Born and raised in Montana, Blake migrated to New York in the early 1980s and has been immersed at the most elite levels in the wine trade since that time. Blake is the senior sales representative for RWM having joined us in 1993. Blake has a multitude of accounts in the New York metropolitan area that rely on his deep knowledge of the RWM portfolio gained from almost a quarter-century representing the RWM portfolio. Blake’s talents extend to photography: many of the producer photographic profiles found on this website have been provided by Blake.
A native of the New York metropolitan area, Michael is responsible for the New England market. Michael is the second-most senior representative amongst the RWM team having joined RWM in 1995. Michael’s passion and commitment to the wine trade and to the RWM portfolio is unrivalled in scope and intensity and his clients revel in the depth of his wine knowledge.
A northern Californian by birth but an old world wine lover by choice, Neil tends to the upstate and New Jersey markets while maintaining key accounts in the City as well.
Oddly for our New York-based company, Naomi is the lone native New York City “kid” on the sales team; based in Brooklyn but with a wide-ranging clientele throughout the boroughs, Naomi has built a formidable reputation in the trade for her wine knowledge and impeccable service; an artist at heart, we frequently rely on Naomi’s good taste to guide our event planning.
John Paine (2006) – John does a yeoman’s work, flying around the heart of the country, from the southern to the northern border. Now based in Austin,Texas, John travels as well to Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Missouri, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Idaho and Louisiana to share his enthusiasm, experience and the treasures of his well-stocked personal cellar.
Based in Los Angeles, Ben Andersen is our West Coast Representative (CA, OR, WA, NV, HI). Ben got his start in wine right out of college in 1995, when he began working in a shop in Virginia, and from there he went on to take a sales and then sales manager position with a large distributor in VA. He joined us in 2008, after an 8 year run working in pharmaceutical and medical device sales and indulging his passion for wine by moonlighting as a buyer for a retail shop + wine bar in Virginia (becoming the top Rosenthal client in that state!).
A Virginia native, Clarke Boehling now resides in Brooklyn, New York and covers a complex sales territory for RWM which includes many New York City accounts as well as the Pennsylvania and Delaware markets. Clarke has recently ascended to the position of “Producer Liaison”. As part of that set of tasks, Clarke provides much of the descriptive commentary on wines and producers that you will find throughout this website.
Tobias Rower, Vermont-born and raised, arrived on the New York City scene in 2005. Over the past decade, he has developed extensive experience on the restaurant side of our trade before transferring his expertise to wine sales. His most recent role prior to becoming a member of the RWM team was representing a prestigious book of German estates which should make for a seamless transition to presenting the RWM portfolio to his extensive client base in New York City.
Despite his youth, Joseph Frederick is well-traveled having spent his growing-up years in places as diverse as Rio de Janeiro, Bogota and Madrid. He is based in Florida and is bilingual in English and Spanish. Joseph has been involved in the wine trade for a dozen years, having worked as a sommelier, an independent wine consultant and, most recently, as the key sales representative for a small, family-run wine distributor in the Florida market with a strong Burgundy portfolio. He will now extend his reach to cover the southeastern region of the USA for RWM.
A Michigan native, Erica attended college in Chicago and became interested in wine while moonlighting weekends at an esteemed European-focused wine bar with a deep cellar. Over the years, Erica’s experience in wine has spanned retail, restaurant, wholesale sales, and most recently as a portfolio manager in New York where she focused on building and maintaining a strong Burgundy portfolio. Her experience will come in handy as she builds on a portfolio of clients in the New York Metropolitan area.
Greg Borden was born into a third generation San Francisco-Italian family with deep roots in the local restaurant and specialty foods industry; particularly in North Beach, where his Nono had launched a successful salami business out of the family delicatessen. While he worked in restaurants from a young age, Greg also worked as a cheese-monger, specialty foods buyer, retail wine buyer and sommelier while continuing to volunteer at Slow Food as an American Olive Oil Specialist. He is primarily responsible for covering the East and South Bay, as well as San Francisco proper.
Always a teacher, always a student” Nicole views wine as the unique intersection art, science, history and culture. Her degree in European History, combined with years of experience in wine – from running restaurant wine programs, in wholesale sales, and creating a retail wine shop puts her in a unique position for understanding many sides of the world of wine. Nicole lives by the motto “take your pleasure seriously” – and applies this with great vigor to food and wine, which she is both serious and passionate about. East Coast raised, Nicole has spent the last decade immersed in the wine industry in California, and covers territory in Southern California, primarily Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.
Chris has an array of experience in the wine industry having worked for importers, restaurants, and retailers coast to coast. Born and raised in Montana, he’s since called California, New York City, and Texas home. Chris trained as an operatic baritone and holds two degrees in the field. His musical studies took him to Italy where he honed his skills in the Italian language and those experiences became the inspiration for his European wine career. Based in Los Angeles, Chris covers Southern California, MT, ID, and WY for us.
Enough said … read “Reflections of a Wine Merchant” for more detail!
partner to Neal, font of wisdom, immovable and constant presence nurturing, protecting and enriching RWM … without Kerry all is a chimera.
a transplanted Canadian from Calgary, Jeremy runs the RWM “Daily Show” … everything passes through his hands; multilingual, multi-talented … the glue that keeps the production running.
Of Egyptian origin, Gihane, a French speaker, has an extensive background in wine administration; she is responsible for performing the critical tasks of customs clearance, managing label requirements and posting prices where necessary as well as surveying the order flow.
Sarah came to Rosenthal Wine Merchant in 2013 from a position in Financial Risk Management consulting in Washington DC. She serves as the primary point of contact for our national distributors and works closely with our growers on special projects. Sarah received much of her formal (and informal) training in wine while living in Italy, and speaks both Italian and French.
A native of New Jersey, Mark comes to us after a brief but intense career as a CPA. His arrival marks a new level of financial controls for RWM. Mark’s main focus will be on our numbers, both dollars and bottles, but Mark will be working closely with every aspect of the RWM’s day-to-day business which will provide a good deal of support to the entire team. With Mark’s arrival, we now have three men called Mark, Marck and Marc. Maybe a nickname, or two is in order.
Jess has framed her life to be at the nexus of wine and art having spent the past 8 years building her wine knowledge selecting wines for and managing both a wine bar and several retail wine establishments all while expressing her talents as an artist in the design of collage and greeting cards. To complete her personal picture, Jess is also the center of her family as wife and mother.
Dillon Lerach, a recent (2017) graduate of Columbia University, joins the RWM staff after a brief introductory stint in the wine trade at a high profile distributor. Dillon’s talents are many and include a mastery of multiple languages (English, French, German) and proficiency in several other tongues (Gaelic, Latin, Russian). Despite his youth, his wine knowledge is deep and he has traveled extensively. His tasks at RWM include developing material for the website, insuring accuracy of information provided, assisting in developing the curriculum for the nascent educational program to be launched by RWM and reporting from the field on current developments at the various estates that form the RWM portfolio.
From culinary schools in Provence and Florence, to a hospitality degree from Cornell University, Skylar joins our team with a strong foundation in both food and wine. Professionally, she has experience in both restaurant management and wine sales; thus bringing a diverse set of skills to the RWM team. Accordingly, she wears many hats for us, while laying the groundwork for our West Coast operations.
Lisa Brophy, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park), has extensive experience in our world of food and wine. Lisa has lived and labored in Piedmont and also in Friuli while working for several wineries and an American-based importer, has been exposed to the rough and tumble of the New York restaurant scene and has been involved in wine distribution in New York and also in the southeast. In the latter capacity, Lisa managed the RWM portfolio for our local distributors and has a deep knowledge of our portfolio. Lisa moves to San Francisco to manage RWM’s state-wide distribution.
With a music degree in opera, Melissa has been singing in Italian, French, German, and (of course) English since she was a child. Her language studies have helped her greatly while studying grapes and terroirs across the world. She became interested in fine wine while working in NYC’s restaurant industry where she had the opportunity to taste some of the most famous Italian ‘crus’ as well as lesser-known varieties. She is currently managing the daily logistics of our Specialty Foods Company.
In Memoriam. Originally from Aux Cayes, Haiti, Jean managed our warehouse for nearly 28 years with intelligence, grace and aplomb. He set the standard for everyone who followed, and will follow him. He played a starring role in the film “Mondovino.” We miss him very much….
From Port-au-Prince, Haiti; the longest tenured member of the warehouse staff, at our side for more than a quarter-century; he is now living a full life in Florida. We miss him.
From Lafond, Haiti; a trusted member of RWM for twenty three years; recognized for his error-free performance and reliability. Retired 2017
From Chantal, Haiti; our resident “interior decorator”, fabled as our master of space management. Retired 2018
From Arcahaie, Haiti; Chairman of the youth brigade and guide to the outer reaches of the New York metropolitan area.
From Torbeck, Haiti; long-serving pillar of strength and now successor to Paul Compere as the master of the routing system.
From Aux Cayes, Haiti; our technical wizard, problem solver and inventory manager.
From Aux Cayes, Haiti; the second generation of the Jean-Baptiste family to join RWM; a talented master of multiple roles, whether on the road or in the warehouse.
From Port Salut, Haiti; our rock in the turbulent ocean of our daily activities.
From Port-au-Prince, Haiti; known to all simply as “Arris”, he is the right hand man and “shotgun” to Belmont on the Brooklyn and downtown routes.
From Saut d’Eau, Haiti; an integral member of the logistics team and frequent partner with MC on the longer routes.
From Port-au-Prince, Haiti; a key member of the brigade, often responsible for sorting and preparing orders destined for all parts of the USA.
Currently employed at Rosenthal Wine Merchant as a Warehouse Agent. “I’m originally from Port-au-Prince, Haïti”.
“Proud to be part of the RWM Staff”.
Born and raised in Haiti, Patrick speaks four languages (Creole, French, Spanish and English). With prior experience as a surgical tech and dispatcher, Patrick is a key member of our warehouse and logistics team. He works very hard to achieve his goals and is always trying to influence others in a positive way.
Born in Port-au-prince, Haiti. A positive attitude who is determined to work hard, and to continue to learn different aspects of RWM.
