Mario Carofaniello is the new director of sales for Zork. Carofaniello was previously with Packaging Plus in Napa California as their senior account executive and was with Tagstream and Coastal Products prior to that. (Benchmark Consulting did the search.)

Napa-based winery, Vinum Cellars announced the appointment of national sales manager Larry Gurner, a new position. Gurner was most recently a regional sales manager, midwest region for Laetitia.

Brian Scott Rudin is the new assistant winemaker for Cadaretta of Walla Walla. Rudin is a graduate of Western Washington University. He's a certified sommelier and holds a degree from the Institute of Enology and Viticulture at Walla Walla Community College. He has previous Washington winery experience from Zefina and L'Ecole No. 41. Cadaretta wines are made at Artifex Wine Company in Walla Walla.

Justin Taylor, a third-generation member of the Taylor winemaking family of Clare Valley Australia, is relocating to the U.S. with his family to serve as a brand ambassador and market manager for Wakefield Wines. Taylor had been national sales manager in Australia. As a brand ambassador, Taylor will lead training and development programs for Brown-Forman Beverages, which imports Wakefield to the U.S.

Shannon Donnell has been named to the new position of grower relations representative/luxury brands for Brown-Forman, focusing on ultra-premium brands Sanctuary, Sonoma-Cutrer and Fetzer Coro Mendocino. Donnell most recently served as viticulturist at Duckhorn Winery in St. Helena. Earlier, she worked as a pest control advisor at Jack Neal and Son Vineyard Management as well as at Crop Care Associates. Cindy Johnson joined Brown-Forman's grower relations team as grower relations representative for the Central Coast and Northern Interior growing regions. Most recently she served as the director of viticulture for Vino Farms of Lodi.

Christian Davis, the former editor of U.K. publication Harpers Wine and Spirit Weekly, has been appointed editor of Drinks International. In September Drinks International will cease to be part of the William Reed Business Media Group, whose titles include Off Licence News and Wine & Spirit. William Reed also runs the International Wine Challenge. Russell Dodd, the current publisher of drinks and hospitality titles at Reed, is leaving with the blessing and support of Charles Reed, the managing director of William Reed, to set up his own publishing company, which will have offices in Crawley with Drinks International as its first title. Davis joined Drinks International as news editor in April 2007. Felicity Murray, the former editor of Drinks International, will now freelance.

Alexander Valley Vineyards owner Harry Herman Wetzel Jr. died last week at age 88. As reported by the Press Democrat of Santa Rosa, Wetzel died from complications of old age. Wetzel's wife, Margaret "Maggie" Cranford Kirkpatrick Wetzel, 83, died in May. A memorial service for Harry Wetzel will be at 11 a.m. Aug. 26, at Alexander Valley Vineyards.

Effective September 2, Jean-Mari Peltier will become the first president of the National Grape and Wine Initiative. Peltier joins NGWI from the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC), where she served as president and CEO. The move comes shortly after Congress approved a
5-year Farm Bill that provides funding for specialty crops.

Freelance wine and food writer Chris Rubin died Friday, August 15, 2008 after battling an extremely rare form of cancer for several years. Rubin was born and raised in Los Angeles and a graduate of UC Santa Cruz. He was a prolific freelance food, wine, spirits and travel journalist for publications ranging from Wine Spectator to Rolling Stone. He was the Southern California Regional Editor for Gayot Publications/Gault Millau at the time of his passing. He is survived by his wife Deborah Calla, an independent filmmaker.