing on service, and he eschews selling private labels or direct imports. To round out the customer experience they started Upstairs 2, a restaurant on the second floor with small plates and 50 wines by the glass. They continue wine classes, wine and food pairings, and winemakers dinners with tremendous success.
Santa Barbara wine pioneer Richard Sanford is among the inductees into the 2012 Vintners Hall of Fame. Sanford started one of the first modern wineries south of the San Francisco Bay Area in 1982 and for several decades, his Sanford Winery and Vineyards was the lone outpost in the now-sizzling Santa Rita Hills area of Santa Barbara County. He was the first winemaker to prove the potential for Pinot Noir in the Santa Rita Hills and spent the next 20 years making some of the best regarded Pinots from the region including bottlings from arguably his best vineyard, Rinconada. Sanford left his namesake winery in 2005 and founded Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards in Lompoc.
If there is one international name associated with Riesling it is Loosen. Ernst Loosen is the owner of Weingut Dr. Loosen, located in the 
