The Emeritus Team
Fred Reno
Wine was not a part of Fred Reno's daily life as one of 14 siblings growing up in Michigan. His first exposure to wine was at dinner in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1977. It was a bottle of Bordeaux. This experience with wine sparked an idea that he could make a living selling wine. Two years later he moved to Washington, D.C., and took a job at one of the area's leading retailers. He advanced rapidly and began making trips to the West Coast to sign up fledgling California wineries, then helped to build a new market for them on the East Coast.
In the mid 1980s, Fred developed a brand strategy for William Hill and spent five years building that brand on the Eastern Seaboard. He then turned his sights on another emerging brand with a unique 'Chardonnay only' strategy and his association with Brice Jones began as the National Sales Manager of Sonoma-Cutrer. In 1995, Warner Henry was in search of the right individual to lead his fine wine distribution enterprise to a new level of performance and Fred agreed to become the next President of the Henry Wine Group.
Considering his nearly 30 years of exposure to every varietal from the finest winegrowing countries, what fuels his passion for Pinot Noir? Fred states, "When I started drinking wine, it was Bordeaux. But when I had my first taste of Burgundy, I started to buy wine and cellar it. I have been captivated by Pinot Noir ever since."