Growing up on an apple farm in the middle of a major wine appellation in Zillah, Washington, Andy decided to try and conquer the big city of Seattle. With his agricultural background and his University of Washington degree in hand, Andy was able to get the romantic job of wine sales for one of the industry's leading companies, Alaska Distributors. He is currently Key Account Manager-Fine Wine with Southern Wine & Spirits of Washington.

Andy is aware of national wine publications that put too much emphasis on a numbered scale. He also realizes many wines in the Northwest are not offered nationally, and many imported wines in the national wine publications do not travel all the way to Seattle. After a few years of observing the buying habits of customers, and actually seeing customers searching the shelf, wine publication in hand, for that elusive publication "pick," Andy felt the need to apply his expertise on what people in Seattle were buying and why.

Wine tasting several times a week with key buyers, public tasting at wine shops, visiting local and distant wineries and extensive studying of all wine growing regions in the world aid Andy in his proficiency, but most importantly, Andy interacts with customers, sees what they are choosing to purchase and asks why they are buying that certain wine. Andy welcomes your comments and suggestions-email him at andrewc@winesquire.com.