Leader in Crafting Benchmark Wines from Exceptional Vineyards in California, Oregon and Washington Boosts Team to Help Support Increased Demand
NAPA, Calif. (May 6, 2019) – Crimson Wine Group, Ltd. (OTCBB: CWGL) is pleased to announce several promotions and additions to the team in support of the continued growth and evolution of the company. On the Domestic Wholesale Sales team, Tina Mahaffey joins the organization as vice president-west, Aaron Crespin has been promoted to director of sales-central, and Stacy MacKelvie has been appointed regional manager-pacific northwest. Kim Benson joins Crimson Wine Group as vice president of finance, reporting directly to Crimson CFO Karen Diepholz. Additionally, Peter Janiak, previously executive chef at Seghesio Family Vineyards, will now oversee culinary programming for all the brands within the group in his role as Crimson Wine Group executive chef.
“As demand for our wines continues to enjoy growth across our core brands, it becomes ever more important to put together the best team possible,” said Crimson Wine Group President and CEO Patrick DeLong. “We pride ourselves on providing a stimulating, rewarding and supportive work environment, and we are very pleased to welcome these talented individuals to the Crimson Wine Group family.”
Vice President-West Tina Mahaffey is based in Portland, Oregon and brings a wealth of experience from a business career spanning 20 plus years. She has an extensive distributor and vendor background with notable high-level positions at both Diageo and Treasury Wine Estates, where she served as ambassador for She, a global internal platform for women’s empowerment and mentorship. Mahaffey will oversee Crimson Wine Group’s wholesale sales for the West Coast and reports to the senior vice president of sales, Mike Cekay.
Director of Sales-Central Aaron Crespin is based in Scottsdale, Arizona and has been proudly selling the Crimson Wine Group portfolio for over 5 years as the Mountain Regional Sales Manager. Crespin will now oversee Crimson Wine Group’s wholesale sales of the Midwest and Mid-South regions and also reports to Cekay.
Stacy MacKelvie, reporting directly to Mahaffey, joins the Crimson team from Banfi Vintners, where she held the equivalent position of regional manager pacific northwest. MacKelvie was trained out of college at Gallo with several distributor tours before eventually crossing over to the vendor side of the business in November 2013. MacKelvie is a certified sommelier by the Court of Master Sommeliers of America (2015) and a certified specialist of wine by the Society of Wine Educators.
Vice President of Finance Kim Benson joins Crimson Wine Group with broad experience in finance and accounting as well as in leading large teams. Most recently, Benson was vice president of finance at Vintage Wine Estates, where she led financial accounting, cost and inventory accounting, and financial planning and analysis. Benson has held finance and accounting roles at La Tortilla Factory and at Redwood Trust, and has additional wine industry experience with Winery Exchange. She has also been the project and business lead on two successful MS-NAV implementations. Benson holds an undergraduate degree from UC Davis in agricultural and resource economics and is a graduate of Sonoma State University’s Wine Business MBA program.
Executive Chef Peter Janiak began his culinary career at Wildwood in Portland, Oregon. Janiak’s time at Wildwood had a lasting impact, instilling in him a love for local and seasonal cooking. It was also at Wildwood that Janiak met the Seghesio family, eventually serving as Seghesio Family Vineyards executive chef. Chef Peter will lead the culinary programming for all the Crimson brands, continuing his desire to work with benchmark wineries and elevate the wines with creative culinary programs.
About Crimson Wine Group
Based in the Napa Valley, Crimson Wine Group crafts benchmark wines from exceptional vineyards in premier wine-growing regions throughout the U.S. Crimson owns and manages approximately 1,000 acres of plantable vineyard land across six distinct regions. Crimson’s diverse collection of exceptional domestic estates and wine brands includes Pine Ridge Vineyards (Napa, Calif.), Seghesio Family Vineyards (Healdsburg, Calif.), Archery Summit (Dayton, Ore.), Chamisal Vineyards (San Luis Obispo, Calif.), Double Canyon (West Richland, Wash.), Seven Hills Winery (Walla Walla, Wash.) and Malene Wines (Santa Barbara County, Calif.). For more information, please visit www.crimsonwinegroup.com.
