Vino Ventures was launched in 2013 by Amy Neyer and Kathy Merchant to provide a creative home for sharing stories of a passion for wine, educational events and programs, and an educator’s perspective on notable news and trends from the local wine community and beyond.
Kathy Merchant has written for Cincinnati’s Venue Magazine, French Wine Explorers, and Wine Scholar Guild, and participated in the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers (2012-13). For French Wine Explorers, she hosted the company’s inaugural group tour to Tuscany and Piedmont. An investor in Cincinnati’s successful 1215 Wine Bar in OTR, she helped to establish the wine program and classes. Kathy provides fun and educational wine events for companies, professional associations, alumni associations, and private clients, and has served as WSET faculty for the American Wine School. She is a Professionnel du Vin member of the Cincinnati chapter of Chaîne des Rôtisseurs and the Société Mondiale du Vin. Kathy is the former president/CEO (1997-2015) of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
DipWSET, French Wine Scholar, Certified Specialist of Wine