Daniel Stoch and Stefan Parnay

worklifepeople_danielstoch
worklifepeople_danielstoch

Daniel Stoch Leads the Way as Virtual Tasting Manager

Larkmead Vineyards recently promoted Daniel Stoch to virtual tasting manager, a brand-new role at Larkmead as the winery strives to meet consumer demand for virtual tasting experiences.

Long known for keeping an eye toward the future, Larkmead Vineyards anticipates increased interest in virtual wine tastings and tours, as the world becomes more comfortable with online meeting platforms. The new role is a natural fit for Stoch. “Daniel has played an integral role as tasting room manager at Larkmead Vineyards, especially in March of 2020 when the pandemic began. Larkmead, along with the rest of the industry, had to quickly pivot to virtual tastings,” said Victoria Anderson, client operations manager at Larkmead, in a statement.

Daniel Stoch

Stoch is up to the task at hand. “I am looking forward to applying the skills I have learned at Larkmead during harvest and my time as tasting room manager to engage with and educate more Larkmead members than ever before, which is the beauty of working in a virtual world,” he said.

Virtual tastings with Stoch are available to all winery mailing list subscribers. For more information, visit larkmead.com.

Marin Appoints New Agricultural Commissioner

Stefan Parnay, Marin County’s deputy agricultural commissioner/director since 2010, will lead the department following the retirement of longtime director, Stacy Carlsen, in September last year. “Stefan has served the county well for many years as the deputy director and more recently has an acting director,” said Matthew Hymel, county director, in a statement. “We are fortunate to have someone with Stefan’s skill and ability leading the department forward, especially as we confront the challenges of a major drought.”

Agriculture/weights and measures include 14 employees and have an annual budget of $3 million, operating under the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR). On the agriculture side, the staff promotes sustainable agricultural practices through its organic certification program; provides education on integrated pest-management principles and strategies; inspects plant shipments for invasive pests of agricultural crops and horticultural plants; inspects farmers markets; provides support for the management of invasive weeds; implements a livestock protection program; produces annual livestock and crop report; and more. The weights and measures division inspects commercial weighing and measuring devices and verifies retail price accuracy of commodities at the time of sale to ensure consumers receive the lowest advertised or posted price. Inspectors test and seal a wide variety of devices, including gas pumps; various meters such as electric, taxi and water meters; weighing devices such as scales at grocery check-out stations, deli scales and livestock scales; and point-of-sale systems.

Stefan Parnay

Parnay, who grew up in Sebastopol, has managed and prepared the department’s budget for more than a decade, including the implementation of budget reductions during challenging times. Before joining the County of Marin, Parnay was deputy agricultural commissioner (five years), and chief deputy agricultural commissioner (six years) in Sonoma County.

“It is a great privilege to serve the community and industry in this capacity,” said Parnay in a statement. “I am very grateful for the wonderful people I work with and the passion and devotion they have to making Marin County a great place [to] live, work and visit. I look forward to continuing the critically important work we have collectively been doing in response to the pandemic, racial equity, climate change, the drought crisis and more.”

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