Hugh Thacher - President

Hugh Thacher was born in New York City on July 22, 1948. He attended the Riverdale Country School through fifth grade, the North Country School in Lake Placid through the eighth grade, and then went on to the Westminster School in Simsbury, Connecticut where he graduated in the spring of 1966.

Hugh spent the next four years at the Lake Forest College in Illinois, where he graduated in 1970. After college, he moved directly to San Francisco. He became very interested in the newly blossoming California "boutique" wine business. He joined an import firm in 1974 and began selling French and California wines throughout the western United States. This, in turn, led to the formation of the San Francisco Wine Exchange in 1975 and its incorporation in 1976.

Thacher is president and owner of the company. These positions encompass a variety of activities. He is the company's chief liaison to its winery clients. Hugh works with his National Sales Manager, Phil Nugent, to oversee a sales and distribution network of 6 regional sales managers, 20 regional brokers, and over 100 licensed wholesalers.