Jeff Morgan

Based in Napa Valley, Jeff is a winemaker, author, journalist and wine educator. His articles have appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Elle, Food & Wine, Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast. He is also the author of Dean & DeLuca: The Food and Wine Cookbook, The Working Parents Cookbook (written with his wife, Jodie) Rosé, A Guide to the World’s Most Versatile Wine (all with Chronicle Books) and The PlumpJack Cookbook: Great meals for Good Living (Rodale Press), Domaine Chandon Cookbook: recipes from étoile restaurant (Chronicle Books), and Simply Fresh – Casual Dining At Home (Andrews McMeel Publishing).

In addition to his writing pursuits, Jeff also teaches at the Culinary Institute of America’s Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies in Napa Valley. His interest in food and wine first blossomed in Southern France, where he lived and worked for nearly a decade as a flutist, saxophonist and singer, eventually becoming bandleader at the Grand Casino in Monte Carlo in the mid-1980s.

Ironically, the call of wine led Jeff back to America, where he grew grapes for several years and made Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot commercially on Long Island, New York. In 1995, Wine Spectator hired Morgan as its West Coast editor. He moved to San Francisco, wrote over 400 articles on wine and food for the magazine and became a member of its close-knit tasting panel. In the fall of 1999, the journalist headed to Napa Valley to take on the position of wine director for the nationally recognized gourmet food and wine purveyor, Dean & DeLuca. That’s when he met Leslie Rudd.

Jodie Morgan

After an initial career in social work and non-profit management, Jodie began working as a cookbook author with Jeff, starting in 2002 with The Working Parents Cookbook. Jodie has been the key recipe tester for most of the seven Morgan cookbooks that include such titles as Dean & Deluca, The Food and Wine Cookbook, The Domaine Chandon Cookbook, and Simply Fresh – Casual Dining At Home. From 2005 – 2006, she was also Executive Director for the American Institute of Wine and Food (AIWF), serving as an ambassador of fine dining for that organization nationwide. As a partner in Covenant Wines, Jodie actively runs the winery’s marketing and sales programs and is sometimes known as “The Gatekeeper.”

Leslie Rudd

Leslie is owner of Rudd Vineyards & Winery, located in the Oakville appellation of the Napa Valley. Along with the renowned Bordeaux style proprietary red wine produced with fruit from the estate, Rudd makes small quantities of Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc and Bacigalupi Vineyard Chardonnay from the Russian River Valley in Sonoma.

Brought up in Kansas, where his parents founded Standard Beverage Corporation in 1949, Leslie purchased the Oakville property in 1996. In addition to managing Standard Beverage and the winery that bears his name, he serves as Chairman of Dean & Deluca. Leslie was also the driving force behind the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the Culinary Institute of America’s Napa Valley campus.