When you’re successful at what you do, the time can fly by.
Just ask Thomas Halby, one of the most successful marketing gurus in the history of the American wine industry.
Tom began his career at Inglenook, California’s first great wine estate, in 1967. That experience led to a position as Vice President of National Sales for Parrot Company, the marketing organization for the Louis Martini and Wente Bros. wineries.
By 1983, Tom was ready to venture out on his own. Just off the historic square in the town of Sonoma, he put up the Halby Marketing Inc. shingle. One of his investors was Jess Jackson, and Tom helped grow a small, little known winery in Lake County into a national wine powerhouse we know as Kendall-Jackson.
After K-J assumed its own marketing, Tom helped bring widespread attention and acclaim to a number of other California wineries, including Clos Pegase, Robert Pepi, Steele and Hanna. He also began importing carefully selected wines and spirits from France, Italy, Germany, Spain and seven other countries.
Now, after more than 40 years in the business – four decades that seemingly passed in the blink of an eye – Tom Halby has put his own name on the label for the first time. He explores the wine regions of California and the world in search of wines that he is proud to call his own.
