Williams Selyem Winery Hires Michael Traverso as Hospitality Manager

HEALDSBURG, Calif., Feb. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Williams Selyem Winery announces the hiring of Sonoma County native Michael Traverso as Hospitality Manager.

Michael joins Williams Selyem after 13 years as co-owner and Vice President of the iconic, 90-year-old Traverso's Gourmet Food and Liquors. Michael is tasked with delivering a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all visitors to the new Estate Winery. He will manage the hospitality staff that conducts tours of the winery and Estate vineyards for the by-appointment-only Tasting Salon at Williams Selyem. Mark Malpiede, Director of Sales & Marketing at Williams Selyem, says, "Michael will be a great addition to our hospitality team. He gives us an ability to properly host more guests and bring a very personal experience to visiting Williams Selyem."

In addition to his experience at Traverso's Market, Michael served on the Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Harvest Fair and was Board President in 2010; he is an adjunct faculty member at Santa Rosa Junior College; and he is a professional wine reviewer for a number of local and national competitions. Michael says, "This is an amazing opportunity for me to join one of the best, and one of my personal favorite wine brands in the country."

About Williams Selyem
Williams Selyem Winery began as a simple dream of two friends, Ed Selyem and Burt Williams, who pursued weekend winemaking as a hobby in 1979 in a garage in Forestville, California, and made their first commercial vintage in 1981. In less than two decades, Burt and Ed created a cult-status winery of international acclaim. Together they set a new standard for Pinot Noir winemaking in the United States, aligning Sonoma County's Russian River Valley in the firmament of the best winegrowing regions of the world. Today, John and Kathe Dyson, who purchased the winery from Burt and Ed in 1998, carry on the passion for Pinot Noir winemaking without compromise. Williams Selyem has built a spectacular new winery to improve winemaking and to provide an unparalleled visitors' experience for the members of the Williams Selyem List.

For more information contact:
Mark Malpiede, Williams Selyem Winery
[email protected], (707) 433-6425

SOURCE Williams Selyem Winery