Patrick Emerson

Advanced Sommelier
Partner | Sales Director

An Englishman by birth, Advanced Somm Patrick Emerson grew up making elderberry/apple wine with his Mom, brewing ale with his Dad and drinking cheap Bordeaux with his mates at an early age.  A renaissance man who was once bitten by the Thespian bug that led to many hours of working behind the stick in Cape Town, New York and LA at all hours of the night, Patrick finally saw the light and traded in his greasepaint and tap shoes for that of Wine Warrior. He now thrives by pursuing his passion of the vine (more practical than treading the boards for his family) and has enjoyed fine vino for over 20 years.  Favorite regions include Burgundy, Champagne, Jura,  and Piedmont.

Mal Jones

Certified Sommelier
Parter | Sales
Greater Charleston Area

Mal caught the wine bug while working for Trevi Italian restaurant in Asheville NC in 1999. For the past 15 years he has worked for numerous distribution houses focusing on sales and education. In 2003 he moved to Charleston SC to further pursue a career selling wine in the south’s most progressive food and beverage culture. He is a Certified Sommelier and holds the Advanced Certificate from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust.

Jesse Smith

Certified Sommelier
Sales
Greater Charleston Area

Given 20 years of Martial Arts training, Jesse’s discipline and drive are rivaled only by her insatiable thirst for knowledge. Having achieved her Certified Sommelier pin at 24, Jesse has been involved with many facets of the wine business in her 5 short years in the industry. From staff education to buying wine for both restaurants and retail shops, acting as floor sommelier, and coordinating wine for one of the largest non-profit Wine + Food festivals on the East Coast, she has set the bar high for young sommmeliers in Charleston. Jesse plans to sit for the Court of Master Sommeliers Advanced Examination in 2016.

James Alford

Sales
Columbia / Greenville / Upstate

James was born and raised in the Midlands, where he now lives with his wife and daughter. After spending an extravagant amount of other people’s money on a liberal arts education, he discovered a knack for articulating what makes wine wonderful, and decided that was for him. He has visited vineyards in several different countries, and is most interested in wine as a means of storytelling, but will also just drink it if you twist his arm.

Justin Razza

Certified Sommelier
Operations

Growing up in an Italian household, wine was a common part of life for Justin. But not until he put his nose in a glass of 2003 Oregon Pinot Noir did he truly fall in love with it. From that one glass of Pinot began an insatiable desire to know and taste and understand the different nuances of wine from all of the world. Since then Justin has worked in the front of the house of high-end restaurants to fulfill his need to learn about wine and have access to amazing bottles and incredible lists and be able to explore them and taste them and sell them. He has positioned himself in each restaurant to have as much hands-on access to the wine program as possible. What started as a personal quest to understand why one wine was so radically different from another, has turned into a bewitching captivation to learn as much as possible. He has now transitioned from the restaurant side of the wine industry to the distribution side of things to learn even more.

Dan Wilson

Operations

Dan grew up in Columbia, S.C. In his early 20s, he left to pursue a career as a fine artist and illustrator in the North East, where he was hired as a freelance artist for the Franklin and Danbury Mints. Over the next 30 years, Dan executed numerous private oil commissions, did commemorative work, and illustrated many books under his pen name, Danner James. In that time, Dan also developed a keen interest in horticulture; especially the organic methods. It is from this interest, that Dan became interested in learning more about wine, grapes and the original growing practices still used in many parts of the world. Though art is still a major part of his life, Dan now takes only a select few commissions annually, allowing him more time with his wife and daughter, and to grow in his knowledge of wine and its rich history.

Tripti Simback

Certified Sommelier
Partner | Operations

Tripti Simback first had her taste of wine at the age of 6 when she stole a bottle from her dad’s liquor stash- it was a screw top, sweet, ‘Madeira’ style Indian wine. It was probably the start of her wine adventures –  she has since travelled to several wine regions around the world, including to the remote town of Tokaji in Hungary, worked a harvest in Oregon, worked at wine store in Manhattan, launched a wine distribution company in North Carolina with her husband, has a WSET Advanced certification, is a Certified Sommelier and is currently studying for the Advanced. She also has an MBA in Supply Chain Mgmt, that comes in handy these days in the logistics of ordering wine. When not doing anything wine related, she can found at the movie theaters or checking out the art galleries in Charleston or trying to finish Marcel Proust’s “Remembrance of Things Past”.

Kevin Simback

Certified Sommelier
Partner | Finance

Kevin is an experienced business executive and entrepreneur, but spends most of his free time obsessing over wines from Burgundy and Piedmont.  Kevin began his career at Nortel Networks and later became a management consultant with McKinsey & Co. before joining IBM in a variety of strategy and operations roles.  Along the way, he caught the wine bug and has been obsessed ever since.  He has since helped start several wine companies, including Vino Mondo, Curated Selections, Charleston Wine Vault and Isocline Ventures and he writes a wine industry blog called Wines & Dimes.  Kevin is a Certified Sommelier, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and has an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.