Directors-at-Large
Directors-at-Large
Betty Fowler is co-owner of Lake James Cellars Winery in Glen Alpine, NC. The winery opened in 2005 and grapes were planted in 2008. Lake James Cellars produce its wines by purchasing vinifera from approximately 12 different vineyards across NC. The Tasting Room and winery is located in a historic 1915 textile mill building which Betty and her husband Mike restored. Betty brings a background in investments, marketing and also decorating. Betty is also the owner of The Old Mill Antiques which is located in the same building adjacent to the tasting room.
Ken Gulaian and his wife Kari Heerdt took over as the owners of Round Peak Vineyards in December of 2008, shorty after returning to North Carolina from a two year assignment in the bay area of California, where they spent a lot of time spent enjoying wine in Napa, Sonoma, and the Dry Creek Valley, and particularly enjoyed the small family owned wineries. Ken & Kari have spent two exciting years learning about the North Carolina wine industry, getting to know many of the people, learning the challenges, and looking for ways to further increase the great opportunities that already exist for producing and promoting North Carolina wines.
Ken has an engineering degree, and has a 20 year background in Industrial equipment design, service, marketing and sales. He most recently was a general manager for a $40 million services business for Ingersoll Rand in Davidson, NC. He is now works full-time at Round Peak Vineyards, and is also currently enrolled in the Surry Community College Viticulture & Enology program. With a range of experience in sales, marketing, and management, he would welcome the opportunity to help the North Carolina Winegrowers Association in whatever capacity is needed.
Thomas H. Hughes is co-owner, along with Michael West, of Divine Llama Vineyards, located in East Bend, NC. Their tasting room will open in the spring of 2009. Their vineyard property includes 10 acres, with 5 acres in vines planted in 2007. Hughes is the founder and president of Thomas H. Hughes Architecture, a fourteen person firm located in Winston-Salem. Hughes has been involved in the design of several tasting rooms in the Yadkin Valley region, including Shadow Springs, which opened in 2008. Hughes is the current president of the NC Triad Chapter of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association and has organized a number of wine trail trips for that organization to tasting rooms in the Haw River and Yadkin Valley regions. Wine for their vineyard is being processed at the Yadkin Valley Wine Company. Hughes, 51, is married to wife Julia and has two children and lives in a renovated log house on the property in East Bend. He is a member of the Yadkin County Chamber of Commerce.
Dennis Wynne is the Vineyard Director at Biltmore Estate Vineyards. Born and raised in Asheville, he has an Associate of Science degree in Horticulture from NC. Dennis has worked for Biltmore Estate vineyards since 1981; where he was the Vineyard Supervisor for 10 years and the current Vineyard Director for 6 years. He has been a member of the NCWA since 1995.