JENNY & FRANCOIS SELECTIONS - Key Persons
Aaron Vaslow studied Environmental Studies at Lehigh University before working for the park service in Yosemite National Park. His connection to natural wine did not come from the glass so much as the ground. After years spent as a somm and buyer in New York restaurants, a philosophical connection to the farmers and vignerons excited a desire to dive even deeper into wine. You can also see Aaron on the floor of the TriBeCa wine institution Frenchette. He lives in Greenpoint with his partner Alyssa, and their rescue dog Rusty.
Bryan Schlessel‘s wine journey began 13 years ago when he moved from Alabama to the heart of California's wine country. After 5 years of selling high end Napa Cabernet in tasting rooms and as a sommelier in restaurants, Bryan started to become interested in Natural Wine. Bryan then moved to the Central Coast of California and got his start as a wine rep, selling the Jenny & Francois wine through Amy Atwood. Bryan is very excited to help the J&F team grow their presence in the California market, representing the portfolio in San Francisco and beyond (Santa Barbara to the state line). Bryan currently lives in San Anselmo, CA with his wife, Corey, and their two girls, Poppy and Marlee.
Daniel Sutton, our National Sales Manager, began working at a wine shop while studying for his degree in Economics at Michigan State University. During that time, he also worked in the fine dining scene and enjoyed many nights of cooking meals, playing music, and drinking wine with friends. It was then that his love of good wine and food evolved into a profession. In 2007, Daniel moved to New York, where he managed and purchased for one of New York's oldest wine shops, and then worked as a sales representative in New York City. Daniel joined Jenny & Francois Selections in 2014 and is excited to manage national sales. In his spare time, he enjoys playing piano and accordion, long-distance running, learning Spanish, and watching Michigan State Basketball.
Greg Reese comes to J&F while simultaneously doing an MBA at Baruch College in the evenings. He is certified in Accounting, Bookkeeping, and QuickBooks, and studied Music Composition in College. For the last bunch of years, Greg has been a managing partner at Hi-Note Radio Bar in New York, and before that at Baby Grand.
Originally from Long Island and having lived in NYC since 2007, Greg Farr comes to Jenny & Francois bringing over a decade of experience in the wine industry. After finishing a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in 2011, Greg went on to work for distributing & importing company USA Wine Imports until September 2023. He left USA Wine Imports managing their Order Department and is excited to bring his years of operational knowledge to Jenny & Francois and be part of such a dedicated and devoted team. Greg lives in Brooklyn where he is an avid runner & musician.
Jess Kiefer, our California sales rep, moved to NYC from Phoenix with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and quickly found that the restaurant jobs she got to pay the rent were more fulfilling than TV News. The first natural wine she tasted was a Grolleau from Olivier Cousin and from that moment on there was no turning back. In NYC, she worked her way up to wine director of Terroir Tribeca (alongside Paul Grieco), ran the wine programs for Semilla and Le Turtle, and hosted a wine/food radio show "The Morning After" on Heritage Radio Network. In 2016 Jess brought her love of natural wine to Los Angeles where she worked as the wine director for the seminal Silverlake restaurant, Café Stella, and opened the boutique retail shop/wine bar next door, La Pharmacie du Vin. Aside from wine, Jess loves cooking and listening to NPR…usually at the same time!
Juniper Smith, our new New Jersey Sales Rep, grew up in NJ and has many years of experience working in hospitality. They have worked as a sommelier, manager, bartender, and serving captain, before getting bitten by the wine bug and taking a deep dive into wine. Since then they have been working in retail, managing catering sales for Stockton Fine Wines. However, their love of natural wine pushed them to seek the next step… and voilà they joined our team! Fabulously, Juniper also works part-time on a flower farm.
After moving to New York to attend the Juilliard School and earning her BFA, Mary Allain found that her part-time job in restaurants had sparked a real interest in the world of wine. She earned her certification through CMS and began working full-time as a sommelier and then as beverage director, and has loved being a part of such a robust and resilient restaurant community. Mary is excited to bring her zeal for hospitality to the sales side of wine and proud to be working with many of the producers that helped shape her passion for natural wine years ago.
Markus started to make wine naturally thanks to his childhood memory of snacking on Neuburger grapes - when he couldn't find this taste in wines as an adult, he realized it was due to all the modern winemaking additives that make the wine taste standardized. His decision to eschew them step by step allowed him to find the pure grape taste again.
A significant part of Altenburger's 17 hectares are older vines with very low yields - two-thirds are more than thirty years old, and the oldest ones were planted in 1969 by Markus's grandfather.
The Altenburger family originates from the mountainous western part of Austria (Tyrol); in the 16th century, they moved to Burgenland and have been farming there ever since, cultivating a traditional mixed farm with vines and other crops.
The labels are based on the imprints of Markus's own hands, using the lees of their wines as "paint" - Blaufrankisch for the reds and a skin-contact white blend for the white wines.
Matt Ross was a theater major at Lewis and Clark College and worked as a songwriter in Los Angeles for a short time before falling in love with natural wine. He sharpened his natural wine knowledge in L.A. restaurants before working for the renowned Portland natural wine bar, Dame. Returning to the East Coast this summer, he has hit the ground running with Jenny & Francois. Outside of wine, Matt loves writing, music and stand-up comedy. Say hello if you see him around town!
Phil Sareil began his career in wine in 1987 working in Kermit Lynch's now-famous Berkeley wine shop. In 1988, he tasted Marcel Lapierre's wine at his uncle's house in France, and after he showed the wine to Kermit, he began importing Lapierre in 1989. He worked the harvest at Domaine Lapierre in 1997, and after that moved to New York to work in wholesale wine distribution. During that time he worked for Winebow, Polaner Selections, and finally at Kermit Lynch as a regional sales manager. After 30+ years in the trade, Phil is as passionate as ever about wine and Jenny & François Selections is a perfect fit to continue his passion.
Scott Pactor opened Appellation Wine & Spirits in Chelsea, one of the nation's first stores to focus on organic, biodynamic and natural wines in 2005. The store was an early and enthusiastic supporter of Jenny and Francois' portfolio. Appellation closed in 2016, but Scott has remained an avid imbiber and proponent of natural wines and is thrilled to join the team in an operations role. Scott lives in northern Manhattan with his wife and two kids and enjoys bike riding with them to the tip of the island during his free time.
Florida transplant, Ashley Cohen moved to Brooklyn in 2011 after graduating from Florida State University. Since living in New York, she has worked in Film/TV Production, Brand Marketing and Event Producing. She is thrilled to transition her passion for natural wine into a career by joining the Jenny and Francois team and working with producers she has admired for so many years. In her free time, you can find her with her three-legged pitbull Verona, roller skating in Bed-Stuy and attempting desperately to keep her garden alive.
Born and raised in Italy, Sara Severi has a master's degree in foreign languages and literature from the University of Milan. She moved to New York in 2007 to open the US office of an Italian media research company and later ran the operations of a skincare brand in Brooklyn and managed the New York representative office of the Bank of Italy. She is now pursuing her interest in wine, and putting her WSET certificates to good use in the J&F office.
Sophie Dodd is a Brooklyn-based travel and wine writer who runs our social media and website. She earned her WSET 2 and has worked on vineyards in Umbria, Burgundy, and Alsace. When she's not writing about wine, she's likely pouring it at Frog Wine Bar in Bed-Stuy, or drinking it while practicing her French in Paris.