Our Anecdote

In 1997, after witnessing the growth of high quality wines being produced in Eastern Washington, Jerry got into the grape growing business. In 2005, he established Wahluke Wine Co. and after selling his fruit to some of the state’s most prestigious wine producers, he was soon recognized for helping establish two top AVAs: Ancient Lakes and Wahluke Slope. In 2014 after establishing the Ancient Lake AVA he established another winery called Ancient Lake Wine Company. Jerry is a true pioneer and forefather of the Washington wine industry. He continues to seek out and acquire unique sites that produce stellar wines. While technically not a native Washingtonian, Jerry Milbrandt is about as close as you can get. He was born in Portland, Oregon in 1948, but moved to the Quincy area of Eastern Washington at the age of six. Jerry first became aware of wine in 1969 while stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. “I drank many wonderful Rieslings while in the army. Over the next three decades, I continued to taste, explore and learn about wine.” Jerry and his wife, Janie, have six kids between them. They have 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren that they love spending time with.

Our head honcho... Overseeing both facilities, the two wineries focus on highlighting Washington States’ ability to produce exceptional quality at an unparalleled value.

  When Brandon isn’t nose deep in harvest and operations, he spends his spare time traveling and enjoying all outdoor activities in the Wenatchee area with his three daughters Calie, Bentlee, and Carter.

Nicole Arnold grew up in Benton County, Washington surrounded by beautiful wine country. She graduated from Washington State University in 2010 with a B.S. in Microbiology. After graduation, Nicole began working as a Laboratory Technician at Goose Ridge Estate Vineyard and Winery. It was there she discovered her passion for winemaking. That passion brought her to Columbia Crest in the quality department and for two years, she was able to expand her knowledge of the industry before returning to Goose Ridge as a Lab Manager. In early 2014, Nicole was approached by Ancient Lake Wine Company to join the team, becoming the Enologist and assisting in the development of the new winery. After processing 1,300 tons the first harvest, Nicole has helped grow the facility to 18,000-ton capacity and climbing. In 2020, Nicole was promoted from ALWCo's Assistant Winemaker to the Head Winemaker.  She continues to learn and hone her winemaking skills. In her free time, Nicole likes to spend time with her husband and two daughters.

Kendall Mix was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. He initially studied Microbiology at University of A and then went to UC Davis to study viticulture and enology. Prior to 1988, Kendall contemplated pursuing a career in brewing, but while he was attending UC Davis in 1988, Kendall truly discovered his love and passion for winemaking at Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville, California. Since then, he has never looked back and moved forward with a career in winemaking. In 1993, Kendall moved to Benton County. 

Before becoming the Head Winemaker at Wahluke Wine Company in 2017, Kendall established and earned a well-respected reputation through his previous positions as a Winemaker for Chateau Ste Michelle – Canoe Ridge, Canoe Ridge Winery, Corliss Estates, Tranche Cellars, Goose Ridge, and Cadaretta. Kendall enjoys spending time with his wife and three grown children.

Josh is the Red Winemaker for Wahluke Wine Company. He works closely with the winemaking team on a daily basis and closely monitors all the aspects of the wine. After spending nearly a decade at his previous employment, he decided that it was time for a change. He is passionate about the wine industry and strives to learn more every day. He started at Wahluke Wine Company on April 2nd, 2018, and has loved every minute. He is eager to continue to grow in the company, and appreciates everything he is learning from his excellent mentors. In his free time, he enjoys reading and playing with his three children.

Ali Mayfield is an independent winemaker based in Walla Walla, WA. Mentored by the late Stan Clarke, she completed the viticulture and enology program at Walla Walla Community College in 2007. Ali has honed her craft at Long Shadows Vintners, Corliss Estates, and Tranche Cellars, working alongside winemakers such as Gilles Nicault, Kendall Mix, and consultant Claude Gros. As consulting winemaker at Foundry Vineyards, Ali's first vintage of 2011 Chardonnays earned scores of 92 and 94 (Editor's Choice) from the Wine Enthusiast - among the highest Chardonnay scores garnered by a female winemaker in Washington State. The 2011 Stainless Chardonnay was also listed as one of Wine Enthusiast's "2013 Top 100" wines. Focusing on small lot, handcrafted wines, Ali is passionate about every step of the winemaking process. Her "leave no stone unturned" approach begins by hand-picking vineyards and constant, thoughtful care of their fruit. As she puts it, "Constantly striving to be better, pushing your boundaries, taking risks...that's how you create beautiful wines."

Stephanie was born and raised in Grant County. Following high school graduation in 2012, she finished her Associates of Arts and Science from Big Bend Community College in 2013. She then went on to major in Chemistry at Central Washington University, where she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry in 2016. Following her college graduation, Stephanie worked as a Lab Technician for a facility that manufactured aluminum for capacitors. After a few short months, she made the decision to work closer to home, which ultimately led her to joining the team at Ancient Lake Wine Company. Stephanie worked as a Lab Technician for harvest. Concluding harvest, she was then moved to the Lab Manager position. Following a promotion from an Enologist, Stephanie has taken on the Assistant Winemaker position at ALWCo. She looks forward to expanding her knowledge of the wine industry and plans to continue growing her career at Ancient Lake Wine Company.

Stephanie enjoys cooking and spending time with her friends, family, and dog.

Chad’s focus started on being in the field of baseball, where he played in college. Chad’s career in wine began in 2011, where he worked a harvest as a cellar worker. In the trenches of the 2011 harvest, he learned all the hard work and passion that goes into winemaking from the vineyard to wine production. Following his expertise in the bottling, production and cellar management, Chad decided it was time to learn the other side of the industry by selling the wines he has made so passionately at our wineries. His knowledge of our vineyards and production skills speaks to all volumes of how we make for our wines. 

Ryan landed in the Washington wine industry in 2014, while starting in the cellar and then managing a tasting room. Ryan transitioned to our wine facility in Ancient Lakes, where he focused on selling our premium wines to other wineries and producers. He became well versed in all of the thirty single vineyards that we own and the quality of the wines we produce. Through his enthusiasm and true passion, Ryan decided to take that knowledge and apply it on the road to grow our fantastic portfolio of wines.

Aubrianna first discovered her love for the wine industry as a bar manager in Ellensburg. When she found out you could float wine on top of a whiskey cocktail, she was hooked! Her passion and love for wine grew when she began to distribute liquor and wine for a few years. It was in her distribution days where she met Chad and Ryan. The boys’ passion behind their brands and company matched hers for being set on creating and selling something that you truly believe in. Aubrianna later transitioned from distribution to selling bulk wine for both of our facilities. She worked closely with the team at both facilities and learned about the interworking cogs within our company. Her newfound knowledge led her to the RM Wineries sales team, bringing everything full circle for Aubrianna. “Being able to work with people I call my family is the true definition of priceless to me. I am incredibly blessed to be a part of this team.” Aubrianna’s biggest passions lie within her family. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and dogs, singing and being around the ones that make her life feel full.

Cav's link to us came from his years of developing relationships in this industry spanning almost 16 years. He's worked as a creative marketing director and designer for two of the larger distributors in the Northeast. While there he helped build some of the larger wine & spirit brands in the market. In doing so over his tenure we felt that we needed him as a part of our team to help us develop and grow our brands as he's done for many others in his past. Cav's knowledge and experience is instrumental to us in our efforts to grow as Washington's go to grape to bottle wine company.
 

When not at his computer creating you can find him spending time with his wife and rambunctious twin boys making sure they're happy wherever the day takes them. 

Stephan Devery was born in Everett, Washington and grew up in Arlington, Washington. Before his college graduation, Stephan was approached about doing an internship at Goose Ridge Estate Vineyard and Winery. Upon graduation, Stephan was hired on full-time at Goose Ridge, splitting his time between production, warehouse and the tasting room. It was at Goose Ridge where he was able to expand his skills under highly-respected winemakers Kendall Mix and Brandon Rice. After a short time, he was promoted to Warehouse Manager and also had the opportunity to take care of the Sales position for the company. After approximately five years, Stephan was approached  by Brandon Rice to manage the new massive warehouse at Ancient Lake Wine Company. Having worked with Brandon at Goose Ridge and knowing the reputation of owner, Jerry Milbrandt, Stephan could not pass up the opportunity. Having grown up making wine with his family as a family tradition, Stephan has long had a passion for wine and is ecstatic that he has been able to make a career out of it. He is excited to be a part of this ever-growing industry and winery and looks forward to many more years with the amazing team at Ancient Lake Wine Company.

Christina Solano was born and raised in Chicago, IL. Prior to her coming to the Columbia Basin, she had a seven year tenure with the Bank of America that spanned from Illinois to Virginia to California and ultimately brought her to Quincy in 2013. In the fall of 2013, she was given the opportunity to change her career path. This was when she started with the Milbrandt Enterprises. Initially, Christina had little knowledge in the agricultural field being that she grew up in the city her whole life before moving to the Columbia Basin. With her time spent with the Milbrandt's, she became quickly fascinated with agricultural business as she invested more and more time in the industry. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting while serving as the Chief Financial Officer for Milbrandt Management where she oversees several financial and administrative tasks for multiple of the Milbrandt-owned entities, including RM Wineries, LLC. 

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In her time away from the office, Christina enjoys spending time with her family and close friends.

Hannah was born and raised in the Grant County area. She grew up watching her father work in the hay business and was always familiar with the agricultural roots around her hometown. It wasn't until later in life when she realized how much of that agriculture in the area was actually vineyards. After she accepted an academic scholarship at Eastern Washington University, she discovered her strengths and passion encompassed structure, leadership, and connecting people through their unique communication styles and personality traits. In 2017, Hannah graduated with a Bachelors in Business Administration, emphasizing in Human Resources Management and  Communications.  In 2018, Jerry and Janie Milbrandt and the rest of the team offered Hannah the opportunity to come develop an HR Department for their entities, including RM Wineries, LLC.   She has thoroughly enjoyed working together with staff to create a program that integrates smoothly to the company culture and really likes to focus on putting the “Human” back into Human Resources.

In her free time away from work, she really enjoys spending time with family and her golden retrievers.