A consultant (from Latin: consultare “to deliberate”) is a professional who provides expert advice in a particular area.
My areas of expertise as follows below:
- After 27 years’ service, which had six years overseas including Vietnam, I retired from the United States Army in 1994. Upon returning to life as a civilian, I served in a variety of executive positions for technology and food and beverage companies including Senior Vice President and COO for Harry’s Farmers Market in Atlanta. During this tenure, I had broad exposure to retail wine sales serving not only as the COO but as the General Manager for the Alpharetta retail facility before the sale of the company to Whole Foods.
- From 2001 to 2015, I led my own consulting company focused on Program and Project Management of Strategic Projects with a focus on Technology, Food & Beverage, Logistics, and Education. My clients included Coca-Cola, Whataburger, and the State of Florida.
- Due to the exposure to rice wines during my early Army days in Vietnam [see image of me below 2nd from the left] and European wines mostly German and French while serving in Europe, I developed an interest in wine. In 1981, at the British Army Staff College Camberley, an opportunity occurred to significantly expand my knowledge of fortified wines from Spain and Portugal.
- Over the last ten years, I have written a monthly, “Wayne on Wine,” column for Smoke Signals, news and views from Big Canoe and around North Georgia using blind judging events to select the best wines for publication.
My wine credentials:
- French Wine Scholar [FWS]
- Champagne Master level certification with the French Wine Society, which is now the Wine Scholar Guild.
- Certified Specialist of Wine [CSW] with the Society of Wine Educators.
- Member of the American Wine Society.
Services:
- Judge in wine competitions.
- Lectures on Georgia Wines as well as French Champagne in North Georgia.
- Hosting wine fund raisers.
On January 22, 2018, my first book, ‘Georgia Vineyards and Wineries: A Historical Guide to Modern Georgia Wines 2016,’ was published after an extensive two years [2] by visiting every winery in Georgia.
The book is available for purchase with links to all the Georgia Wine websites.