Wine Hound began the way a lot of good things do, over dinner, with a good bottle, and a basset hound named Jerry nosing around the corks. We're Sam and Hannah, a husband-and-wife team bringing fractional executive leadership to wineries.
Hannah has spent her career creating experiences people remember and come back for: signature conferences for hundreds of attendees, intimate executive dinners, and the member programs that build loyalty. A professionally trained facilitator (Leadership Strategies, Telos Institute) and former ICU nurse, she brings warmth and precision in equal measure, and has been a founding wine-club member since 2018.
Sam brings more than a decade of turning technology into business results, as a consulting executive and former CTO: ERP and eCommerce implementations, complex integrations, and AI adoption grounded in what actually works. He also leads the digital-marketing side: SEO and AEO, paid advertising, email-list building, and the marketing calendar.
Hannah is exceptional… Our members love her. She's attentive to their needs and treats them as individuals.
She demonstrates strategic insight and leadership at unparalleled levels, always thinking about efficiency, budget, and winning outcomes.
You're the REAL deal: talented, smart, kind, hardworking, committed, and tons of fun.
Sam, you have played an excellent augmentation to this team. Very glad you are driving these priorities.
He is absolutely awesome. His follow-up is great and his problem solving is amazing. He has come up with solutions on a number of tasks that I've wanted to improve for years.
A strong and capable leader, trusted and valued highly, who has distinguished himself by bringing AI to the forefront of the organization.
Hannah shapes the experience your guests remember; Sam builds the systems and intelligence that make that experience consistent, scalable, and profitable. Even our marketing splits naturally down the middle (Sam on the digital side, Hannah on the in-person side) so your outreach is consistent from first click to final toast.
It all comes from one team that shares a table every night, and a basset hound. And because we both hold the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines (passed with merit) every recommendation comes from people who genuinely understand the wine, the guest, and the business behind them.
Our journey started with informal dinners and a curious basset hound sniffing corks. Jerry has been part of nearly every tasting we've ever hosted and has the best nose in the house. His playful vibe represents everything we aim to bring to wine education: fun, warmth, and great taste, without the snobbery.
The original Wine Hound: basset by breed, sommelier by self-appointment. He's been at our feet for nearly every bottle we've ever opened, and he has thoughts about all of them.
Available for tastings, naps, and moral support. — Jerry 🐾
Fractional executive leadership for wineries, through two roles: a Fractional Chief Hospitality Officer / Chief Member Experience Officer (Hannah) and a Fractional Chief Information Officer / Chief Technology Officer (Sam), plus the products that grew out of the practice.
We both hold the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines, passed with merit (global wine regions, winemaking, and advanced tasting) built on years of tasting, travel, and 50+ hosted events.
No. Press (our marketing co-pilot for wineries) drafts and stages campaigns; a human on your team always does the final send from Klaviyo. It can't send on its own, by design. (And the AI Sommelier never emails your members uninvited: announcements go out from your own list.)
No. Wine Hound works with both and makes the tools you already pay for work harder.
Yes. Under your label it becomes the AI Sommelier, on your palette and your catalog alone, and your members can step in from your own site without a second password. You see the click-throughs it sends back to your store, not just usage. See the AI Sommelier for wineries & distributors.
Not at all. Many wineries start with one fractional role and grow into the other. And because one team handles both, your experience, technology, and marketing stay aligned.
Wineries first and foremost (from small estate wineries to fast-growing operations) and the wine-country hospitality groups alongside them, where tasting rooms sit next to lodging, dining, and events.
Consulting packages are available in 5-hour and 10-hour weekly increments; the hospitality and member-experience role is scaled to your needs, from a focused engagement to ongoing leadership. Every engagement starts with a free consultation.
Days, not months. Your logo, colors, voice, and wine list are configuration, not code. See the AI Sommelier for wineries & distributors for how a pilot works.
Never. We recommend, you sell. Every “buy this bottle” in the AI Sommelier links to the winery's own store, so licensing, shipping, and the customer relationship stay exactly where they belong: with the winery.
We do: wine-paired private and corporate events, planned and hosted end to end. See Private & Corporate Events.
Tell us about your winery and where you're headed. The first conversation is free.
Book a free consultation →