Sarah Munson

CMO

Transformative. That’s how Sarah defines wine. It was a Trefethen Chardonnay, poured over a long-ago dinner with the family of a college boyfriend, which first sparked her passion for wine (the boy, not so much).

Over the years her career – first Bain & Co., then several startups – took her to San Francisco, London and South Africa; perhaps coincidentally (or not), close to some of the finest wine locales in the world. When she returned to New York as executive director of marketing and product development for Bumble and Bumble, she began casually, then more seriously, studying wine. Transferring to Seattle as GM of beauty.com and drugstore.com, Sarah was vexed by the absence of sophisticated spaces to enjoy wine and friends, especially for women. So she and a friend conceived The Local Vine, a chain of wine bars then hailed by Bon Appetit as one of America’s best.

Sarah is preparing to sit the Master of Wine exam, which may prove to be more difficult than earning her MBA from Harvard. She is active in her community, sitting on the board of ETR, a healthcare non-profit, and Yavneh Day School. She hails from Alaska but has settled in California with her husband David, three kids, two dogs, a demanding cat and  — perhaps unsurprisingly  — enjoys wine more than ever.