Alejandro Bonacalza
Agente de Representación, Buenos Aires
Ale, a certified public accountant, mans our Buenos Aires representative office.
Ale oversees bookkeeping and winery orders.
Ale is also in charge of all sales and marketing reports. Ale lives in Buenos Aires with his family. |
Michele Burger
Director of U.S. Distributor Operations
Michele, a native of Northern California with over twenty years in the wine business, has been in
Sales, Operations and Customer Service. As one of the original employees of Central Coast Wine
Company (now Henry Wine Group), Australian Wine Producer Penfolds (US Operations Office)
and Epic Wines, she has much experience in building a solid operation and connections with her
customers. Michele lives on the Monterey Peninsula in California with her husband.
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Alejandro Darago
Agente de Representación, Mendoza
Alejandro, an Argentine industry insider and the former Sommelier of the
Alvear Palace Hotel (the highest-ranked hotel in South America), forms
the heart of our Argentine selection team. Ale lives in Mendoza where he
oversees quality control and our logistics, as well as always looking
for the next Argentine Rising Star. Ale co-founded Vino del Sol in 2004.
Read more about Ale.
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David Festenstein
Midwest & National Off-Premise Chain Director
David is a passionate sales leader with over 25 years of experience in the alcohol beverage industry across wholesale, retail and supplier channels. For the last 15 years, David has focused on selling highly-acclaimed, world-class wines where he successfully generated new business in both National & Regional Off-Premise chains. David lives in his home town of Chicago where he is huge sports fan and enjoys spending time with his family, friends and his Westie named Joey.
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Matt Hedges
President
Matt fell in love with wine while studying abroad in Argentina, and started Vino del Sol as a result. Matt, a National Merit Scholar, received his MBA from the University of Mississippi, who honored him with their Outstanding Young Alumnus Award. Matt handles Vino del Sol's administration, finance, IT, and marketing. He is a proud recipient of Wine Enthusiast's 40 Under 40 Tastemaker award.
Read how Vino del Sol began.
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Mark Hirsekorn
Southeast & Caribbean District Manager
Mark Hirsekorn grew up in Houston and developed his passion for wine in 2001 when he began working in a fine dining restaurant during college. During this time he realized that he wanted to have a career in the wine industry. Mark spent many years in distribution in Florida with Stacole Fine Wines. He now lives in Orlando with his girlfriend and 2 dogs where they enjoy spending their free time on the lake.
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Kevin Millman
VP Sales: Eastern U.S.
Kevin is a tenacious sales manager who enjoys nothing more than being out on the street in the middle of the action. Kevin came to Vino del Sol from Winebow & Billington Imports where he was an integrate part in building the Argentine and Chilean segment into the powerhouse it is today. Prior to the supplier side of the business, Kevin spent many years working in wholesale calling on all channels of trade. Kevin lives with his wife and daughter in Atlanta.
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Vanessa Mylan
Sales Support & Compliance Coordinator
Vanessa is an admin extraordinaire; she handles Vino del Sol's compliance, sales support, and many other miscellaneous administration tasks. Vanessa previously worked at Compli, Inc as an Alcohol Compliance Account Manager, and before that in the restaurant industry. She received her degree in Business Administration. Vanessa lives in the Central Coast of CA with her husband and children.
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Marc Pearlman
West Coast Regional Manager
An avid wine enthusiast from for over twenty years, Marc has spent the past decade in distribution working in the Pacific Northwest. He comes to us in 2015 from his most recent role as VP of Corporate Sales at Vehrs Distributing in Washington and Oregon. Originally from Boston, he is now calls Seattle his home.
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Rich Potenza
South Central Regional Manager
Rich began his career in the wine industry over 20 years ago, working for an East Coast distributor before relocating to Southern California. He held positions as a restaurant and hotel wine buyer, as well as the general manager for two of the largest retail wine stores in San Diego. In 2006, Rich joined Epic Wines where he was one of the top-selling sales representatives for VDS wines in California. In 2013 he moved to Texas and became Vino del Sol's Texas Field Manager.
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Thane Prichard
SVP Sales
Thane Prichard, aka "The Gaucho," is a writer, wine educator, horseman, and avid fly-fisherman
who travels between Argentina and Northern California. He has worked in
the wine industry for the past 20 years. He has represented
such wineries as Silver Oak, Dunn Vineyards, Geyser Peak, Bonny Doon, Cavit, Grgich Hills, and many others in international distribution.
In 2004, Thane co-founded Vino del Sol and is the national director of sales.
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Andrea Shank
Mid-Atlantic Field Manager
After a month immersed in Italy in 2006, Andrea's love for wine blossomed through her world travels in college, and her knowledge deepened through hands-on-experience in the field. Before joining Vino del Sol she spent the previous 5 years in wine sales throughout Virginia and DC, at the restaurant, retail, wholesale, and importer level.
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Kent Smith
California & Arizona Brand Manager
With many years
of retail and restaurant experience under his belt, Kent moved to the
distribution side of the wine business in 1997 with Epic Wines. He first
worked in the California market before becoming Epic's Western Regional
Manager. Kent has represented Vino del Sol wines since 2005. Kent lives in San Diego and Arizona.
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Scott Thomasen
VP Sales: Mountain West, Air, Seas, & Export Markets
Scott Thomasen has worked in the wine industry for over twenty five years in roles ranging from vineyard management to warehousing to retail/wholesale
sales.
During this time, Scott completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees, with emphasis on the international wine industry.
Scott previously represented Vino del Sol while working for Epic Wines.
Employed by Vino del Sol since 2010, Scott and his family relocated to Denver. Scott is also in charge of air, cruise, and international sales.
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Brett Wells
Director of Purchasing
Brett's passion for all things food and wine started at a young age
and eventually led him to become a classically trained chef at Le
Cordon Bleu. Brett is a certified Sommelier from the Court of Master
Sommeliers. Prior to joining the Vino del Sol family, Brett was the
Wine Buyer for BevMo! where he developed and managed the company's
private label brands. Brett lives with his wife and daughter in
Northern California.
Read more about Brett.
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Walter Whyte
Northeast Consultant
Walter’s love for wine was awakened while working in one of the top restaurants in New Jersey. A 6 year stint in the Air Force allowed him to experience great European wineries. After leaving the military, Walter has represented a diverse group of imported and domestic wineries both at the supplier and distributor level. When not out in the market preaching the word of the vine, he can be found in Central New Jersey, spending time with his 2 children and his dog Frank.
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