Curriculum Vitae ~ Jo Diaz

by | Dec 6, 2012 | Wine | 0 comments

Curriculum Vitae ~ Jo Diaz

Jo Diaz:

Wine Educator, Wine Writer, Photographer, Wine Blogger, Public Relations Specialist, Marketer, Copy Writer, Executive Director of Wine Variety Group

Biggest Strengths:

Getting to the heart of a subject and telling the story; creating unique perspectives, writing persuasively, over two decades of successfully working in the wine business, accomplishing market campaigns, understanding public relations and marketing, being published as writer and photographer, organizing events

Benefits Offered

  • Veteran wine writer: approved for publishing story written about potential Chilean story to include photography
  • Published Photographer
  • Interview skills (11 year career in radio broadcasting, producing a community issues talk program, interviewing many people, from five star general, to dairy farmer, to university program director, with everyone in between.)
  • Aggregated by wine trade journals and many other Websites as a veteran writer

Educational and Academic Background

  • Originally studied education: by 23 years old, was director of Cosmetology school in Maine.
  • While a district sales manager and communications coordinator of Hambrecht Wine Group, completed the Associates Degree Program of wine sales and marketing at Santa Rosa Junior College, in Sonoma County.

Teaching and Research Experience

  • Maine
    • Cosmetology Education for five years
    • Director of a Girl Scout Day Camp for three years
    • Substitute teacher for S.A.D. 52, Maine for five years
    • FM Radio for 11 years
      • Producer of community issues talk program
      • Producer of health segments
      • California
        • Wine Educator at Robert Mondavi Winery.
        •  As publicist, have researched and written many presentations for winery owners.
        • Organize consumer events
          • Dark & Delicious with over 60 wine companies and over 30 foodies (restaurants and caterers) ~ 7th Annual, Feb. 22, 2013
          • Masters of Petite Sirah at Markham Vineyards
  • Organize trade events with members of PS I Love You, Inc.
    • Blue Tooth Tour, promoting Petite Sirah to trade
      • Year one:
        • Leg one: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Santa Fe, Dallas, Houston
        • Leg two: Boston, New York, Baltimore, Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando, Miami
        • Year two:
          • Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles
          • Fort Worth, St. Louis, Chicago
    • Produce two annual wine Symposiums ~ responsible for all aspects, from conception, to program and speakers, to marketing and PR
      • 11th Annual Petite Sirah Symposium; July, Livermore, California
      • 3rd Annual Pinot Gris Symposium; June, Willamette Valley, Oregon

Published

Presentations

  • Scheduled and participated in wine festival tasting panels about Petite Sirah with the following:
    • Society of Wine Educators
    • Santa Fe Chile Fiesta
    • Florida Wine Fest
    • American Wine Society
    • Lectured with the following:
      • Department of Commerce, Under the SABIT (Special American Business Internship Training) Program’s Wine Marketing and Promotion
    • Midwest Wine Grape Symposium ~ How to Start A Single Wine Grape Variety Advocacy Group
    • American Wine Society ~ Cabernet Franc As A Noble Variety
    • UC Davis Extension Program ~ PR and Social Media for Small Wineries (since 2009)

Testimonials

Delfim Costa (former client) ~ Enoforum Wines (9/24/2012)

Jo, I’ll never be able to express in English how I admire your writing skills.

Tom Wark ~ Profiling the Wine Blog Award Judges #3: THE MARKETERS (6/25/2012)

Jo Diaz is one of the wine industry’s most respected publicists. She began her career in the wine industry in 1992 working with some of the industry’s largest and most progressive wineries. She opened Diaz Communications in 2001 and has since become a go-to publicist for numerous wineries, associations and wine industry services. Jo is also the founder of the Association of African American Vintners and PS I Love You (Petite Sirah advocacy). Finally, she pens one of the most important business-related wine blogs.

Marc Hinton ~ Enobytes (6/14/2012)

Greg Lint, president of Oak Knoll Winery who is no stranger to developing new marketing concepts was keen to pull everyone together to share the knowledge. Greg’s decision to seek the help of Jo Diaz of Diaz Communications was a wise move. Jo started the hugely successful “P.S. I Love You” campaign in California to bring more attention to Petite Sirah. Her efforts in that campaign have clearly been successful. Have you purchased a bottle of good quality California Petite Sirah lately? They are getting pricy.

Paul Gregutt ~ www.paulgregutt.com, after attending our organized Second Annual Oak Knoll Oregon Pinot Gris Symposium in Willamette Valley (6/11/2012)

I’m just back from delivering the keynote at the 2nd annual Oregon Pinot Gris Symposium. This one-day event, hosted by Greg Lint and Jeff Herinckx at Oak Knoll Winery, and organized by Jo and Jose Diaz, was even better the second time around.

Eurasia, as organized through the US Department of Commerce (3/3/2012)

At the feedback session, everyone rated the meeting with you very highly and, in fact, it was one of the highlights of the whole program! It was very eye-opening for the delegates to see that they can promote a specific varietal wine, in addition to their regions/countries.

Barbara Keck ~ Sierra Foothills Wineries  (2/2/12)

It’s not cricket to start a blogpost with a diversion, but I have to tell you how much I admire Jo Diaz. There’s more than one blogger with a stick up their derriere, but she is not one of them. Among other things, she is a tireless supporter of the varietal Petite Sirah, and she is simply wonderful at that.

Jay Walman ~ Walman Report ~ (2/1/12)

You do the best PR.

Peter Witham ~ Wines & Vines ~ Can Pinot Gris Get a Grip on Oregon?  (1/20/12)

California-based wine publicist Jo Diaz might be called the éminence Gris behind the initiative. She has spent a decade championing Petite Sirah through PS I Love You Inc., an incorporated entity that started with 10 members and claimed 90 members in its 10th year.

Paul Gregutt ~ paulgregutt.com  (1/18/12)

State-wide marketing in Oregon has been essentially rudderless until recently. Jo Diaz’s small but important, privately-funded effort to promote Oregon pinot gris strikes me as not only focused but sensible. It has a clear goal, a reasonable objective, and the chance to break the state out of its one trick pony image.

Monica Turner ~ Stark Insider   (1/4/12)

If you don’t know much about Pinot Gris from Oregon, brace yourself; it’s about to get Real in the West Coast vineyards. Well known and even more respected wine guru Jo Diaz has spearheaded the launch of a wine marketing group focused on the white wine grape variety.

Rick Bakas ~BackToBakas  (12/21/12)

One of the wine industry’s best and brightest. She’s a friend to many!

Paul Gregutt ~ paulgregutt.com ~ (6/11)

Jo Diaz, on her Juicy Tales blog, announces the long-awaited follow-up to last summer’s Oregon Pinot Gris symposium, for which I was the keynote speaker. Diaz, certainly one of the most successful and savvy wine marketers on the west coast, is launching a group whose mission will be “to better define Pinot Gris in Oregon” (see previous posts in my blog for more on the symposium).

Marlene Rossman to Charlie Olken ~ Wine writers, both (5/31/11)

“Charlie, after all these years, I am sure you know Jo Diaz, who is one of the leading proponents of Pets in California. Check out her blog: https://www.wine-blog.org/Jo is not only a very knowledgeable wine-o but she wrote a very flattering and humbling piece on moi…”

Charlie to Marlene: “Do I know Jo Diaz? Am I breathing? Have I been writing about wine for several decades? Jo Diaz is my model for persistent enthusiasm. Love her.”

Rich Mauro on the People’s Palate and Gabby Gourmet ~ Wine Writer (5/25/11)

Wineries up and down the state [California] now are making varietal Petite Sirah wines. And a promotional organization, P. S. I Love You (www.psiloveyou.org), which was founded in 2002 with 39 charter members, has more than doubled to 81 winery members in 2011. I think it’s fair to say that organization and its founding director, Jo Diaz deserves much of the credit for the grape’s growing popularity.

Sondra Barrett PhD ~ Wine artist and writer

Jo is a supportive and creative writer and marketer. Her enthusiasm and integrity are stellar. She’s got a long-time view of the wine industry and knows how to connect with people. Her wine blog is like none other and it’s been a real treat working with her.” Top Qualities: Expert, High Integrity, Creative

Steve McIntosh ~ Winethropology ~ How Much Does It Cost To Make A Bottle Of Wine? (12/17/10)

Jo Diaz, wine publicist extraordinaire and the brains behind PS I Love You, writes a wine blog simply titled ‘Wine Blog’.  Not only is she an industry veteran, she’s smart – and a really nice lady.

Edward Deitch ~ Vint-ed: Sips: Portugal’s Enoforum creates wines for export with some exciting releases (8/25/2010)

In wine, as in other areas of journalism, we sometimes get our ideas – or germs of ideas — from savvy PR and marketing folks who know when they have an interesting story to tell on behalf of their clients and have a good sense when writers might be interested. One of the more diligent and delightful of them is Jo Diaz, who runs her own communications company in Windsor, California in Sonoma County.

When Jo asked recently if I cared to meet a new client, a principle in a relatively new Portuguese wine company, I quickly took her up on her offer even though I don’t usually meet individually with winemakers or executives because I tend to shy away from being a captive audience of one. What happens if I don’t like the wines? In any event, I had a hunch that Jo was on to something unusual. And so we sat down for dinner last week at The Modern, one of my favorite New York restaurants, with her client (who picked up the bill, I will disclose right off the bat).

Why Wine Blog ~ joeshico, Links Page

Wine-Blog – Juicy tales by Jo Diaz ~ sometimes serious often hilarious and always informative.

WE Magazine ~ 101 More Women Bloggers to Watch for 2010 (8/17/2010)

This list of inspiring and aspiring bloggers is one of our best yet…I am sure you will enjoy reading about these women and checking out their blogs as much as WE had putting this list of Women Bloggers to Watch… Wine Blog with Jo Diaz – An easy way to expand your wine palate and your knowledge base

Steve Heimoff ~ Getting it right: the Petite Sirah story (6/8/2010)

In 2002, the P.R. company, Diaz Communications, began their effort to resurrect Petite Sirah on behalf of the then 60 growers and producers who still stood by it. Through relentless promotion, Jo Diaz and her husband, Jose, broke through the public’s and the critics’ indifference, and put Petite Sirah back on the map.

WineBizNews

So what wine blogs, in addition to WineBizNews, of course, should you follow if you want to delve into the wine world more thoroughly. That is to say: which of the 13,000 wine blogs are worth your time? The list below is highly subjective and cut-to-the-bone for this column. I follow 50-60 wine blogs, and it is a rotating and constantly changing list.

Juicy Tales by Jo Diaz: https://www.wine-blog.org/

Robert Whitley (Wine writer, publisher, and wine competition organizer) Savoring Wine Through Social Mediums (4/28/10)

Jo Diaz (www.wine-blog.org) is from the wine public relations field, yet she is as free and independent as any wine journo! Jo would do her blog, even if she wasn’t in the biz because she simply loves wine and the culture of wine as a lifestyle. She is a good source for information about issues related to wine, and she champions those causes she truly believes in. Well worth a visit!

Paul Gregutt of Seattle Times and Wine Enthusiast

Top picks for navigating the sea of wine on the Web (4/26/10) ~ Wine-blog.org. PR veteran Jo Diaz, founder of PS I Love You, which promotes petite sirah, runs this excellent blog, subtitled “Juicy Tales.” Lots of blogger interviews and commentary with a marketing focus.

Laura Ness of My Vine Space

“You’re the Princess of Petite Passion and Major Fun!”

Ken Payton, Reign of Terroir, when asked if he would attend the Petite Sirah Symposium of 2009,

“…knew I would be away on vacation in the San Juan Islands of Washington State on that date but the draw of event proved irresistible. That, and the simple fact you don’t turn down an invite from Jo.”

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