Who We Are
Our Founders
Shari Gherman, Co-Founder & President
Shari Gherman, President and co-founder of AFWC, is a Sommelier and has been involved in the wine industry for more than 30 years. Her experiences in virtually every aspect of the industry, including marketing, distribution, supply, advertising, and judging, have combined to form a unique and diverse background. Shari’s approach to talking about wine comes from a deep love of the industry and the grape. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and makes wine exciting, inviting, and interesting. Through the American Fine Wine Competition, Shari has established a vehicle to share her knowledge, raise money for worthy causes and meld her love for wine with her drive to give something of value back to the community.
Monty & Sara Preiser, Co-Founders
Attorney Monty Preiser and his wife Sara Preiser reside full time in Palm Beach County, Florida, yet divide their time between Florida and Napa, where they have a second home and spend their time visiting wineries, studying wines, publishing a well-known guide, and owning a boutique winery.
Writing about wines for about 30 years, the Preisers publish the world’s most comprehensive guide to Napa Valley wineries and restaurants titled, appropriately, The Preiser Key, in which they create and pen many informational and educational articles. The guides have received accolades as the best (or indispensable) from, among others, famed writer Jancis Robinson of the Financial Times, Dine Magazine, msnbc.com, cnn.com, Tom Simoneau of KSRO Radio, and Frommer’s Guide.
Over the years, Monty and Sara have served as wine columnists and wine editors for the Boca Raton News, the South Florida Business Journal, Venu Fine Living, Coastal Carolina Life, BOCA Magazine, North Bay Biz Journal, Suncoast Living, and numerous other trade publications. They were the principal wine writers for Sallys-Place.com, one of the Internet's largest travel sites with over 3.5 million readers, and for many years were regularly published by Wine-On-Line-International.
Our Advisory Board
Bob Ecker
Bob Ecker is a professional wine and travel writer covering: wine review, wine travel, destination travel, cuisine and restaurant review, cruise content, sports, feature, automotive stories and more. His work has been published worldwide in publications such as: Decanter Magazine, Wine Business Monthly, Globe & Mail, Los Angeles Times, Sydney Morning Herald, Dallas Morning News, AAA Traveler and scores of others. He is also a noted wine judge at various competitions including the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Noting the lack of public and industry support for the category, Ecker founded THE Rosé Competition in 2013; the first American Wine Competition solely dedicated to the appreciation of fine Rosé Wines. Originally from New York, he lives in Northern California with his wife Colleen and fellow inhabitants, Brixi and Clooney.
Alejandro Ferrari
After retiring from a managing consulting company in 2012, Mr. Ferrari established Strategic Importers Inc., in 2005 in Boca Raton, Fl. During the last 16 years, Mr. Ferrari has worked with winery and distillery owners to offer limited production of premium wines and distilled spirits from selected global producers. His objective is to choose a selections of unique, artisanal qualities in style from rare European wines to California clean wines. He focuses on quality value wines, to hand-crafted Organic Tequila, resulting in an unique portfolio which appeals to every wine and spirits aficionado.
Mr. Ferrari devotes some of his time organizing wine amd spirit events throughout Florida every year. Strategic Importers Inc., is a partner for the Annual Key Biscayne International food, wine, and silent auction, Also, Epcot international wine and food festival among other international wine and spirt events in Florida. As a consultant for the wine and spirit industry, Mr. Ferrari advises international wine and spirit producer to understand the Florida alcohol three-tier system amd its regulation. Regulation, must be understood before entering into the Florida market to develop pricing strategies in order to compete in a highly competiré market. A well informed wine and spirit producer would decide is the FL market is good for his/her business.
Ellen Landis
Ellen is a published Wine Writer, Certified Sommelier, Certified Wine Specialist, Wine Educator and Professional Wine Judge. She is the author of the blog EllenOnWine.com and writes for the AWS Wine Journal among other publications.
Ellen is a moderator for the highly acclaimed Vintner’s Holidays annual event at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, and participates as a key speaker, moderator and panelist at various other wine events. For the past sixteen plus years, she and husband Ken co-owned award-winning Landis Shores Oceanfront Inn where Ellen served as Wine Director and Sommelier. They recently sold their Inn to devote more time to the world of wine. Ellen was also a Sommelier at the Ritz Carlton for several years. Ellen has traveled many wine regions throughout North America including California, Oregon, Washington, Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, Connecticut, New Mexico, Arizona, New York and Canada, and several international wine regions including Bordeaux, Champagne, Burgundy, Rhone, Tuscany, and wine regions throughout Spain, Portugal, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
In addition to an MBA, Ellen’s wine education includes UC Davis viticulture course work, CSW certification from the Society of Wine Educators program, and holds the credential of Certified Sommelier (CS) from the Court of Master Sommeliers.
Andrew Scott
Mr. Scott, a notable wine enthusiast, is a principal-partner of Scott-Roberts and Associates, LLC, which is an active member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners, Inc. (NAPBS).
Mr. Scott began his law enforcement career in 1978 with the North Miami Police Department. He soon transferred to the North Miami Beach Police Department in 1982 where he ascended through the ranks to the position of Assistant Police Chief and retired in 1998. Mr. Scott was then selected in October 1998 as the Chief of Police for the Boca Raton Police Department, out of a field of 147 national candidates. Mr. Scott remained with the Boca Raton Police Department until 2006, when he retired from law enforcement and went into the private sector. Mr. Scott has received numerous awards during his career, including from the FBI for his assistance in the investigation of the first bio-terrorist attack on United States soil, when anthrax was released into the American Media Building in Boca Raton. Mr. Scott was recognized by the National Center for Women and Policing for promoting women in the workplace and received the coveted “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” award. Mr. Scott has been a guest commentator on law enforcement practices and procedures for news organizations such as CNN, MSNBC, FOX, HLN-Nancy Grace, NPR, and various local TV media outlets, as well as a myriad of print media and radio stations throughout the country.
Mr. Scott has a Masters Degree in Management, a B.A. degree in Psychology, and a Master’s Certificate in Human Resources and is currently preparing to defend his dissertation for his Ph.D.
Greg Miseyko
Greg Miseyko has studied, collected and consulted in wines for 45 years including a wildly fortunate mentoring experience with five Masters of Wine in London. Greg returned to his home state of California acquiring wines for collectors while deepening relationships across the wine industry. He co-founded Napa producer Red Mare Wines from 2007 until he sold in 2018. He has arranged hundreds of wine country tours for collectors. He works as a Financial Advisor in Boca Raton, and teaches wine tasting clinics in homes, businesses, alumni groups, clubs and restaurants. He earned his WSET level 3 award With Merit through Florida Wine Academy in Miami. 2019 marked his second year as Chief Judge and Judging Coordinator for the American Fine Wine Competition. His most popular lectures explore how sensory perceptions engage the mind to enhance the enjoyment of wine.
In Memoriam
Joel Feigenheimer
Shari’s husband, Joel Feigenheimer lost his battle with ALS in April 2023.
An inimaginable loss to Shari, his children, and the University.
Joel Feigenheimer, PhD was an industry expert with over 35 years of experience related to the Restaurant and Hospitality field. A graduate of Cornell Hotel School, he held an MBA in Hospitality and a PhD in Business from Northcentral University (attained 2018).
Dr. Feigenheimer was named the National Association of Concessionaires Eminent Scholar at The Chaplin School of Hospitality at Florida International University. For the past three decades, Dr. Feigenheimer has served as both an entrepreneur and director for an International restaurant firm. Over his career, he consulted on three continents, excelled in the corporate environment, was a successful entrepreneur, and worked with thousands of industry leaders.
Apart from the faculty at F'IU, he taught Restaurant and Hospitality Management to tomorrow's hospitality leaders. His courses included Purchasing and Menu Planning, Concepts of Food and Beverage, Sustainability, Cost Control, Introductory Management Concepts, and Project Management.
Litigation Support - Dr. Feigenheimer provided nationwide expert testimony relating to Food Service and Hospitality Operations. He had direct experience not only as a "legal expert" but also as an operational expert.
Thank you, Joel Feigenheimer. You are very much missed.