OUR PEOPLE
Rasoul Salehi, General Manager
Rasoul began his career in the wine industry as soon as he turned legal (a the age of 19) and has quickly accumulated a vast knowledge and understanding of wine and wine industry. In his quest to acquire more knowledge, he has visited hundreds of vineyards and wineries around the world, and continually takes annual pilgrimages to various regions such as Napa Valley, Sonoma County and Dundee Hills in addition to the Okanagan Valley. He wishes to return to Piedmont’s Langhe on more frequent basis.
His education encompasses a Bachelor in Communications from Simon Fraser University which he completed with honours, along with an Advanced degree from WSET. He is a recipient of a scholarship to become "Certified Spanish Wine educator" a program offered through the "Society of Wine Educators". Rasoul’s working background includes teaching wine education seminars for corporate and food and wine events, as well as writing wine lists for top international and national hotels. As a passionate wine collector Rasoul now has a collection of over 1200 bottles.
Mohamed Awad, Operations Manager
Mohamed brings with him more than 16 years of experience in the hospitality industry locally and internationally. A well educated professional in this industry Mohamed started his career with some of the major hotels in the Middle-East before moving back to Vancouver to pursue further education in the hospitality industry. Employed by many first class food and beverage operations with major hotels in downtown Vancouver Mohamed has proved himself as an enthusiast in the hotel and food & beverage operations. To fulfill a passion he has for wine, he returned to school to pursue his Sommelier designation and graduated in 2002 as a Certified Sommelier. His last job prior to moving to the Okanagan was to manage one of the finest resorts in the valley, Spirit Ridge Resort in Osoyoos, BC. Mohamed was one of the management opening team members to operate the River Rock Casino in Richmond, BC.
Severine Pinte, Viticulturalist
Severine Pinte came to Le Vieux Pin at the beginning of August, 2010 with 14 harvests of international wine making experience under her belt along with 8 years of vineyard management. A graduate from the illustrious ENSAM (Ecole National Superior Agronomic of Montpellier) she acquired her Masters in viticulture and oenology, and also obtained her National Diploma of Oenology. She then apprenticed in the AOC Gaillac at the Cave de Tecou before coming for the first time to British Columbia to work for Domaine de Chaberton as an assistant winemaker. In 1999 she returned to her native France and worked a year in Bordeaux under the direction of Andre Lurton in Pessac-Leognan before returning south to the Languedoc. For the following 9 years Severine was head winemaker and viticultural council for "Le Vignoble des 2 terres" in the Terrasse du Larzac terroir, with a brief sabbatical in the winter of 2003 when she took leave to harvest in the southern hemisphere. At Frankland Estate winery in Western Australia, she enjoyed learning a different take on her beloved syrah and viognier, but also had the chance to be exposed to some other varietals.
Simultaneous to her winemaking Severine has led a tasting club in France as well as sitting on countless tasting panels for competitions and revues. Her passion for wine has benefited the Guide Hachette and Vinalies, where she has been solicited as a trained taster every year since 2001.
Curiosity and the pursuit of new challenge brought Severine to the Okanagan and she brought with her an astute understanding of wine and terroir. Her favorite quote is from Jean Hugel, that "100% of the quality of a true wine is already in the grapes, not in the cellars where you can only lose quality", because it sums up the important role of viticulture in the crafting of great wine. For her, the Okanagan, with its unique terroir and cool climate has always been intriguing. "I look forward to seeing and tasting the influence of the terroir and the spectacular day to night temperature variations on some of my more familiar varieties.
James Cambridge, Winemaker of LaStella
James began his wine making career in the late 1990's with his first tour at Summerhill Pyramid Winery. Having enjoyed the experience, he realized that to succeed in this field an education was needed. James grew up in southern Ontario and was very familiar with the wine culture there, so he enrolled in Niagara College. Upon graduating at the top of his class James sought to enhance his wine making knowledge at such wineries as Henry of Pellham, Eastdell, Willow Height, and two separate vintages at Creekside Estate Winery. In between all that, James managed a 90 acre vineyard in Grimsby Ontario. He returned to the Okanagan in 2004 for his 2nd tour and first of three vintages as winemaker at Summerhill Pyramid Winery. James joined Enotecca in 2008.
Jody Subotin, Vineyard Manager
Jody started working in the Vineyards in 1996 during his summer breaks from school. As soon as he graduated he went straight to work on the farms. Jody’s career began at Hawthorn Mountain Vineyards in 1997 as a labourer/tractor operator. From 1999 to 2000 he was promoted as the Vineyard manager. In 2000 he moved to Osoyoos Larose and started as a tractor operator. By 2002 he was the Assistant Vineyard Manager. This is where he acquired the bulk of his grape growing know how. Under the consultation of Alain Sutre of Ertus consulting, he learned very specific and precise ways of training and nurturing grape vines. After Larose he went into installation of vineyards from the ground up. Clearing the land, installing irrigation, posts, wires, planting etc. He was in charge of a crew that put in a 60 acre vineyard in Cawston and 280 acres at Covert Farms. After that he moved to Grand Forks where he installed a 16 acre vineyard in Fruitvale. At this location he practiced Bio-Dynamics which puts a very interesting twist on farming. Jody is very excited to be a part of this team and know that we will take Enotecca to the next level.
Jay Drysdale, Business Development
A strong business background and solid food and wine knowledge have laid the foundation for Jay to grow quickly in the BC Wine Industry. Over 15 years experience, it has provided valuable knowledge in all aspects of the restaurant industry, as well as private liquor retail, VQA wine retail, consulting, BC Wine export, food and wine education, and winery operations. With a desire and enthusiasms to help put BC on the world wine map, Jay is managing business development with Enotecca Wineries.