Angela Gutiérrez Bortugno—My Roots
Growing up in family of storytellers taught me the importance of listening to and nurturing a good story and led me to a degree in anthropology. This in turn helped prepare me for a successful career in the wine business, where it is important to listen and to collect and share rich stories that engage customers and grow sales. I understand how important it is for brands to communicate a unique message to drive commercial growth and brand loyalty.
My love of cooking led me to become a volunteer with the American Institute of Wine & Food, which eventually led to a full-time position. I had the opportunity to work with Julia Child, Richard Graff and Robert Mondavi. Dick Graff convinced me to work for him at Chalone Wine Group, and my first visit to the Chalone Vineyard changed the course of my life. I spent the next 17 years
working for Chalone Wine Group. Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines purchased the Chalone Wine Group and I had the privilege of marketing the luxury and import wines there for nine years. My passion is spending time with the growers and winemakers and bringing their unique stories to life with salespeople to drive business success. I use the romance of wine to develop key messages and branding strategies that help salespeople connect with the brands and foster loyalty with customers.
My career spans more than two decades of wine and food education, marketing and communication. I have an extensive background in both domestic and import luxury wine categories. I am an engaging leader who fosters collaboration and has led many teams to develop and execute ideas that produce breakthrough results.
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Recommendations
“Angela brings together a trio of strengths: deep wine category expertise, a finely tuned luxury sensibility and the ability to leverage the power of narrative in marketing. If I was looking to nurture or scale up a high-end wine venture, she would certainly be someone to rely on as a trusted partner.” —Keith Scott, Senior Brand Manager, Diageo
"For the eight years I worked at Acacia, I overlapped with Angela's extraordinarily long tenure at Chalone. Aside from her professionalism (for which I had great respect) and her personality (for which I felt great warmth), her work-product resulting from an enormous portfolio-wide re-branding effort was very, very strong. She possesses that rare ability to absorb and balance market exigencies while honoring the history of iconic brands, and the challenge of strong personalities of vested executives and winemakers. I have come to understand how rare these skills are embodied in one individual. Angela has wisdom, loyalty, sensitivity and judgement, all finely attuned to the peculiarities of the wine industry." —Michael Terrien, Winemaker
"Angela a été mandatée par Diageo pour créer notre plaquette de présentation de notre Domaine viticole en Bourgogne et en Minervois. Ne pouvant se rendre sur place pour des raisons d'emploi du temps, nous avons travaillé par email et téléphone...avant qu'un photographe ne vienne prendre quelques clichés.
Nous avons été impressionnés par la délicatesse d'Angela, sa façon d'écrire avec une touche émotionnelle, son intérêt pour la dimension humaine qui est le moteur de la vie professionnelle d'un "vigneron artisan",son sens du détail... Si bien que lorsqu'elle a reçu les photos,il n'y avait plus qu'à les insérer comme illustration de ses écrits...
Nous sommes particulièrement fiers de son travail et osons dire que nous avons été particulièrement chanceux de la rencontrer plus tard chez nous,comme une vieille connaissance..." —Anne Gros et Jean Paul Tollot
My Training
Advanced Certification with Merit
Wine & Spirit Education Trust
Introductory Sommelier Course
The Court of Master Sommerliers
