Bios

The Captain of the ship, Kimberly Charles has worked her PR and marketing mojo all over the world for 30 years. As an employee and an agent, she tackled marketing issues of every size, shape and color, generating buzz & tangible results for wineries, gourmet food producers, nonprofit organizations, museums, hotels, perfume and luxury cars. Her approach is rooted in developing a true understanding of the distinct character of a product. Kimberly’s foremost passion is representing clients with a socially responsible or sustainable business platform. Kimberly has largely focused her efforts on the wine, spirits and food industries, but has also crafted cause marketing and co-branding campaigns in co-operation with luxury brands including BMW, Ritz-Carlton, American Express, the Marriott and Hyatt Hotel chains, the Tony Awards® and others.

She began her work in New York at the premium wine importing company Kobrand Corporation, where she served as Public Relations Director for a portfolio of internationally recognized brands including Taittinger Champagne, Louis Jadot Burgundies, Taylor Fladgate Ports and more. At that time, she oversaw all company media relations, co-marketing partnerships and winemaker media tours, putting her language and travel skills to great use. She was part of the team that launched and nurtured the brand Alizé de France.

She moved to Northern California to become Director of Communications for E. & J. Gallo Winery, directing corporate and internal communications, focusing on the successful re-launch of the Gallo of Sonoma brand. She then accepted a position as Senior Vice President of Magnet Communications in San Francisco, where she built an impressive roster of wine industry clients including Perrier Jouet & G.H. Mumm Champagne brands, St.Supéry Winery & Vineyards, Fetzer Vineyards, Fess Parker Winery and Robert Mondavi Imports among many others.

In the spring of 2003, Kimberly launched her own company, Charles Communications Associates in San Francisco, specializing in strategic branding, corporate social responsibility with a focus on launching, reinvigorating and repositioning of brands.

Kimberly holds a B.A. in History & Government from Georgetown University and also successfully completed the Diploma course for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust in London in 1997, one the early group of American candidates to attempt this challenging exam. She is a member of Slow Food and Les Dames d'Escoffier San Francisco. She is also a Trustee of the River Network. She served as Vice President of the Society of Wine Educators (2003-2005) and as board member for five years.

When she has time to breathe, Kimberly loves to travel and live it up. Her travel bug has fueled her interest in classic food and wine, sake, arak and single malt scotch.  Her excursions to Russia, Lebanon, Iceland, Japan and Greenland continue to inspire her thirst for exotic locales but in her restored 1900 Victorian home in San Francisco’s Mission District, she has found a home, where she can share her love of cooking and entertaining with a stimulating group of friends and colleagues. She is a devotee of yoga and endeavors to stay centered in an ever-changing world.

Restaurant: Cotogna in San Francisco & Septime in Paris
City to visit: San Sebastien
Place to shop: Le Marche aux Puces, Cligancourt or any funky flea market around the globe
Musician: Killian MacGeraghty
Cuisine: Moroccan
Wine: Chateau Cheval Blanc 1982
Beer: Supporting our local brews in Northern California, Little Sumpin' by Lagunitas - an IPA with a hoppy kick!
Book: Journey of Souls
Film: The Lives of Others
Philosopher: Rumi

For nearly twenty years, Amelia has engaged in marketing and communications with experience in a variety of industries ranging from wine and spirts to financial services. Her career began in the late 90’s with Ogilvy & Mather (London office) as an account executive working on the Guinness UK business. After three years as an ex-pat and plenty of dark beer, Amelia felt the pull of her hometown, and returned to San Francisco where she took a position with Visa International managing global brand communications for almost three years.

As a Bay Area native, it was hard not to cultivate an interest in the wine industry. Ready for an industry move, she took a position with Maisons Marques & Domaines, the US subsidiary for Champagne Louis Roederer, working with their global wine portfolio within the US market. Amelia’s love of the wine industry grew exponentially as she traveled to vineyards throughout France, Italy, Portugal and South Africa.

In 2006, Amelia left her commute behind (as well as access to discounted Cristal!) to become an independent wine communications specialist working with Freeman Winery in the Russian River Valley, Il Molino di Grace in Tuscany, West Sonoma Coast Vintners, and many more acclaimed properties. She also met and began working for Kimberly Charles at Charles Communications Associates. This was the start of a long working friendship.

In early 2020, Amelia took a full-time consulting project with Wine Institute, the public policy advocacy group representing over 1,000 California wineries and business associations. At Wine Institute she developed content for membership communications to build awareness, educate and support wineries regarding public policy issues at both the state and federal levels of government. As it turned out, with the fires and the pandemic, her time at Wine Institute was mainly spent managing crisis communications as well as developing content for online seminars to help member wineries navigate the cumbersome fire insurance claims, government related policies and pandemic related relief programs.

When she is not working with clients, she spends time with her family in Mendocino tending the 15 acres of Pinot Noir at Weir Vineyard or tries to win a couple of matches with her local tennis team. Amelia graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in History of Art and more recently, just dropped off her 18-year-old daughter to start college at her alma mater. Amelia resides in Mill Valley with her husband, 12-year-old son, a crazy two-year-old puppy and a wine cellar in constant need of replenishment.

Zak holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Stellenbosch University, located in the Cape Winelands of South Africa. It was there that he soon realized his career passions, in fact, lay in the surrounding vineyards.

After completing an MBA in food and wine at one of the select few institutions globally to offer such a program, Zak briefly consulted for an exporter of Italian technology in Bologna, Italy.

With well-rounded experience in PR, marketing, finance and business development, Zak approaches his work with creativity and vigor to drive innovation and commercial value.

Zak’s experiences with brands such as Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG, Wines of Chile, and Ferrari Trento have given him an innate ability to bring to life the stories of global brands through PR and marketing.

Zak is a native of South Africa who adapts well to the ‘terroir’ of wherever oenology takes him. When he’s not behind his laptop, you’ll find him perusing out in the vineyards, or in the kitchen cooking up a storm with a glass of wine in hand, and Sam Cooke playing in the background. Zak holds a diploma from the Cape Wine Academy and is always testing his palate through the discovery of unique wine regions. 

Richelle is a Mother, Partner, Daughter, Friend, Mental Health Therapist, LGBTQI Counselor, Social Justice Advocate, Organizational Development & Operations Consultant, Excel Guru, Certified Sommelier, Wine Sales Specialist, Wonder Woman on good days, and Nurse Ratched on bad days.  She is Charles Communications secret weapon operationally and motivationally speaking.
 
Richelle was born into an Italian American family and grew up on the Jersey Shore. She moved to California in 2003 to pursue a career in the wine business. Richelle’s passion for wine sparked when she was a bartender at an Italian restaurant in Philadelphia while going to school to earn her B.A. in Business Marketing from St. Joseph’s University. After graduation, Richelle traveled to Italy in search of inspiration and found it while drinking copious amounts of Italian wine and limocello on a patio overlooking the Tuscan Hills with her brother.
 
When she returned to the U.S., Richelle moved to the Napa Valley to further her wine education and career. Richelle attended the Greystone Wine Program at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena and earned her Sommelier Certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers. While living in Napa, Richelle was the Wine Director at The Carneros Inn. Her career eventually led her to move to San Francisco where she began working in marketing and sales for Broadbent Imports. Richelle also spent time working for Indy Wines and American Wine & Spirits where she was a top performer.
 
After spending 10 years in the wine business, she was ready to pursue another passion, psychology. Richelle went back to school and earned a M.A. degree in Clinical Counseling Psychology from Alliant International University in San Francisco. Today, Richelle works as a Mental Health Clinician with foster children and their families at Alternative Family Services in Oakland. She also has a private therapy practice in Berkeley where she provides mental health counseling to children, teens and adults in the LGBTQI community.
 
Richelle keeps her toes dipped in the wine business by working with Kimberly and her team at Charles Communications Associates. She has been working as their Organizational Development & Operations Consultant since 2012.
 
Richelle is also trained in Psychological First Aid by the Red Cross and provides counseling and support to victims following disasters. In her spare time Richelle advocates for social justice issues at city council meetings and serves on various boards in the mental health field.
 
And last, but certainly not least, Richelle has an imaginative and fun-loving young son named Max who lights up her life and reminds her each day that playing is just as important as work.
 
Restaurant: Acquerello in San Francisco
City to visit: Florence, Italy
Places to shop: Online
Musician: Mariah Carey (You can judge a little…)
Cuisine: Italian
Wine: Altesino Brunello di Montalcino, Chateau Musar
Beer: The Rare Barrel (Berkeley, CA)
Cocktail: Tommy’s Margarita (handmade in San Francisco)
Book: Goodnight Moon (with my son)
Film: The Wizard of Oz
Philosopher: Sarah Margaret Fuller
 

Born in San Francisco and educated in and around New York City, Annalee Lanier has been working as an artist and a designer in various capacities for 15 years. Trained in fine art at New York’s Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, Annalee’s experience includes mural painting, billboard design, illustration, portraiture, custom wallpaper design, print design and fine art photography. Annalee is currently working as a graphic designer at Paper City magazine in Houston, Texas, though she plans to return to the Bay Area before too long. In her free time, you will find her singing, dancing and misbehaving. A lifelong lover of language and culture, Annalee travels as far and wide as time permits.

Working with CCA,  whether it's for collateral, web, logos, you name it, she has an uncanny way of imagining a look and design even better than could be imagined. We like to call her the Wizard of Ahhhs.  
 

Restaurant:  Fang, SF and Coco's Cantina, Auckland
City to Visit:  Havana! 
Place to Shop:  Pilpeled.com 
Musician:  Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou 
Cuisine:  Gourmet Ramen 
Wine: Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 
Beer: Saison 
Book: Grendel (John Gardner) 
Film: Deerhunter
Philosopher: Louis C.K.