Tara Empson is excited to share her love for baking and cake decorating with Geralyn Brostrom. She whips up a marvelous Vinitaly cake and explains how it was made.
She shares her sources of inspiration along with tips on how to make beautifully crafted cakes. Perhaps most importantly, she shares tips on how to pair cakes with wines!
Tara Empson has become a pillar of her family’s dynamic wine export and import businesses (Empson & Co., est. 1972 and Empson USA, est. 1991, respectively). She is the daughter of Neil and Maria Empson—early advocates of fine Italian wine imports in the U.S. In 2006, Tara began her career at Empson & Co. In 2018, she succeeded her father, Neil, as CEO of the company. She was also appointed CEO of Empson USA effective April 1, 2019. Today, Tara leads an impressive portfolio of suppliers that currently export to 32 countries worldwide. Championing Italy’s indigenous and single varietal wines, Tara is eager to shine a light on lesser-known varieties that hail from Italy’s most well-known regions. These include Verdicchio from Le Marche, world-class Malvasia from the Sicilian island of Salina, and both Grignolino and Malvasia from Piedmont. In her spare time, Tara enjoys the company of her two dogs, baking, cooking exotic cuisines, and (of course!) great wine.
Geralyn Brostrom is a Vinitaly International Academy Italian Wine Expert. Her other professional credentials include Society of Wine Educators (SWE) Certified Wine Educator, and Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 3. Her twenty-year-career has led her through multiple branches of the wine industry, from wineries to retail to import. Eventually, her entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and she started Italian Wine Central which offers the Italian Wine Professional program and represents the synergy between two of her passions: helping others learn and the allure of Italy. As an Italian citizen, she’s on a continuing mission to help illuminate for others the unparalleled diversity of Italian grapes and wines on offer. Her goal: to clear up the common misconception that Italian wine is just too complicated to learn. Though complex, the subject becomes manageable with organized instruction. When not focused on all things Italian, Geralyn lectures on wine business topics for the Wine MBA program at Sonoma State University. Meanwhile, she’s pursuing her Doctor of Business Administration at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.