Board of Directors

Lisa passed the Court of Master Sommeliers’ Advanced Exam in 2010 and is pursuing her Master Sommelier Certification. Lisa went from New York to San Francisco and then to San Diego, passionately pursuing education and new skills in the world of wine and food. She was one of the founding members of Women’s Wine Alliance, a Past President for seven years, and currently serves as Women’s Wine Alliance President.

Her newest adventure is joining the team at Market Restaurant and Bar. This iconic restaurant is synonymous with excellence. Lisa will bring her passion for food and wine to the service team and guests. This restaurant is the heart and soul of Chef Carl Schroeder and Lisa will bring her knowledge to create a program that pairs with the culinary magic that represents Market. 

She brings with her multiple food and beverage certifications, including: Advanced Sommelier from Court of Master Sommeliers, Certified Specialist of Wine from Society of Wine Educators, Certified Wine Professional and an AOS Degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America. 

Lisa is a leader in the wine industry and in her hometown of San Diego, she has trained hundreds of individuals to become better beverage professionals. In 2006, she began teaching "Exploring Wine" in San Diego State University's Business of Wine Program. She has expanded her role at SDSU as she serves as an Advisor and teaches multiple wine classes each year. She has been involved for more than a decade with the San Diego Wine & Food Festival and serves as an advisor and Head Lead for SommCon USA. She is a wine judge for the San Diego International Wine Competition, Sommelier Challenge, Toast of the Coast and Lum Eisenman San Diego County Wine Competition.

Before becoming winemaker and Co-Owner of Altipiano Vineyard & Winery, Denise was in Human Resources for the Department of Defense and served in the United States Air Force for 6.5 years. She holds a B.A. degree in Human Resources Management and Services.  Inspired by a visit to southern Tuscany, Peter, and Denise both fell in love with the tranquility of the countryside and views of the beautiful vineyards. A wildfire destroyed their avocado grove in 2007, and this prompted them to replace it with 3600 grapevines in June 2008. Denise released her first wines in 2012. All the Estate grapes are handpicked, manually crushed, fermented, and bottled. Denise has become one of San Diego county’s trail blazer female winemakers winning numerous international awards.  

Anita I. Busquets, M.B.A. is a highly experienced, start-up executive who has served in a wide range of operating and financial management roles.

Ms. Busquets serves as President of Biotechnology Management Consultants. She uses her experience to assist scientists and entrepreneurs to start and grow biotechnology companies.  She is a co-founder and member of KI Investment Holdings, a local angel capital fund founded in 2006.  Until December 31, 2016, she was the co-owner of Aliane Wines, a San Diego based wine importer and distributor of fine wines produced by small independent family-owned vintners in France.

Ms. Busquets has served on multiple Boards including serving as Trustee and Chairman of the Board of the San Diego Natural History Museum, Toragen, Inc., Women’s Wine Alliance, NCE Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Athena San Diego, Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest and Project Wildlife.

Originally from the Oregon Coast, my husband Micole and I moved to Ramona in 2004 after my naval service, which was followed by a career in business development in the Health Care industry, which I retired from in 2021.    We started making wine in 2005, and in 2006 planted our first vineyard, Ramona Ranch Winery has focused on sustainability since it’s inception in 2004 and is San Diego County's only Certified Sustainable Vineyard and Winery, a distinction we obtained in 2017.  We’ve planted an insectary, which invites beneficial bugs and birds to improve the bio-diversity of the farm, recognized by the National Wildlife Federation as a Certified Wildlife Habitat, in addition to our sustainable certification.    

We specialize in vineyard specific, single varietal wines, like our Estate Tannat and Sangiovese, and our Super Tuscan Blend was awarded a Gold Medal at the Sunset International Wine Competition.    

My role is the development of our business, including obtaining our winery bond and licensing as a commercial winery and overseeing the tasting room, while handling the marketing and sales necessary to grow our business.  Working to continually improve our sustainability, we use native cover crops, have owl boxes, and do not use herbicides on our property, believing that allowing nature to thrive will create the balance we seek in both our wines, as well as our lives. 

I have an MBA, and recently obtained my Level Two WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Certificate in 2022. 

Jennifer Whitcomb, CSW is known for her passion about wine. She has continually been learning about wine for the past 20 years, including the Business of Wine Certificate from SDSU. Jennifer writes a wine blog as a way to ground her own knowledge, interact with the wine community, and help new wine drinkers be less intimidated about wine. She travels to wine destinations to virtually bring her experience to her readers. She works part-time at the WineSellar & Brasserie providing wine tastings to club members and working with customers to select wine that best fits their flavour profile. To the delight of her friends, she provides informative wine tastings and creates award winning wine-infused jams. Jennifer developed the MyWinePix app, an easy to use photo library of your favourite wines.

Jennifer works with global organizational leaders as an executive and leadership coach. She has a M.A., HRD, and is a Master Certified Coach by the International Coach Federation. In her spare time, she enjoys pickleball and spending time at the beach.

A lifelong veteran of restaurants, Certified Sommelier Tami Wong was the second San Diegan to be chosen by Wine & Spirits Magazine as one of the six Best New Sommeliers in 2014. In 2015, she received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for her list at Juniper and Ivy. She is a founding member of Nat Diego, San Diego’s first natural wine festival. As a board member of and contributor to CampestreMAG, she shares her love of the San Diego and Baja wine community. She works as a sales representative for Estate Wines Ltd and Wine Wise. In November 2020, she launched Stay Classy Selections, the first wholesale distribution company featuring San Diego County wines and ciders. Mira Costa Community College and San Diego State University alumni, Tami is all in on San Diego.