FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Taree Darby, Director
E-mail: director@georgiawineproducers.org
GEORGIA WINE PRODUCERS ELECTS 2022 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Georgia Wine Producers elects four new board members and votes on positions.
[Braselton, Georgia, January 10, 2022] Georgia Wine Producers members voted on the following seats on the board of directors; Bonded Farm Winery-North Region, Bonded Farm Winery-South Region, and At Large One and Two. The vote resulted in the newest board members; Jane Miller BFW North, Matthew Johnson, BFW South, Jason Summerour At Large One, and Sean Wilburn At Large Two.
Position voting resulted in the following: Pamela Jackson President, Joey Muller Vice President, Gary Wiseman Secretary, Sean Wilburn Treasurer.
We would like to thank Gary Engel, Chris Paulk, and Matt Vrahiotes for serving. Eric Seifarth will remain on as Past President.
Pamela Jackson is the owner and founder of Painted Horse Winery and Vineyards in Milton. She is the first woman in the history of the State of Georgia to build a farm winery from the ground up as sole proprietor as well as being the first bonded farm winery in Fulton County.
Raised in a farm world, Pamela started her own farm in 1996. Begun as a horse farm offering lessons, boarding, training, summer camp and birthday parties, the farm expanded over the years into a full working farm which includes laying hens, a cow, donkey, goats, lambs, Great Pyrenees and a complete apiary which produces two harvests a year as part of their Georgia Grown products.
Inspired by her travels through Europe, in 2017 Pamela expanded the farm by adding the first vineyards. In 2018 she opened the winery and first tasting room. Since then she has opened a second tasting room in downtown Alpharetta.
Pamela is an award-winning author, sailboat captain and a level one sommelier. Previously she served as Secretary on the board of the Georgia Wine Producers.
Pamela and David live on their farm, known as Pamelot, surrounded by family. They have 10 children and 4 grandchildren who spend much of their time at the farm. The grandchildren can be found at the farm everyday, usually barefooted— they are the farm’s free-range children!
pjackson@pamelotfarm.com 770-846-8666
Matt Johnson, along with his business partner Jerry English, is owner and winemaker of Wolf Creek Plantation, a vineyard and winery in Americus, Georgia. Wolf Creek winery was started in 2013, taking an abandoned golf course and turning it into a beautiful vineyard and winery. Wolf Creek's vineyards currently have 40 acres of vines, with 13 different varieties of Muscadine grapes. We operate two tasting rooms, one at the vineyards and one in downtown Americus at the historic Windsor Hotel.
Matt has a diverse background in work and education. He has a bachelor’s degree in geology, working as an environmental geologist in Albany in the early 1990s. He also has education in land surveying, and owns another successful business, Trinity Land Surveying.
matt@wolfcreekplantation.com 229-942-0091
Jane Milleris the co-owner of Yonah Mountain Vineyards in Cleveland, along with husband, Bob, and son, Eric.
Jane is excited to be serving on the Board of the GA Wine Producers, and believes that the organization will help further the wine industry in GA by mentoring new farm wineries and working with elected officials to expand recognition, increase marketing, and furthering research in the field.
After completing a successful career in the financial industry, Bob and Jane started a new project by purchasing 200 acres at the foot of Yonah Mountain. Their vision, along with an incredibly talented team, is now producing world class wines and welcoming thousands of visitors to the area each year.
Yonah Mountain Vineyards recently received one gold, three silver and five bronze medals at the prestigious San Francisco Chronicle wine competition.
In her spare time, Jane enjoys spending time with her 8 grandchildren and being involved with local projects that give back to the Cleveland community.
jane@yonahmountainvineyards.com 706-878-5522
Joey Muller has served on the Board of Directors since 2018 and is currently serving in his second year as the Vice-President of the Board for the Georgia Wine Producers (GWP). He is also an owner of The Vineyards at Mill Creek in Bremen and their restaurant and tasting room, Uncorked on Main in the heart of downtown Villa Rica. Both are family owned and run, which they founded in 2012. The vineyard is focused on growing hybrid grape varieties including: Blanc du Bois, Lenoir and Lomanto.
In addition, he is also the owner and operator of That Wine Guy Joey, a vineyard installation and
maintenance company, which he started in 2017, with the purpose and intent to help support new wine growers across the industry. Joey has also served on the boards of the Vineyard and Winery Association of West Georgia, Board of Directors since 2013, with a prior role as past president. In his work with the VWAWGA he also helped consolidate the group with the GWP.
Prior to having a full time career in the wine industry, Joey has held a variety of roles in public safety and medical fields. This included serving as a firefighter with the Haralson and Heard County Fire Departments, as an EMT in Heard and Coweta Counties, and as a medical technician with the Piedmont Newnan Hospital and the Cancer Centers of America in Newnan. Currently, when not in a vineyard, Joey still serves as an EMT and drives a medical transport.
As a native of West Georgia, Joey is often looking for opportunities to explore and support new restaurants, breweries and vineyards in the region and across Georgia. He also enjoys kayaking and camping trips with friends, as well as spending as much time as possible hanging out and travelling across the state for football and wrestling events for his three teenage sons.
thatwineguyjoey@gmail.com 770-301-4582
Jason Summerour is the owner of Three Strands Family Vineyard and Winery in Dallas, GA, along with his wife Erica.
Being a newcomer to the wine industry, Jason recognizes the importance in passing on knowledge and experience of viticulture, enology, and operational information down to future generations. Jason is passionate about serving on the Board of the Georgia Wine Producers in helping to elevate the Georgia wine industry through mentoring, education, and promotion.
Jason has enjoyed a 23 year career in Technology, and Three Strands Vineyard is his long term retirement plan. He and his family have methodically planned, planted, and built a Vineyard, Winery, and Tasting Room on their 22 acre estate over a period of 4.5 years.
Three Strands recently received a double gold, and two bronze medals from the 2021 Georgia Wine Trustees Wine Competition.
Jason’s entire family (Wife and 3 children) work within the vineyard, winery, and tasting room. Jason also serves on the Deacon Board at The Grove Church, and Paulding County Rotary Club.
jason.summerour@gmail.com 770-314-1577
Sean Wilborn is the owner of Cloudland Vineyards and Winery in Buford Georgia. Sean’s passion for wine reached a feverish pitch in 2012 when he left his career to pursue his dream of being a farmer and entrepreneur. In an effort to learn the wine industry inside and out, he got his start at Chateau Elan working in the vineyards and cellar before running the tasting room and overseeing much of the PR and marketing for the wine program.
He then went on to work for one of the largest wine distributors in the Southeast in an effort to understand the wholesale distribution business. It was here that Sean received an offer to manage one of the most prestigious wineries on the East Coast, the winery on Biltmore Estate. He started as the Winery Manager and was promoted to Director of Winery Operations, growing the wine program to its greatest success in the program’s storied history. He opened Cloudland in 2020 where he and his team manage an 11 acre estate in addition to 10+ plus acres of offsite vineyards in the foothills of North Georgia.
sean@cloudlandwines.com 386-931-7434
Gary Wiseman is the owner of Blue Cielo Farms – Vineyards & Winery in Commerce, GA, along with wife Cassandra.
Blue Cielo is located on 180 acres and is Jackson County’s first bonded farm winery. Blue Cielo had its first harvest in 2021 and is targeted to open in Fall 2022.
Gary joined the board in 2021 to support growth of the Georgia Wine Industry and share best practices and lessons learned with other aspiring new farm wineries.
Gary has over 25 years of leadership experience in the industrial and renewable energy markets and has a passion for growing businesses. He grew up in Canada and holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from York University Schulich School of Business.
He moved to the United States in 2001 and is married to wife Cassandra and has two stepsons Ryan and Colin.
gary.wiseman@comcast.net 470-990-3491
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