Our People

A native Wisconsinite who is now nearly half-Texan, has been in the hospitality and wine industry for twenty-three years.  Post-college, I discovered my passion for wine and food while waiting tables at the Globe Restaurant (Oshkosh, WI) in late 1996 – where I tasted a 1982 Chateau Mouton Rothschild brought to share by a valued customer. This was my first experience with the beguiling, wonderful, delicious and amazing flavors that can be hidden inside a bottle of wine.  Fast forward almost six years and many bottles later to Dallas, TX – where I was serving at The Green Room and was gifted a bottle of 1996 Domaine Prieuré Roch Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru by the owner of the restaurant. This was the watershed wine which opened my eyes to what would become my new path forward in life – everything else is history.

I left his burgeoning career as an actor and joined Crawford Malone Fine Wine & Spirits, where I rose to VP of Sales managing a team of six in twelve states and multiple brands. In 2011 I left to join Terlato Wines International where I held multiple regional sales and national chain roles in my four and a half years there.  In 2015, I joined K Vintners/Wines of Substance as the Central Region Sales Director, where I was an integral part of growing the Charles Smith Wines brands for sale to CBI, developing both regional and national chain business, as well as launching one of the fastest growing Cabernet Sauvignon’s in the US.

I am unbelievably humbled and excited to have been given the opportunity to work with the Sokol Blosser family – one of the founding families of the Oregon wine industry – whose roots are deep, values are strong and whose wines are beguiling, wonderful and delicious. Just the way I like it.

Hobbies: Cooking, record collecting, mountain biking, reading sci-fi, spending time with my wife and four kids.  If I lived near a viable lake, I’d also be a sailor.

What you like about Pinot Noir: It is the ultimate Yin & Yang of vitis vinifera.  Hard to grow, but oh-so-rewarding when done right. Runs the gamut from light and airy to rich and deep, bright and acidic to dark and tannic.  Pairs well with a variety of cuisines, cheese, meat and fish dishes.  When done well, it is the ultimate in expression of unique terroir.

Favorite Food: Squeaky cheese (if you don’t know, you don’t know).

Place You’d Like to Travel To: Oh jeez – almost too many to name.  Mexico City, Tokyo, Santorini, Sydney, Auckland, Bali, Bora Bora, Moscow, Prague, Munich, Vienna, Rome, Athens, Lima, Hanoi, Malfi Coast, Sicily, Barcelona….and on and on.

Favorite Drink Besides Wine: WI Old Fashioned w/Brandy, Sour; and iced tea with lots of lemon.