Tony Vlcek, E&J Gallo
Tony, 42, worked for the first nine years of his career in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada. He was part of a team that established the super premium line of wines for the winery that included Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Riesling and Ice Wine. Nine years ago he made the move to California to focus on his passion of making red wines, and four years ago came to Gallo as Director of Valley Winemaking. In this role he oversees all brands that are produced from the region, such as Turning Leaf, Redwood Creek, Barefoot and others.
During his time off, Tony likes to play ice hockey and spend time in the great outdoors mountain biking, skiing and walking in the vineyards.
- Grew up in Vancouver B.C.
- B.Sc. of Ag in Food Science UBC
- Worked at Andres/Peller Estates in Vancouver/Okanagan for 9 years.
- Attended many Winemaking and Viticulture courses at Davis University in CA.
- In that time was responsible for developing the ultra premium VQA line of wines.
- After 9 years wanted to really focus on reds and the best place in North America for this is California. Many different regions can make stylistically different wines that have big concentration.
- Moved to Delicato Vyds and ran the red wine program. We won best Syrah of CA 3 years in a row, won best value (wine under$15) from around the world with our 2002 Delicato Shiraz in Wine Enthusiast, awarded best US Wine Producer at the London Int'l Wine and Spirits Competition.
- After 5 years moved to Gallo as Director of Winemaking - Central Valley
- Looking forward to the challenge of making wines that over deliver at every price category we compete in.
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