Niki Williams Email & Phone Number

Napa, California, United States

Kenwood, California, United States

Napa Valley, Ca

• Oversee all aspects of production from harvest picking decisions to bottling preparation to ensure style and quality targets. Maintain production calendar to ensure wines are blended and bottled according to schedule.• Participate in tastings for quality grading, program designations and blending. Research competitors for comparative tastings, generate ideas for new product development, and compose educational tastings for winemaking team. • Host winemaker dinners, visit existing and potential accounts in key markets, and serve as enthusiastic brand ambassador.

As Forward Kidd Winemaker, directed all production operations from vineyard to bottle and actively promoted a newly-launched Napa Valley red blend at trade and DTC sales events and winemaker dinners. Specific duties included: • Completed blending and bottle preparation for 2012 (4500 cases; 92 points – Wine Enthusiast) and 2013 (4800 cases) vintages of Forward Kidd. Participated in blending trials for Merryvale and Starmont wines. • Wrote and completed database work orders, generated bottling quotes and contracts for custom bottling clients, ensured all client packaging materials were delivered on time and met QA/QC standards. • Expanded custom crush revenue by contract review and revision, billing accuracy, and new business development. Identified and rectified $80,000 in missed fees, set up database billing module to enhance invoicing, and implemented systems to track labor and resource expenditures. Worked with Finance and Accounting departments to establish new custom crush cost center and developed fiscal year budget to accurately isolate and allocate costs from cellar, lab and bottling.

Stellenbosch, South Africa

• Served as designated enologist performing on-site analyses of juice and wine (pH, TA, SO2) and collecting berry and must/wine samples for off-site analyses. • Documented intake and processing of 274 metric tons of fruit, calculated rates of SO2, enzymes, fining agents, and acid additions, and monitored and adjusted tank temperatures. • Conducted yeast and malolactic bacteria inoculations and tracked daily progress of fermentations.

Napa Valley, Ca

• Monitored fermentations, tank temperature, and cap management for 140 tanks.• Wrote work orders for wine additions, transfers and barreling.• Tracked stuck and sluggish tanks and assisted with fermentation restart procedures and implementation.• Attended daily scheduling meetings to plan receiving and processing of over 6,100 tons of grapes.• Visited vineyards with winemakers to assess ripening and maintained daily grape maturity report for distribution to winemaking team.• Participated in winemaking tasting trials for signature Franciscan Estate and Mt. Veeder wines, including Sauvignon blanc, barrel-fermented Chardonnay, and red Bordeaux varieties.

Winters, Ca

• Assisted with harvest cellar operations, including punchdowns, fermentation monitoring, and cleaning/sanitizing tanks, equipment and barrels. • Provided service and sales for tasting room guests and assisted with wine club releases and shipments.

Chicago, Il

• Planned, booked and sold inclusive and detailed hotel, transportation and touring packages for customized European travel. • Assembled comprehensive travel document packets and wrote country and city travel guides.

Pasadena, Ca

• Prepared extensive itineraries and travel documents.• Planned and confirmed Southern Africa safaris.

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Viticulture And Enology

Master Of Arts (M.A.), Theater

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), English