Rechearcher at CIBIO – Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources

Co-owner of Herdade de Coalheiros (Alentejo)

Gabriela Mascioli was born in São Paulo, Brazil to Italian and Swiss parents. With a Business and Finance degree, Gabriela exchanged a successful banking career for her great passion: gastronomy, opening a cookbook shop, cooking school and cafe that soon received great acclaim.

Now she divides her time between New York, Portugal, and the occasional but obligatory visit to Japan, but it is Herdade de Coelheiros that Gabriela calls home. Here in the historic Alentejo Estate, she is invested in creating a sustainable model taking advantage of the great biodiversity and minimizing waste and resource usage.

Gabriela graduated in Business,  has a Le Cordon Bleu Graduate Diploma in Gastronomy the University of Adelaide, and a Hautes Etudes du Goût, de la Gastronomie et des Arts de la Table from the University of Reims.

Gabriela was the owner of the famous bookstore in São Paulo – Mille Foglie – specializing in food and wine that also housed a cooking school.  She was also a columnist at “Prazeres da Mesa” and contributed for several other magazines and newspapers like Marie Claire, Estado de Sao Paulo, Gosto and Vogue. She edited and co-wrote the book “Compras 100% aprovadas” that in 2007 already looked into sustainability, and the book Receiving without Stress, winner of the “Gourmand Award” for Best Entertaining Cookbook and Best Cookbook Design in Brazil. She hosted Anthony Bourdain in the Sao Paulo episode of “No Reservations”, taught classes for the MBA of FAAP – Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation on Travel and Gastronomy. She also cooks daily and studied bakery at the Paris Cordon Bleu and New York ICE.

Owner and Winemaker at Frog’s Leap

John Williams was raised in western New York, and spent the summers on his grandparents’ dairy farm. Following graduation from high school, he received a scholarship to attended Cornell University where he planned to study fermentation sciences in order to pursue a career in the dairy industry. While studying cheese making under the great Frank Kozokowski, Williams accepted a workstudy position with the Taylor Wine Company and the rest—as they say—is history. After receiving his degree from Cornell University in 1975, John was accepted into the Enology and Viticulture Masters Program at UC-Davis. Upon graduating, Williams returned to upstate New York as winemaker for Glenora Wine Cellars producing several award-winning wines before returning to California in 1980 to assume winemaking duties at Spring Mountain Vineyards in the Napa Valley. In 1981 Williams co-founded Frog’s Leap winery along with partner Larry Turley. He became the sole owner in 1994, moving the winery to its current location on the Rutherford Bench in the Napa Valley. Under Williams’ guidance, Frog’s Leap has evolved as a provocative model of a successful, sustainable family farm. Williams’ passion for protecting and preserving a healthy agricultural way of life led to the establishment of the Rutherford River Restoration Project and he and the winery team he has assembled are widely recognized for their contributions to the organic farming movement, the promotion of alternative energy sources, and ongoing efforts to encourage sustainable business practices.

Owner of Manicor