Greg Gregory

Greg Gregory is a Managing Director and the Wine Relationship Ambassador for First Citizens. Based in Napa, Greg and his team deliver wine-centric programs that foster connections between First Citizens premium wine clients and the bank’s technology and venture capital clients. Just as a sommelier loves finding the perfect food-and-wine pairing, Greg loves matching top-tier wine producers and families with visionaries in technology, life science and healthcare, private equity and venture capital. Once he’s connected these extraordinary wine makers with these remarkable trailblazers, he then finds ways to optimize cross-marketing opportunities between them.

Greg began his career far from Napa, in a vineyard-starved state in a decidedly non-wine career. Born and raised in Tampa Bay, Florida, he co-owned his family’s wholesale roofing distribution business for over 20 years; during which, the business grew into the second largest roofing wholesaler in the state. In 2009, he launched a second career in the wine industry. He began this new métier as a partner in BP Wine, a Napa Valley rare-wine merchant. Later, he transitioned into directorship roles at Staglin Family Vineyard and BRAND Napa Valley before becoming Director of Business Development for rare-wine merchant Vinfolio. He joined the First Citizens Wine Division in 2017. Greg holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and communications from Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida.

Since immersing himself in the wine world, Greg has traveled through key wine regions internationally. He has also contributed philanthropically to charity wine auctions throughout the country and at one point amassed a cellar totaling almost 20,000 bottles of the greatest wines in the world. So, how did he get from kingpin roofing wholesaler to ace wine pro? All it took was just one sip: On New Year’s Eve 1998, the non-wine drinker was offered a glass of wine that awakened the wine lover inside him and eventually sent him on his current path. The bottle that brought about his life-changing epiphany? A 1982 Haut Brion.