OUR MISSION is to offer the wine enthusiast exclusive, one-of-a-kind programs that creatively combine luxury travel, fine wine and cuisine with the best value and the most amenities the industry has to offer.

OUR GOAL is to provide discerning clientele with a unique and unforgettable travel experience at a cost and value they can't afford to pass up.

Our Insider Expertise and Clout with Suppliers
Means More Value for You

Fine Wine Travel was founded by travel industry veterans and wine professionals to offer exclusive, one-of-a-kind programs that creatively combine luxury travel, fine wine and cuisine with the best value and the most amenities the industry has to offer.

Our exceptional travel programs and events are not for everyone. They were created for sophisticated wine enthusiasts, whose refined tastes and worldly sensibilities demand the same high quality of people and experiences in their travel, as they do in their everyday lives.

Meet the Team

• Ellen Walker
• Ivo Sardelic
• Advisory Board
• Recommendations

There's No Substitute for Experience

Ellen Walker, founder of Fine Wine Travel, has over 25 years of travel and event planning experience. Her experience has included all sides of these industries and her "insider's" expertise is invaluable for strategizing, marketing and implementing all the ingredients to ensure your event's success.  Organizing and managing the details, people and budgets, while meeting critical timelines is her specialty and meeting her clients' special objectives is always her main goal. Ellen's experience in the cruise industry covered a 15-year period, including Norwegian American Cruises, Royal Viking Line and Crystal Cruises, where she was hired to lead the West Coast Sales Team in launching their new luxury cruise product.  Most recently, her career took her into wholesale travel, where she served as Regional Director of Sales for Classic Custom Vacations, specializing in Hawaii.

Ivo Sardelic has over twenty years of experience in worldwide tourism. His background in the travel industry includes destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and Cuba. Ivo is originally from Croatia and has multi-lingual abilities. Ivo's extensive experience includes developing, implementing and operating tour packages as well as representing European tour operators. He also served as a multi-lingual tour guide. Most recently, Ivo was the Shore Excursion Manager on the Peter Deilmann river vessel, MV Princesse de Provence in France's wine regions Burgundy and Beaujolais. Ivo's expertise in quality control, organizing and managing details make him the perfect person to manage Fine Wine Travel's Land Programs Department, which includes shore side events, excursions, pre and post cruise hotel packages.

Our Advisory Board

Robert Bath, Master Sommelier, is a third generation Californian and is one of only thirty-seven people in the United States to have achieved the distinction of Master Sommelier, a testament to his knowledge and expertise with wine.  As a member of the educational arm of this organization, the Court of Master Sommeliers, Bob is actively involved in wine education.  With a very successful twenty-year career in the wine and food trade (Bob spent almost eight years with the highly acclaimed Napa Valley Winery Shafer Vineyards). Bob has recently taken up writing about wine, and his first article published in Sante Magazine has been nominated for a James Beard Award in Magazine Journalism.

He has also been a speaker at numerous wine festivals.  As a food and wine consultant in the Napa Valley, Bob works with well-known wineries such as widely acclaimed Dalle Valle and Viader Vineyards, as well as world-class restaurants like The French Laundry.

David Berkley is a nationally recognized wine expert and has served as wine consultant to the White House since 1981.  Over the years he has similarly assisted the U. S. State Department, the American Ambassador to the Court of St. James in London and the American Embassy in Bonn, Germany. For eight years David appeared regularly on local and regional television, offering timely tips on the pairing of wines and foods, and has been featured on CBS This Morning.

Currently, he can be seen offering wine tips to Regina Campbell on her nationally syndicated television show, Regina's Vegetarian Table.  Additionally, David has judged many wine competitions throughout the West. His unique specialty food store, David Berkley Fine Wines and Specialty Foods, located in Sacramento, California, marked its fourteenth anniversary this past summer. 

David's entertaining and informative presentations, drawn form numerous personal visits to the great wine-producing regions of Europe, California and the Pacific Northwest offer an astounding and encyclopedic knowledge of the history and culture of wine, as well as its production and enjoyment.

Bartholomew Broadbent is President of Broadbent Selections, Inc., his San Francisco-based company which imports and nationally distributes wines from Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain.  He is also an independent consultant to the wine trade, with clients who currently include Food & Wine, The Sharper Image Company and the tasting panel of Bon Appetit magazine. Born and educated in England, Broadbent joined the wine trade in 1980 (having been brought up in it by his father Michael Broadbent, Master of Wine, noted author and Wine Director of Christie's. Bartholomew began his career working in Cognac for Hennessey.

In 1986, after years of wine experience in the U.K. and Australia, Broadbent founded Premium Port Wines, Inc., the San Francisco-based U.S. and Canadian importer of world-renowned ports.  As the company's President, he was responsible for the tremendous growth both of his brands and of the overall U.S. and Canadian Port markets.

Broadbent was a director of Steven Spurrier's L'Academie du Vin (which he set up in Toronto), and he has taught the Lower and Higher Certificate courses and Diploma for the Independent Wine and Spirit Education Trust (of London) in Canada.  He has visited all the major wine producing areas, has extensive tasting experience (particularly with old and rare wines) and travels North America conducting wine tastings and lectures.  He is a regular speaker at the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen, lecturing on Bordeaux wines as well as Ports, Madeiras and Sherries, and since 1993 he has been the organizer of the Reserve Tastings at the Aspen Classic.  He currently serves on the permanent tasting panel of Bon Appetit magazine.  He has worked at the Annual Napa Valley Wine Auctions, auctioneering at two of them, and has been recognized by numerous wine publications, including profiles by the Wine Spectator, Wine News and Decanter magazine.

Broadbent has received a number of international awards including being made Commandeur D'Honneur by the Commanderie du Bontemps de Medoc et des Graves, in Pauillac, for his services and promotional efforts with Bordeaux wines.  Bartholomew Broadbent is considered one of the world's top authorities on Port and Madeira.

Catherine Fallis, Master Sommelier, author and educator, aka grape goddess®, is founder and president of Planet Grape® LLC., an international wine consultancy whose prestigious clients include many top restaurants, Crystal Cruises, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, Cunard and others. Catherine is also a guest host on NBC-11 TV's In Wine Country, and is a Culinary Institute of America-Greystone Adjunct Instructor.

Catherine created the grape goddess guides to good living® to give all Earthlings a chance to learn about life's simpler and more decadent palate pleasures without the intimidation factor.

Catherine's goal is to bring wine into the culture of mainstream America. According to the New York Times, "Catherine Fallis, a consultant sommelier, is one of the faces leading the changing of the guard. Fallis is vibrant, vivacious, and very smart." Visit www.PlanetGrape.com to learn more about Catherine, to read her latest reviews and news stories, and to check her schedule of upcoming seminars and events.

William Gilbert has over twenty-five years of experience in the hospitality and wine industries.  For 17 years Bill has been instrumental in the development of many premier wine programs in the cruise industry, including those of Royal Viking Line, Cunard Line, Seabourn Cruises, Premier Cruises, Holland America Line, Disney Cruises and Crystal Cruises.  One of the more unique aspects of his involvement in the industry is in procuring top chefs and wine professionals to do lectures and demonstrations on cruise ships.

Since 1996, Bill has worked with Crystal Cruises in selecting celebrity chefs and wine experts for their Wine & Food Festival, with as many as 30 cruises a year.  Bill frequently lectures on board cruise ships and has written numerous articles on wine and wine programs.

Peter Jung and his family brought a rich tradition of wine appreciation from Europe when they moved to Connecticut in the 50's.  To supplement his income while earning an MBA, Peter worked part-time selecting European and California wine for a wine shop in San Antonio.  When offered a position with the top wine distributor in Texas, Peter accepted.  Within two years he was promoted to Fine Wine Manager for the Houston branch. After several visits to California wineries, Peter decided to move to the San Francisco Bay Area and further advance his career.

He was hired by noted wine expert, Gerald Asher, as the West Coast Manager of his wine marketing start-up, The Mosswood Wine Company.  It soon became one of the most influential in the country, representing several famous estates as well as a number of highly regarded national brands. When Mosswood was acquired by "21" Brands, one of America's largest beverage marketers, Peter was appointed Director of Fine Wines and moved to New York. He traveled extensively throughout Europe and America to select and market fine wines for "21" Brands.

After returning to California, Peter completed several viticulture and viniculture classes at UC Davis and also became involved in planting vineyards and making wine.  Peter continues to consult with a wide variety of clients including wine shops, wholesale distributors, wineries and cruise lines.  He is also a regular contributor to the Insiders' Wine Line, a national wine review publication. 

Chef Andre Rochat was born and raised in the Savoie region, in the French Alps. Andre's culinary inspiration came at an early age, from his parents, who owned a delicatessen and butcher shop. At age 15, Andre began a three-year apprenticeship at the Michelin Two-Star restaurant, Chez Leon de Leon, in Lyon, France. In 1973, after a move West, Andre opened his first business in Las Vegas, Savoy French Bakery. It became an instant success and allowed him to create Andre's French Restaurant, now a Las Vegas culinary landmark, which has earned the respect and admiration of local, national and international critics.

Andre's has won countless awards for its exceptional cuisine, extensive wine list and impeccable service. In 1997, the Mandalay Resort Group asked Andre to join in and compliment their newly opened Monte Carlo Resort, in Las Vegas, by opening a second Andre's location. Both locations were recently selected as Zagat Readers "Survey-2000-Top Pick," as the best restaurants in Las Vegas. Each restaurant has also established a reputation, second-to-none, offering the largest wine selection in the state of Nevada with over 1,000 labels on their individual wine lists and more than 12,000 bottles in each cellar.

Robert Theisen recently retired from his position as senior wine educator at Robert Mondavi Winery.  While at Mondavi, he was responsible for developing and presenting educational wine seminars and training to the winery sales staff, public relations staff, restaurateurs, retailers and customers.  He has extensive experience in wine presentations to people at all levels of wine knowledge. Bob's interest in wine began during his first career as a B-52 pilot in the Air Force.  After his retirement from the Air Force in 1972, he pursued a new career in the wine industry eventually leading him to Robert Mondavi. In Bob's twenty years with the Robert Mondavi Winery, he toured and studied the great wine regions of France, Italy, Spain, Chile and California.