Wine’s Most Inspiring People: Dr. Liz Thach – California’s First Woman Master of Wine and 7th in the U.S.A. 

Serving the Wine Industry Through Education, Research and Communication

Dr. Liz Thach MW is the seventh woman in the United States and first in California to attain the Master of Wine (May 2011). Since August 2023 she has served as President of the non-profit Wine Market Council (WMC), only the fourth person to hold this position since the organization’s founding in 1996. One of her key initiatives has been to expand the WMC’s cutting-edge consumer research, now four studies a year. This month she has been working on the WMC’s Annual Research Conference & Member Meeting taking place March 25 at Copia in Napa.

A Career Academic

Dr. Thach is a fifth generation Californian who lives in Sonoma. At age three, her family moved to South Dakota and then Idaho. She says she grew up without wine at the table but developed a connection while attending Notre Dame de Namur University in California and spending time in Napa Valley. Dr. Thach holds an M.A. in Organizational Communication and Management from Texas Tech and a Ph.D. in Human Resource Development from Texas A&M University. She spent more than a decade working for Fortune 500 companies before transitioning to Sonoma State University to teach global wine business for twenty-three years. She now teaches an introductory wine course for Stanford Continuing Education. While teaching at Sonoma State, Dr. Thach wrote the first of her nine books  “Wine a Global Business,” co-authored with Tim Matz (2008).

Pursuing the  M.W. was initially not on her radar in 2006. At that time in California all the M.Ws. were men. Encouraged by industry colleagues, she went for it, earning the M.W. in 2011. She was recognized by the California State Legislature for being the first women in the state to earn this designation.

Juggling Roles

“I have three part time jobs: serving as president of the Wine Market Council, teaching my wine course and writing about wine for publications including Forbes, The Somm Journal and Wine Business Monthly (among others),” says Thach. Throughout her career, she has received more than thirty awards and accolades, presented at more than a one hundred conferences and published more than two hundred articles.

Keeping a pulse on consumer trends and behavior and their impact on the wine industry is what really lights up her eyes, and her role at WMC offers an ideal platform.

She says, “We survey our members and address how the wine industry needs to respond to consumer behavior, trends and engagement. The first of our four studies in 2026 is Decoding Consumer Barriers to Wine Flavor. Findings show that about 30% of people who drink wine do not like the taste and we are trying to delve deeper into this. What do consumers want to see in terms of taste descriptions on bottles?”

The WMC’s additional three studies in 2026 will be: Luxury Wine Consumers: Motivations & Purchasing Trends, New Wine Communication: Messages & Channels that Work With Today’s Consumers and Customer Acquisition and Retention – What Really Works.

Thach underscores that, despite effects of wine tariffs and a decline in sales and consumption, there are important bright spots, referencing the WMC’s 2025 study, Beyond the Dire Headlines. “That data shows that wine sales volume is down but overall sales are higher, reaching $107 billion in value. Consumers are spending more on wine.”

Melanie Young

Melanie Young [Bobby Ryan Portraits]

Melanie Young is a certified specialist of wine and co-host/writer for The Connected Table LIVE, a global podcast featuring conversations with thought leaders in wine, food, spirits & hospitality. Her articles have appeared in Wine Industry News, Wine Enthusiast and Seven Fifty Daily. She travels frequently to report on wine regions, people and events. IG: @theconnectedtable