Meet Our Staff


Bill Knight

President, Owner

Bill Knight, President and Owner, has spent the last three decades making sure that The Wine House lives up to its motto “The Only Wine Shop You Need.” His tireless commitment to staffing the store with knowledgeable, professional wine consultants allows The Wine House to provide great service, selection and value to a broad range of wine consumers. Customers have recognized these efforts by bestowing the coveted 3-star rating from Wine & Spirits magazine’s consumer poll and Food & Wine Magazine has recognized The Wine House as one of ten Best Wine Shops in the World. Bill has also been chosen a Wine Spectator Market Watch Leader.

Bill's Picks


Glen Knight

New World Buyer, Owner

Glen Knight, New World Buyer and Owner, has spent the better part of the last two decades working the aisles of The Wine House. While attending college in Oregon, he labored as a “Cellar Rat” for a notable winery and as an assistant tasting room manager for another. He has held pretty much every job in the store – he started on the stock crew, moved to the order desk/sales and currently is the New World Buyer. He is passionate about New World Pinot Noirs, Cabernets, Aussie Shiraz, Riojas and Nebbiolo based wines. In addition to championing domestic wines, Glen loves discovering new finds in faraway places and has traveled to New Zealand and South America scouting the best wines to bring to The Wine House.


Jim Knight

Old World Buyer, Owner

Jim Knight has been in the wine business for over two decades. Jim inherited the “Wine Bug” from his father but he discovered his passion by doing cellar and vineyard work in Santa Barbara. In addition to wine, Jim is passionate about music, and he makes a Syrah called Jelly Roll, which pays homage to one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, Jelly Roll Morton. Jim is the Old World Buyer, although his Central Coast winemaking experience makes him very knowledgeable about California Central Coast (Pinot Noir, Syrah and Chardonnay). He is very enthusiastic about red and white Burgundy, northern Rhone Syrahs (specifically Côte Rôtie and Cornas) and Nebbiolo from Piedmont.

Jim's Picks


Monica Marin

Director of WSET & WSG Education Programs

Monica is the Director of WSET & WSG Education Programs. Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, she attended the Complutense University of Madrid, where she graduated with a B.A. in communications, advertising and public relations. She then moved to London where she held several executive positions at marketing and hospitality companies. Monica enrolled in the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) where she successfully completed all of the wine certification levels and earned the WSET Diploma. Monica manages the two certification-level programs offered at The Wine House: WSET and the Wine Scholar Guild (WSG). She currently is a Master of Wine candidate. Throughout her career, Monica has visited the best wine regions of Italy and Spain, falling in love with the culture, wine and gastronomy in Piedmont, Tuscany, Rioja and Ribera del Duero. She has also traveled extensively in Germany, Austria, France, California, Chile and Argentina. Monica is a certified instructor for the WSET at the intermediate, advanced and Diploma levels in California, Mexico, Colombia and Chile. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and has a good knowledge of Italian and French.

Monica has been named 2021 SWS Instructor of the Year, 2019 FWS Instructor of the Year and is one of ten educators worldwide nominated by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) as an Educator of the Year for 2019.


Lisa Clark

Director of Marketing

Lisa grew up in Los Angeles and remembers her father shopping and taking wine classes at The Wine House in the 80s. She is passionate about food, wine and travel, and will combine the three whenever she can. After working many years in London, first in Product Marketing for consumer (home) PCs at Compaq Computer, and then at a startup, she moved back to Los Angeles to be closer to her family and enjoy all that Southern California has to offer (weather, beaches, mountains, deserts, excellent farmers markets…). She loves to cook (her cooking club has been going for over 15 years) – just don’t get her started about various gadgets and culinary endeavors (sous-vide, Instant Pot, vanilla extracts…)! She started at the Wine House fulfilling internet orders, and now looks after the “electronic” side of the business – the website and the promotional email campaigns (if you get emails from The Wine House, Lisa had something to do with that!) Lisa loves to sip a Provencal Rosé, enjoys wine tasting in Paso Robles and Los Olivos, and has a soft spot for the some of the great value reds from across the world.


Michelle Davis

Assistant Manager, Old & Rare Buyer

Michelle Davis is Assistant Manager, Old & Rare Buyer. Ten years ago, she started her wine career by accident after landing a position with Robert Mondavi.  Having found her true calling, she quickly moved to The Wine House to expand her knowledge beyond Napa Valley. Today, she is the Old & Rare buyer, a manager and senior salesperson.  Despite being in charge of the highest end department in the store, she is most passionate about introducing new wine drinkers to under the radar values as well as the wine world’s most overlooked grapes and regions.

Michelle's Picks


Maria Garcia

Germany, Austria, Alsace, Greece, & Eastern Europe Wine Buyer

Maria Garcia is a Los Angeles native, raised in Norwalk, California. She graduated from UCLA with degrees in political science and history degrees and earned a restaurant management degree from the Art Institute of California. She was teaching high school in Crenshaw when her interest in beverage took her to culinary school. During her time in culinary school, fascination with wine grew and her studies landed her at Spago, Beverly Hills, training under master sommelier Chris Miller. At Spago, she worked on the first three Wine Spectator Restaurant Award wine lists the restaurant was ever awarded. She gained certifications through the Court of Master Sommeliers and continues her studies to this day. She was most recently running the wine program at République restaurant in Los Angeles, where she curated a cellar of approximately 1800 selections. Having worked with large international cellars, feel free to ask her for wine suggestions from around the world.


Eduardo Bolaños

Spanish, Portuguese and South American Wine Buyer

Eduardo began his wine career in Beverly Hills, CA under the tutelage of the Spago Beverly Hills Wine Director, Chris Miller. Working at Spago, Eduardo assisted in building the wine cellar that won the Wine Spectator “Grand Award” in 2010. He went on to work for top restaurants in Los Angeles: Pizzeria Mozza and Chi Spacca.

In 2012 he spent time abroad working the wine harvest in Spain, while working as a sommelier at three-star Michelin restaurants Arzak and Akelare. After living in Spain and France, he became passionate about Champagne, Sherry and Rioja. In 2014, he became an Advanced Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers. Eduardo buys Spanish, Portuguese and South American wines at The Wine House and is an amazing salesperson who can often be found on the sales floor helping customers.


Garrin Hajeian

Beer, Sake and South African Wine Buyer

Garrin is the beer, sake, and South African wine buyer. He has passed WSET 3, CSW, Certified Sommelier, WSET Sake, and Cicerone Level 1 examinations. He was formerly the Wine Director of Saddle Peak Lodge and has worked in all sorts of other restaurants. He likes rosé more than orange wine, thinks that a moderate use of SO2 in winemaking is generally a good thing, and that affordable wine is at a higher quality level than it has ever been in the history of winemaking.


James Blake

Wine Sales

James is a native Southern Californian who grew up in a family of wine lovers and collectors, so it was natural that he would land in the wine industry. After owning a sports memorabilia company and working in various business management positions since graduating from Pepperdine University, he realized that it was time to turn his passion for wine into a career. James first came to the Wine House as a customer and then successfully completed the WSET Advanced Certification course. He loves talking about and tasting wines from all over the world, but has a particular interest in wines from his home state of California.


David Griffith

Wine Sales

David joined the Wine House team in September 2018 after spending 38(!) years in retail wine and spirits – the last eighteen of which he ran the wine program for a shop in West Hollywood. His areas of specialty wine wise include Burgundy, Loire, Rhône, and Piedmont (he’s generally oak-averse).

David has been a part of a wine dinner group for almost 15 years that meets monthly at different restaurants around the southland and has a different wine theme each time. His interests, other than food and wine, include his passionate devotion to soccer and ice hockey. He commutes to the Wine House guilt free from his home in Long Beach via his electric car – and HOV lane stickers!


Christi Gerlach

Wine Sales

After many years in wholesale wine sales, Christi joined The Wine House in 2017 to assist with our marketing campaigns; now you can find her at the order desk and on the floor helping customers with new discoveries. Christi found her way into the wine business via the restaurant industry, starting on the culinary side and then onto managing the front of the house where her passion for pairing food and wine was able to evolve. She has been fortunate to work with some of the greatest wineries in the world. She expanded her knowledge by studying and working with many of her winemakers to learn all aspects of wine making, particularly enjoying blending sessions.