Benchmark Wine Group appoints next president

Fine wine retailer Benchmark Wine Group has named Master Sommelier Jay James as its next president.

James brings nearly four decades of experience in all tiers of the fine and rare wine industry. As President, he will apply his knowledge to overseeing all of Benchmark’s strategic development initiatives and daily operations. 

After starting his career at the Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta and working at several other top restaurants in the city, James moved to distribution, handling key account sales for Atlanta Wholesale Wine. After earning the Master Sommelier Diploma in 1997, to date one of only 273 people worldwide to have done so, James was selected as the opening Director of Wine for The Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas. He then joined the country’s largest wine distributor Southern Wine and Spirits (now Southern Glazer's) in Nevada, where he became Vice President of their fine wine division.

James has headed up sales and operations at three of the top collectable wine producers in Napa: Chappellet, Larkmead and Joseph Phelps Vineyards, and most recently led innovative wine and spirits distributor Springboard Wine Company. He is a co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the educational charity SommFoundation. James has been featured as a wine business expert within multiple national publications. He regularly speaks at top wine and food events internationally, and he teaches and examines for the Court of Master Sommeliers.