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Paul Beveridge - President
Paul Beveridge (yes that’s his real name) has been the co-owner and winemaker at Wilridge Winery since its founding in 1988 under his wife’s restaurant in Seattle’s historic Madrona neighborhood. Paul graduated with a joint degree from Whitman College in Walla Walla and Columbia University School of Law in New York in 1985. Until retiring in 2007, Paul was a partner in the Seattle office of national law firm Heller Ehrman and operated Wilridge Winery on the side. Paul has been compelled to use his legal skills far too often in the wine business, both for Wilridge and for other winery, brewery, and retail clients. Several changes to Washington State’s antiquated wine laws are due to his efforts over more than twenty years. In 2008, Paul resigned from the Board of the Washington Wine Institute and helped form Family Wineries of Washington State to provide a clear voice for Washington State’s small wineries. Paul is currently serving as FWWS President. Paul is co-owner of the Wines of Washington Tasting Room in Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market. He planted a vineyard on Naches Heights near Yakima and opened a second branch of the Tasting Room there in 2007. Paul still lives a few blocks from the winery in Seattle with his wife Lysle Wilhelmi and their two sons.
Alistair Sloley - Vice-President
Alistair
started his professional life as a marine biologist specializing
in aquacultural genetics. He had extensive experience in water
quality, water chemistry, filtration, and aquaculture of
molluscs. While attending graduate school at LSU he expanded
into genetic manipulation of fish, DNA fingerprinting (pre O.J.
Simpson), and cryopreservation of fish gametes. This sounds more
exciting than it was. So, he moved into the beverage industry
briefly as a quality control analyst for Coca-Cola. His
experience in beverage and container analysis would serve him
well later in life.
Alistair then
moved back to his hometown of Seattle and decided to enter the
IT world at Microsoft Corporation. His experience with computers
in the scientific world would lead him to work with software
before, during, and after the dot com boom. He has acted as a
Program Manager and a Software Development Engineer in Test for
a variety of products, both online and shipped in-the-box. In
his spare time, he would tour and visit wineries across the
world and the United States as much as possible. What’s not to
like about wine tasting?
Alistair, and
his wife Sally, would go on to form Blackthorn Mountain Winery
which went commercial in 2005. A labor of love, it represents
the culmination of his affair with wine. As VP of the FWWS, he
hopes to be involved in a synergy of small wineries in
Washington State.
John Morgan - Secretary/Treasurer
John Morgan is a licensed Professional Engineer who spent two decades in the design and construction of Roads and bridges for a County government before starting the Lost River Winery in Mazama in 2002. John serves as winemaker and general manager for the family business which he today runs with wife Barbara and stepson Liam out of an expanded facility in Winthrop. John also continues a business in the ownership and management of commercial real estate begun in 1987.
John Bell - Director
John Bell is the winemaker and sole owner of WILLIS HALL, LLC. In the early 1980s, John developed an interest in wine appreciation. Pursuing all avenues to learn about wines for over 15 years, John determined that further learning could come about only by his actually making wine. Because he was an employee of The Boeing Company, John availed himself of the opportunity to join the Boeing Employees' Wine and Beermakers' Club, a.k.a. the Boeing Wine Club, giving him access to the accumulated experience of fellow members, some of whom had started commercial wineries, as well as access to some of the most highly regarded vineyards in Washington State. John's palate, which had been developed from his earlier wine education, enabled him to fashion wines that were awarded Best-of-Class, Gold Medal, and Best-of-Show awards. The next logical step for John was to start WILLIS HALL, so that his wines could be made available for general purchase, consumption, and enjoyment. Vintage 2003 was the inaugural vintage for WILLIS HALL. In 2004 John retired from Boeing and is now making wine full time at WILLIS HALL. In April 2006 in their inaugural Washington Wine Awards, Seattle Magazine honored John by naming him Best New Winemaker in Washington. John serves on the Boards of Directors of Family Wineries of Washington State and the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the American Institute of Wine & Food. In addition John is the Vice-Chair Elect of the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce.
Tim Narby - Director
Tim Narby discovered the beauty of Washington State as a child traveling west with his parents to visit family in Seattle and the Worlds Fair. As a young biology student the University of Washington provided Tim the perfect opportunity to make the move to Seattle. He’s been living here not far from the UW ever since, and that’s also where his love of wine has grown. He nurtured his curiosity about wine as a member of the Boeing Wine Club collaborating with this group of avid winemakers for years before joining forces with his wife, Carol Bryant to form :Nota Bene Cellars in 2001. Tim and Carol began by specializing in red Bordeaux blends, but have since branched out into red Rhone blends. :Nota Bene Cellars is located on the south side of town and is also a member of the South Seattle Artisan Winery association a loose knit group of family wineries that are open for tasting on the 2nd Saturday of the month from February through August.
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