Our Team
Director of Winemaking
Russell Bevan
Russell and Josh have worked together since 2010. Russell has earned over 15 100-point wines in his career, including the world's only 100-point wine in 2011. Russell began crafting Elyse wines in 2018.
I continue to be blown away by the wines from Russell Bevan...These are by no means shy wines, but their richness and complexity are remarkable. Despite their massive size, concentration and density, they reveal tremendous polish, finesse and elegance.
Robert Parker, Wine AdvocateElyse Winemaking Team
Every bottle we make is thanks to the grueling work and technical finesse of our cellar team.
Reed Skupny
Associate Winemaker
Born in St. Helena, Reed's career in wine began at Pahlmeyer. New Zealand was next, followed by a study of Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc at France's Domaine Bernard Baudry. Reed has since worked for more than a decade with some of Napa's most notable and dynamic wineries.
Elyse Hospitality & Sales
True to our beginnings, we offer an informative and relaxed tasting experience at our winery 7 days a week.
Khristopher Lund
Director of Client Sales
Khristopher is a self taught wine enthusiast who has been imbedded into the Napa Valley wine and restaurant culture for more than 20 years. When not at the winery, his true love is cooking and entertaining at home with his beautiful wife and two daughters.
Garett Lyon
Hospitality
Garett is a Napa Valley native who has spent 20 years in the luxury wine and restaurant space, including Thomas Keller Restaurants and Garguilo Wines. He also has his own bespoke wine brokerage business, Sharing Wines. Garett loves sports and time outdoors, especially skiing and tennis.
Lee Abraham
National Sales
Lee is a Georgia native with over 15 years experience in wholesale for several Napa wineries and national distributors, including Southern Wine & Spirits, RNDC, Lede Family Wine, and Italics. She currently resides in Dallas, TX.
Willi Sherer
Master Sommelier
Willi's Sommelier career ranges from coast to coast at acclaimed restaurants including Aqua, Central Park Ritz Carlton, Aureole, and Redd. He was the 37th Master Sommelier to pass the test for title of Master Sommelier in 1998.
Melissa Bond
Wine Club Manager
Melissa is a Napa Valley native who has been in hospitality for 25 years, most famously at Napa's beloved Oxbow Wine Merchant. In her spare time she leads the children's choir at St. Helena Choral Society.
Dean Williams
Hospitality
Dean is a Pisces from San Francisco who loves miniature dachshunds. A former sommelier, he’s passionate about restoring vintage italian scooters when he’s not waxing poetic about Elyse wines or trying to find the next best wood fired thin crust pizza.
Our Proprietors
Josh Peeples
Proprietor
A native of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Josh Peeples moved to San Francisco in the late nineties, where he co-founded a start-up focusing on order management software for the beverage industry. Napa Valley sparked a curiosity about the wine industry and led him to move to wine country, where he has been ever since. Alongside some of the world's leading winemakers and famed vineyards he has been making wine since 2002. In addition to, Josh brings his other brands Elyse, Standard Deviation, Institution, and Napa Cider Co. to the Elyse family of wines.
Beaux
Elyse Greeter
Anyone who has ever visited Napa knows that every winery must have a dog. Keeping the tradition of being a dog-friendly winery, Beaux is an English Labrador Retriever from Monterey, California, that is training to join the Elyse team as a Tasting Room Associate. Watch out — he loves Champagne and Chardonnay!
Cheryl Foil
Chief Technology Officer
Born in Fremont, CA and growing up in Washington, D.C., Cheryl started out in the tech startup world as a software developer. She moved on to be Chief Technology Officer of two software companies in the natural language processing space and created the first artificial intelligence to ever garner an Emmy nomination. After transitioning to a career in Venture Capital primarily focused on real estate and construction technology, she took a leap of faith and moved to Napa Valley to become part of the Elyse Winery story. Cheryl is also a founding partner in Standard Deviation Wines.
