Jamie Peha, copyright Heather Curbow

Later this summer Jamie Peha, executive director of the Auction of Washington Wines, will step away from the organization. (Full disclosure: My wife works for the Auction.) She won’t call it a retirement but rather a “rewirement.” Peha does so after having spent more than 30 years in the Washington wine industry.

“I’ve devoted my career to elevating Washington wine,” Peha says.

Working from the ground up

Peha was born on Mercer Island, Washington. Her father was a florist whose hobby was dining out at specialty restaurants, decades before the practice became common. It would have a profound impact on Peha’s life.

“Dining out was very special,” she says. “My father loved food, and he loved people. He was a great host.”

When Peha attended Washington State University, she considered majoring in drama but instead focused on hospitality business administration. She saw a link between the two.

“I went into the restaurant industry because I realized that restaurants were like putting on a show,” Peha says. “You made sure that everything was ready, and then you opened the doors and the show begins.”

After graduating, Peha spent a decade in the restaurant industry in Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica. She was working as a restaurant general manager by age 21.

From early on, Peha showed a knack for launching new ventures. She helped establish and open a number of restaurants. She designed menus, helped with décor, wrote training manuals, and hired managers and chefs.

“Everything I’ve ever done has been from the ground up,” Peha says.

Falling in love with Washington wine

Peha first became aware of Washington wine working at an oceanside restaurant in Santa Monica that she helped launch. As the opening manager, she inventoried bottles.

“That is how I was introduced to the Washington wine industry,” Peha says.

Peha returned to the Northwest in 1991. Her entrance to the wine industry had an element of luck. She bumped into a sorority sister who worked at the Washington State Wine Commission. The Commission is a state government agency established in 1987 to raise awareness and demand for Washington wine. (Full disclosure: I have consulted for the Wine Commission since 2012.) At the time, it was a fledgling organization with two employees: Simon Siegl, the first executive director, and Cynthia Daste, the marketing director.

Promotional flier for first Taste Washington, 1998

In 1994, Peha was given a one year contract with the Commission to support two things she loved most: events and marketing. That led to discovering a third love. “I fell in love with the Washington wine industry right away,” Peha says.

One of Peha’s early responsibilities was organizing the World Vinifera Conference, which took place in Seattle in 1995 and 1998. It drew media and wine industry people from around the world to Washington with an overarching goal.

“We were trying to put Washington wine on the world map,” Peha says.

Establishing Taste Washington

Peha was subsequently hired by the Commission full-time as director of marketing and promotion. Her next major event would be perhaps Peha’s most enduring legacy.

In 1998, Peha was charged with creating the first public Taste Washington, a consumer-facing wine event. The inaugural Taste Washington took place in Seattle at the Paramount Theater. It was the first non-theatre event to take place on the newly designed flat floor.

The event paired 40 local wineries with 40 restaurants. Each chef paired a dish with a specific wine. This was well before food and wine pairing became vogue. In fact, the goal was as much economic as gastronomic.

“What we were trying to do was get the wine and the wine brand into the hands of the chef of that restaurant,” Peha says. The event drew hundreds.

While at the Commission, Peha developed and directed Taste Washington for eight years, taking it from a nascent idea to a three-day event. When Peha left the Wine Commission in 2005, there were 160 participating wineries and 90 restaurants, drawing more than 2,000 attendees as well as national and international media. This past year, a record 7,500 people attended Taste Washington’s grand tasting and another 1,000 attended other events. Taste Washington is the largest single-region wine event in the country.

“It was a special event to launch,” Peha says. “Starting out, it was really grassroots.”

Recognizing the work of others

A key part of Peha’s career in the Washington wine industry in addition to events and promotion has been creating vehicles to recognize people and organizations. While at the Wine Commission, Peha helped establish the Seattle Restaurant Awards, which honored people and businesses that helped promote Washington wine.

“It was another way to continue to build support for the industry and also to show how the wine industry supported restaurants,” Peha says.

Peha left the Wine Commission in 2005 to work as director of promotions and sales development at Seattle Magazine. There, among other activities, she created the Seattle Magazine Wine Awards, recognizing specific varieties, up-and-coming wineries, top tasting rooms, wine regions, and more. Recently, as executive director of the Auction of Washington Wines, Peha created Toast!, an event recognizing people within the industry. (Full disclosure: Northwest Wine Report is a sponsor of the 2025 Toast! event, and I was a 2022 Toast! award recipient.)

Jamie Peha, 2012 copyright Richard Duval

Peha left Seattle Magazine in 2009 to focus full-time on Peha Promotions, a marketing strategy and event solutions company. “I’d always known that I was an entrepreneur and that I wanted my own business,” Peha says.

In subsequent years, Peha helped launch numerous events and activities that elevated brands. Perhaps most notably, she purchased a newly started event called Seattle Wine and Food Experience. After successfully developing the event over 7 years, Peha transformed her initial investment into a substantial return, selling the event to Seattle Magazine. She also launched a radio show called Table Talk, hosting culinary and wine industry talent.

A career ‘fix-it’ person

Throughout her career, Peha has stepped into various industry roles in times of need. For example, she spent time as interim director of Woodinville Wine Country and the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance.

“I’m a fix-it person,” Peha says. “That’s kind of what I do.”

Peha became involved with the Auction of Washington Wines to help establish the Private Barrel Auction, which auctions off special lots to the wine trade to elevate Washington wine nationally. When the Auction was seeking an executive director, Peha stepped into the role in March of 2019.

In subsequent years, Peha has navigated the Auction through the pandemic and expanded the Auction’s regional events with wine country celebration dinners. From 2019 when she started as executive director to the present, the Auction has raised $23M.

“That feels pretty good,” Peha says. 

Now, as she steps away from the Auction, Peha looks out at an industry that has blossomed to more than 1,000 wineries over the last 30 years. Peha has played an important role in the industry’s growth and development.

“I have had a lot of success, and I feel very grateful for that, but I didn’t do it alone,” Peha says. “You stand on the shoulders of a lot of people.”

At an age when most people look to retirement, Peha talks about “rewirement.” She has rebranded Peha Promotions to Peha Ventures. The company will focus on travel experiences for small groups as well as signature gatherings focused on travel, wine, and “rewiring” people’s next chapter. Peha will continue to do some consulting as well as champion the Washington wine industry.

“I’ve just never liked the word ‘retire,’” Peha says. “I’m excited for this next part of my life.”

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