Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition

• Kathy Byrd is managing partner and oversees distributor management/sales for Real Wine Alliance in Woodinville, Wash.
• Jeff Cox is the wine, beer and spirits merchandiser for PCC Community Markets throughout the Puget Sound.
• Mary Cressler is a certified sommelier, co-author of Fire + Wine: 75 Smoke-Infused Recipes from the Grill with Perfect Wine Pairings, and the wine club curator for Vindulge.com, Portland, Ore.
• Ilene Dudunake owns A New Vintage Wine Shop near Boise, Idaho. (Read her profile in the Idaho Statesman.)
• Kent FitzGerald is the proprietor of KWFitzGerald Consulting, Walla Walla, Wash. He served as senior national buyer for Cost Plus World Market and The Henry Wine Group prior to its acquisition by Winebow. 
• Clinton Hoiland is owner/operator of Twisted Vine Wine Tours, Lewiston, Idaho, and works Northern Idaho on- and off-premise sales for Idaho Wine Merchant.
• Chris Horn is director of liquids at the Heavy Restaurant Group based in Seattle and co-author of Cook + Cork.
• Ellen Landis is a certified sommelier, journalist and renowned international wine judge with offices in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Windsor, Calif.
• Sophia McDonald, a journalist and educator in Eugene, Ore., also contributes to SevenFifty Daily, Wine Enthusiast, Wine Press Northwest and the Slow Wine Guide.
• Tim O’Brien is the longtime corporate beverage director for Salty’s Restaurants on Seattle’s Alki Beach, Redondo Beach in Des Moines, Wash., and along Portland’s Marine Drive.
• Katelyn Peil is beverage director at the Heavy Restaurant Group and is based in Kirkland, Wash.
• April Reddout, proprietor of Reddout Wine Consulting, which is based in Washington’s Columbia Valley.
• Barb Robertson, Pacific Northwest account manager, Saxco International, Concord, Calif.; columnist, Foothills magazine, Wenatchee, Wash.
• Ken Robertson is a columnist for Wine Press Northwest magazine in Kennewick, Wash.
• Paul Zitarelli is the founder/owner of Full Pull Wines in Seattle and author of 36 Bottles of Wine.

Chief judges for the 2021 Invite were certified sommelier Kristine Bono and Dana Van Nest, a writer and communications strategist who is a contributor to Winebow and a student of the Napa Valley Wine Academy.