Robert has been interested in food and wine since he began managing restaurants at the age of 21. However, the desire to own and operate a restaurant eventually gave-way to a career in the wine business. While Robert was managing the wine programs for The Wine Sellar & Brasserie (Wine Spectator Grand Award) and Laurel Restaurant & Bar in San Diego, he came to know Fran Kysela, MS. After traveling and tasting extensively with Fran, Robert joined Fran’s company Kysela Pere et Fils as a sales representative in southern California. After a year, Robert moved to the San Francisco Bay area to open that market for Kysela. Two years later Robert was recruited by a small Importation/distribution company to work as Vice President Sales and Marketing. Eight years later, coming full-circle, Robert seized the opportunity to open his own firm based on the import portfolio of Fran Kysela, inclusive of high quality domestic wine producers as well. Robert has travelled the world tasting and evaluating wine in the countries and regions he now represents: France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Oregon, Washington and of course, California.

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Natalie Morrison, wife and co-owner of AWS got her first start in the wine business in Southern California while working towards her graduate degree in Speech and Language Disorders. While attending classes in the mornings and working in fine dining in the evenings, she was offered the opportunity to begin working with Grapevine Wine Company which included the import portfolio of Martine Saunier. It was during this busy time that her love of wines and her future husband, Robert Morrison, began to grow. Grapevine Wine Company led way to a full time supplier job with Honig Winery and she too relocated to the Bay Area where she managed the Peninsula, half of San Francisco and the East Bay territories for fifteen years. With the success of their young company and a growing family Natalie is now very proud to be working with Authentic Wine Selections maintaining her long relationships with her East Bay accounts and is excited by what the future holds.

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Melissa has been in the food, wine, and event industry for over 20 years. Her passion for delicious recipes paired with various wines began when she became a Bar Manager at an upscale Italian restaurant. She then started traveling to Napa, SoCal, and parts of Europe to expand her palate. Known to some as DJ Miss Music, Melissa continues her love for wine by visiting various vineyards and dancing while sipping her favorite Pinot noir to the rhythm of the vine.

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Chuck began his career in wine almost 15 years ago working part time in the wine department at Whole Foods Market. After a few years of attending tastings he found he had the skills to depict wines based on value and complexity and became wine buyer at Whole Foods. His next move would further his global wine education working as a sales associate for Beltramo’s Wines and Spirits. After a couple of years Chuck moved to the distributor side and worked for two of California’s top wine wholesalers. Prior to entering the wine world Chuck was road racing motorcycles professionally where he won the National Title 3 times in the AMA 250GP class. Chuck still races on a local level in the Superbike class for Team Skylark Bar Racing in his spare time.

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“Wine Guy / Song Slinger” – Chris originally hails from the vacationland state of Maine, growing up in a humble small town of familiar faces and four seasons. A sense of adventure, longing for warmer climates, and a passion for music pushed him out west in his early 20’s where he settled in San Francisco, CA. There he began a life-long career in the food and beverage industry while developing as a singer-songwriter and recording artist. From French bistros, to Japanese restaurants, to cocktail bars, Chris made countless friends, memories and contacts through being a bartender, bar manager, wine buyer, and mixologist. Using his experience with wine, and passion for working with people, Chris took an opportunity to be a sales representative in the San Francisco East Bay for Epic Wines and Spirits. After a very successful stint with that company, he found himself in the wine broker role, having the privilege to represent small production, family owned, craft wineries from California, Mexico, and beyond…he looks forward to continuing and expanding his career in wine sales even further with Authentic WS. Chris has also never lost the drive to create music and through the years has recorded several albums. He continues to perform throughout the Bay Area regularly as a singer songwriter under the moniker: “Chris James.” Among his favorite venues to play are wine bars, (maybe not so coincidentally) seamlessly tying both of his passionate pursuits together..

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Mendel was preparing for the last year of Chiropractic school in 1977 when due to national pressure to conform, Cleveland Chiropractic School closed the night school. Working at a clinic during the day, Mendel would need to now work nights while going to school during the day. One of the patients suggested getting a restaurant job, and recommended some of the better restaurants in Kansas City, MO.Mendel got hired to be a waiter at Harry Starker’s on the Country Club Plaza. It was soon clear that he had no background in food and wine, service, etc. He decided to take a semester off to focus on learning a new craft. Two weeks later, an invitation to a waiter’s house after work, a bottle of 1974 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley, and game over.
In 1978 Mendel was asked to revamp the wine list. In 1981 he was offered a job with a national wholesaler. In 1984 he made the move to California, where he continued in wholesale. He took a timeout from wholesale to run the west coast division of an internet wine startup. Following that he was hired to open a wine bar. Eventually the call of wholesale rang true again.

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Exceptional position available. Please contact Robert Morrison – romo@authenticws.com This is an exceptional territory for a knowledgeable and motivated sales rep.

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Alexandra started the wine journey via work in the restaurant industry. General management soon noticed her wine interest and wine buyer/management positions followed: Learning wine at Seafood Mama’s, Tequila at Palapas and Sake at Mobo Sushi. The wine rep offer kept coming up, until she decided it was time to leave food & wine and focus solely on wine. It’s been 2 decades on this fabulous path, meeting passionate wine people, tasting thought provoking wine and constantly learning more in the world of wine.

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Ruben Rodriguez brings over 25 years of wine & spirits sales and marketing experience. He specializes in increasing retail and restaurant revenues through innovative approaches. He has conducted numerous trainings with restaurant staff to develop various incentive programs and contests designed to support achievement of sales goals. He is a certified Entry Level Sommelier (2008). Through his tenure with Regal Wine Company he achieved many accomplishments including the companies’ highest award; President’s Circle of Success (2) and consistent Sales Representative of the Month. Ruben strives to continue his growth in wine knowledge and looks to provide outstanding customer service.

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Jeff started cooking in restaurants at age 15. In 1990, he worked for chef Reed Hearon (who opened LuLu, Rose Pistola, and Rose’s Café restaurants in San Francisco) at Corona Bar & Grill in San Francisco, and that’s where Jeff was first exposed to food and wine pairings. After graduating from UC Berkeley in 1991, Jeff’s first forays into the corporate world included a 7-year stint in commercial insurance at AIG, and 5 years as a financial consultant at Salomon Smith Barney. The wine bug finally caught up with Jeff in 2004, when he joined the Commanderie de Bordeaux chapter in Las Vegas, and also started selling wine for Southern Wine & Spirits in Las Vegas. Over the past 14 years, Jeff has worked on the DTC side, the Wholesaler side, and the Supplier side of the wine business. In addition to California and National sales, Jeff helped launch a wine distribution company in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Jeff holds his Diploma from the WSET, and has been fortunate in his career to work closely with many Master Sommeliers. Jeff resides in Healdsburg, California with his wife, Karissa and their boston terrier, Bentley.

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Growing up in the shadow of Mount Rainier in the greater Seattle area in the early 2000’s, Kristina found herself in the midst of the Washington State Wine boom. After working for some of the top producers in Washington, Oregon and California, Kristina started down the path that would lead to Spanish wine terrain. She began working as a “flying winemaker” which took her to Australia, France and shortly thereafter she landed in Spain. She spent nearly a decade in Rioja selling terroir-driven wines from Spain. After returning from her European adventure, Kristina has found herself right at home in the Bay Area.

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An Ordained Minister and Certificated Sommelier, Joshua S. Thornton has spent the vast majority of the last quarter century helping the central San Joaquin Valley drink better wine. From early days as a restaurant wine buyer and sommelier, through positions with retailers and winery direct sales representative, and for the last decade plus as an Independent Fine Wine Key Account Specialist.

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Carrie Boyle is the co-founder of River City Wine Week (www.rivercitywine.com), a wine writer for Sacramento Magazine online and she has over 20 years in the wine industry. She has been a general manager for a national wine & spirits retailer, owned and operated her own fine wine shops, and is a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW).
She has judged wine competitions around Northern California, made her own wine, designed and taught classes, orchestrated large wine events and traveled to wine regions all over California, Oregon, Washington, Australia, New Zealand, France (Burgundy, Rhone Valley, Bordeaux, Champagne, and Beaujolais), and Spain (Rioja and Ribera del Duero). Today, in addition to managing River City Wine Week, she acts as a broker representative for hand-crafted wineries from various corners of the world, and actively promotes Sacramento as a wine vacation destination.

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Brian’s wine career began while working for “Laurel” restaurant, a premier restaurant in San Diego, CA. . His good friend Robert Morrison hired him away from Piatti in La jolla, Ca and asked Brian if he’d join the team assembled at Laurel. After 8 great years at Laurel Brian’s interest, passion and enthusiasm for wine grew while he was cultivating his professional career path as a server in San Diego. In 2003, Robert Morrison offered Brian a new opportunity to apply for a position to sell wine for the esteemed Importer, Master Sommelier, Fran Kysela at Kysela Pere et Fils, Ltd. Robert was working for Kysela Imports at the time and was leaving San Diego to work for Kysela Imports in Bay Area. Robert asked if Brian would be interested in selling wine? Brian seized the opportunity; interviewed for the position and started working for Fran Kysela in 2003. Brian covered all of Southern CA for Kysela Imports growing the business from 350,000 to a million+ in sales annually. Brian worked for Kysela Pere et Fils, Ltd. from 2003 to 2005 and then again as a National Sales Representative from 2010 to 2013. Brian has also worked for large and small distribution companies, Importers/distributors and brokers, He worked for Wine Warehouse as a sales representative for the San Diego North team headed up by Bill Benjiman from 2005 to 2007, Angeles Wine Agency for Jeff Welburn from 2007 to 2010 and entered the National arena for KPF from 2010 to 2013. 2013 Brian joined Torrey Wines, Inc as the Business Development Manager and helped Mitch Hill the owner of Torrey Wines develop new brands, add structure and organization as well as cultivate positive working relations with the suppliers as well as the sales team. In addition to the administrative duties, Brian also was tasked with developing business in corporate retail accounts in which he accomplished in Costco, Ralph’s, Vons/Albertsons, Bristol Farms, Barons and established a few specialty restaurant group accounts in San Diego. Brian is delighted to be a part of the team at Authentic Wine Selections. Working again with Robert Morrison who helped Brian learn the wine industry is indeed a joy. The experience and success that Brian has enjoyed in the past 15 years has been with many of these same fine wines, wineries, winemakers, importers and partners with in Authentic Wines Selections superb portfolio.

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My extreme passion for wine truly began when I became a sommelier at The Sardine Factory Restaurant in Monterey California. After moving to Southern California, I managed Five Feet restaurant in Laguna Beach and later, McCormick & Schmick’s in Irvine. It was from there that a National Distributor hired me to represent them in Orange County. For the 27 years I worked for this company I held various positions: including Wine Salesman, Wine Manager, Import Specialist, Division Manager and Director of Fine Wines. As a representative of Authentic Wine Selections, it would be my pleasure to address any business needs you may have and introduce you to our excellent portfolio.

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A veteran wine sales representative with over 25 years of wine industry experience with the ability to exceed goals with a wide-spectrum of customers who require a hands-on approach to sales. I often exceed client expectations while providing wine sales training and distinct direction assistance in customer’s brand development. With an extensive knowledge of import and domestic wines and spirits I am an extremely qualified account manager of fine wine who has earned numerous top sales awards, earning the CSW title and invited to participate in supplier sponsored educational seminars, California regional winery trade visits, international trips abroad. I have been to French wine regions, attended world class trade tastings such as the annual Vin Italy and was recently invited to meet vintners properties in Tuscany. Originally born and raised in Northern California, at an early age, I developed a passion for wine and the viticulture of the Napa, Sonoma, Russian River Valley and SCM/Monterey regions. A graduate of CU Boulder with a BA Communications, I began realizing my passion for the industry after relocating to Southern California. A resident of the Coachella Valley for the past 28 years, my relationships with Fine Wine Retailers, Restaurants, Country Clubs, Hotels and Resorts is unparalled in the industry. My involvement in the community runs deep with a vast array of non-profit organization support and involvement including serving several terms on the board currently as President, Les Dames d’Escoffier International, Palm Springs Chapter, which provides scholarships to women who would like to pursue a career in the food, hospitality and wine industries. As a successful industry veteran who has been a team leader with significant skills at encouraging others, I work diligently at developing long-term strategic partnership with wine brands and their customers. After 25 years of tenure with Young’s Market – The Estates Group, I’m very excited going into my 4th year pursuing an elevated career being an Independent wine broker. I am now in a position to consult my clients closely, bringing them smaller, more boutique wine producers and wineries

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Bio coming soon. Mike considers himself a dynamic guy; seen often scaling small mountains and herding wild mustang for fun. He is best known for wooing his customers with his godlike trombone playing. Mike can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and he cooks Thirty-Minute Brownies in just twenty minutes. He is an expert in stucco and a veteran in love. When he’s bored, Mike builds large suspension bridges in his front yard and especially enjoys urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, Mike repairs electrical appliances FREE of charge! He balances, weaves, dodges, frolics, and his bills are all paid. He can remodel his kitchen in an afternoon and then prepare a gourmet meal for 20. He has outrun the bulls in Spain, negotiated with terrorists, and can do 30-minute abs in 20 minutes. He is well versed in love, has developed award-winning products, and won the state fair hula-hoop contest not once, but twice! Children and animals trust him. Mike is entrepreneurial, and has toured the country showing his original line of Kama Sutra moveable figurines. He knows where every item is in Home Depot without asking and his emotional baggage fits in his tiny convertible trunk. He tans without burning and when he has nothing to do, he rebuilds his airplane’s carburetor and changes his own oil. Mike’s personality is so magnetic he can’t even carry credit cards. Even his enemies list him as their emergency contact. He is a lover not a fighter, but he’s also a fighter so don’t even think about it. Recently, he re-enacted a MacGyver episode saving a small Mexican fishing village from peril using only a flashlight, duct tape and ball of string. Mike is very well known for raising award-winning goldfish and has been rumored that while snorkeling, pregnant dolphins trust him to midwife their births. Strangely, bees never sting him and he dreams exclusively in color. When Mike leaves the Zoo, he starts running towards the parking lot, yelling ‘run for your lives! They’re loose!’ He sings along at the opera, and once he knew the meaning of life, but forgot to write it down. Mike can cure Narcolepsy just by entering the room and he knows exactly how many licks it takes to get to the end of a tootsie roll center of a Tootsie pop. He has loved deeply without reserve and chooses joy and happiness over whatever is in second place.

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Jean Philippe was born in San Francisco California from a French father and an American mother. The family soon moved to Paris so that his father could open a restaurant. Having grown around food and wine all of his childhood, Jean Philippe chose the same career path and attended and graduated from the Hotel and Management School of Paris. He worked as a chef for a number of years but decided that his personality was a better fit for the front of the room.
He soon became a restaurant manager and wine buyer so eventually decided to move into the wine business full time in 2010. Since then he never looked back, wine and its history and romance was a natural fit. In 2016 he became a certified Sommelier and is now enjoying a thriving career in the wine business.

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Working with family owned wineries for fifteen plus years, relationships building, and growing sales by relating a family story to the customer I know intimately. Strategically focusing on goal achievement, “sales growth” and “new accounts opened”; I was awarded “Salesman of the Year” on more than one occasion. My enthusiasm for organization and an interest in software development lead me to create a database; tracking tastings, inventory, purchases, unpublished pricing, follow up dates, import and export to excel, all of this information helped me provide customers with timely answers and gave great value to my customers.

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Bio coming soon. Coming soon.

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My love for wine started from traveling abroad and led me to wine buying and specializing in food and wine pairings at Brick and Fire Bistro in Eureka. Which has now led me to wine sales. I really enjoy being on both sides of it. My enthusiasm for wine also comes through in my wine descriptions. I have been in the Industry in different capacities for over 20 years, my hard work , dedication and attention to detail has led me to right where I need to be.

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