Ray Klemp

Ray Klemp's personal background is as diverse and fascinating as the variety of vintages he stocks at his Scottsdale retail store, AZ Wine Company.

Ray's professional career began in the banking and finance industry in the 60's, venturing into commercial marketing and sales by the mid-70s. By 1976, he had moved into real estate as an industrial broker with Cushman and Wakefield of California. During that period, he also became involved as a principal in property investment and development, largely in Southern California and Arizona, which included his purchase of a large retail center in Mesa. In 1981 he started the Klemp Company, through which he continued his commercial real estate endeavors.

Between 1986 and 1996, focusing his interest in investment and development in the Phoenix area, Ray purchased the Wilshire Plaza retail center in Scottsdale. Here he began his first retail venture with the founding of AZ Wine Company, which has been so successful that he has since expanded with a second location in Carefree, Arizona.

In 1981, while in Hollywood working on a commercial building project for Playboy Enterprises, Inc., Ray met Carol, the woman he would have both the good fortune and good sense to marry. The future Mrs. Klemp had been casting for a Hollywood film studio and she made him her own "leading man" three years later. Ray and Carol have two daughters, Lauren and Morgan, and presently make their home in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Ray and Carol Klemp have been avid public radio listeners for many years. Both, too, share an enthusiasm for quality wine, matched only by their extensive knowledge of the vintages and vintners that craft them. It was, no doubt, Ray's entrepreneurial bent that, in early 2001 - inspired him to connect these two passions and propose the idea for what has become the Southwest's most distinguished rare and collectible wine celebration, the First Press Fine Wine Auction.

Asked about the third annual staging of this extraordinary event, Ray observed that "First Press provides an entertaining way to bring those who know and enjoy wine face to face in a convivial setting with the people who are responsible for creating it."

A true man of many interests, Ray's educational background includes a B.S. in Physics from Purdue University and he holds a M.A. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Arkansas.