New Member Spotlight:  Mark Wenzel

By Sue Geary, Vice Chargée de Presse, FWS, IWS, SWS

Photo by Vice Chargé des Médias Sociaux Cole Johnson

Mark Wenzel got his introduction to wine while serving a mission for the LDS Church in Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino Counties. Wait! No! That can’t be right! Mark Wenzel first gained an appreciation for what he would later know as terroir while biking throughout Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino Counties while serving a mission in the late 1980’s. Riding a bicycle over every foot of elevation, feeling every degree of temperature change, while observing the changes in soils and the seasonal changes in vineyards is indeed a good inauguration to viniculture. Some years later, Mark’s love of good food led to his exploration of good wines from those three California counties and elsewhere in the world.

Mark is an engineer working in the medical device industry, most recently doing research in disease diagnostics equipment. One avenue for his study of wine has been the Utah Wine Club, for which he has presented educational events and of which he is now the President. It was through that club that Mark met Richard Pater, who invited Mark to join the Bailliage de Salt Lake City of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs.  Richard also officiated the wedding of Mark and Lyndsey in February of this year. Lyndsey, who joins Mark at all Chaîne events, has a background in digital marketing and currently works as a real estate agent. Both are mostly native Utahns.  Mark credits “the lure of fantastic cuisine and le vin de classe mondiale that accompanies it” as hisreason for exploring la Chaîne, but it was the camaraderie he experienced at our events that led to his decision to join. He looks forward to finding inspiration from the many fine chefs who create the menus for our events.