Christian Seely is managing director of AXA Millésimes. The company owns Châteaux Pichon-Longueville, Pibran, Petit-Village and Suduiraut in Bordeaux among other estates around the world.

Al Portney travels the world representing illustrious wine names such as Chateau Ste.Michelle, Stag's Leap and Col Solare. It's not a particular wine that has stuck in his mind, but rather a surprising event.

A 'fantastic' wine enjoyed in the heat of Bangkok led Christophe Thomas to accept Maison Joseph Drouhin's offer to become its export director in his homeland, Burgundy.

Sally Mohr is a Master Sommelier in Boulder, Colorado, and also a member of the Sake Education Council. If she hadn't had tasted a '69 Volnay, her career might have gone in an entirely different direction.

Robert Bath MS is an instructor in the Wine and Beverage Studies program at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley. He's also on the board of directors of the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Brian Duffy is a chef and restaurateur who is the cooking expert on the Spike TV show "Bar Rescue."

In 1995, Peter Granoff MS launched Virtual Vineyards, the first company to try to sell wine over the internet, which was taken over by investors and morphed into Wine.com. Today he is co-owner of Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant in San Francisco.

Master Sommelier James Tidwell is based in Dallas, Texas. In addition to his job as beverage manager for Four Seasons Resort & Club, he is  the co-founder of TEXSOMM, an annual conference for U.S. sommeliers.

Thomas Duroux is winemaker at Bordeaux third-growth Château Palmer, but it is a Tuscan wine that holds an indelible place in his memory.

Rob Mann is head winemaker at LVMH-owned Cape Mentelle in Margaret River, Western Australia. Winemaking runs in his family: his grandfather, Jack Mann MBE, was one of the industry's pioneers.

Fred Schrader is the founder and proprietor of Schrader Cellars, which produces the cult Napa cab sauvs CCS and Old Sparky.

Dirk Niepoort is one of Portugal's best-known winemakers. He began producing wine in the northern Douro Valley in the 1980s.

Blair Walter has been winemaker at one of New Zealand's most respected pinot noir producers – Felton Road – since 1996. He recently passed his pilot's licence and is trying to repair his old Messerschmitt in between harvests.

San Francisco Chronicle wine editor Jon Bonné tells W. Blake Gray about his most memorable wine – but he can't settle on just one!

Marquis (pronounced Marcus) Sauvage is a wine distributor based in Chicago. He also owns Burn Cottage, a winery in Central Otago, in partnership with Littorai's Ted Lemon.

Louisa Rose is chief winemaker for Hill Smith Family Vineyards in Australia, whose famous brands include Yalumba, Pewsey Vale and Oxford Landing.

Chandler Burr is curator of olfactory art at New York’s Museum of Arts and Design, and a former perfume critic for The New York Times.

Bob Campbell MW heard the celestial choirs singing when he sampled a Mugnier Musigny.

Eugenio Morales is head of consumer sales for Vinoteca, a family owned company that is one of the biggest players in Mexico’s small but growing wine industry.

Vanya Cullen is chief winemaker and managing director of Cullen Wines in Margaret River, Western Australia.

Rebecca Salmond is owner of Odyssey Wines in New Zealand. She recalls a special wine moment in the Australian outback.

Born into a family of prosecco makers at Valdobbiadene in Italy's Veneto wine-growing area, Claudia Adami, 21, has now started her own winery, Fra le Rose.

Melissa Brown and her husband Mike are viticulturist and winemaker respectively at Gemtree Vineyards in McLaren Vale, South Australia.

Dr. Linda Bramble is a lecturer, wine writer and author based at Brock University in Ontario, Canada. She is also an academic coach for the eMBA program at Athabasca University in Alberta.

Eddie McDougall is a flying winemaker currently employed at the 8th Estate Winery in Hong Kong.

Cornell University food scientist Mark Nisbet is "The Wine Guy." His series of five-minute YouTube videos teaches beginners how to make better wine.

Laura Riascos is co-founder of Colombia's La Hechicera premium rum house.

Laurent Hubert, 36, is business development and marketing director of the global bioscience company Chr. Hansen. One of its latest innovations is FrootZen, a direct inoculation Pichia kluyveri yeast designed to boost fruit flavors in wine.

Pharmaceutical tycoon Sergi Ferrer-Salat owns the Ferrer Bobet winery in the Priorat wine region of Catalonia, Spain, as well as the renowned Monvínic restaurant in Barcelona.