Meet the Staff
Brendan Roche
General Manager
Having been bossed around by his three older sisters for all of his life, Brendan uses this experience to help him in his delegation duties as General Manager. This broad managing role requires Brendan to wear many different hats here from managing over 120 acres of vineyard, 400 acres of cattle-grazing property, and all of the winery operations. All of this keeps Brendan very busy but he always finds time for his favorite task as General Manager… tasting the latest Roche vintages.
Mara Roche
Director of Hospitality
Described as ‘enthusiastic’ by the San Francisco Chronicle, you’re always sure to hear Mara’s laughter echo throughout the winery. Mara loves a good party, and loves to throw them as well. She also loves to help our customer’s create “the perfect wine country event.” One of her favorite jobs is helping customers work with the wine country’s best chefs to pair our wines with the menu of their choice. Many ask where Mara learned her talent for pairing wines with food. She shrugs and says, “It comes from growing up in a big family. A normal dinner at my grandmother’s house was a twenty-person meal. I was her sous-chef. She was this little woman that had strict standards, but never measured a thing. She could duplicate any recipe, just by taste.”
Carrie Roche
Wine Club Manager
Unless she’s out fly fishing, you’ll find Carrie busy setting up the tasting room for our busy weekends. Carrie enjoys finding unique gift items for our Tasting Room shop almost as much as she enjoys hanging out with our loyal customers. When she’s not busy working at the Winery, Carrie often joins her father and friends on fly fishing adventures in California, Oregon, Montana and Idaho. Recently, Carrie became a Certified Casting Instructor.
David Gistelli
Account Manager
One of the newest members to our team, David Gistelli was a caterer for 20 years and still assists with his wife’s wedding planning company. His carefree and happy demeanor keeps us all entertained on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. When not at Roche, David works for a gourmet mushroom company that distributes to restaurants on the West Coast. David also plays the drums in a local band, once an occupation he pursued for 10 years professionally. You’ll often hear him drumming a beat on his desk between phone calls. Email: david@rochewinery.com
Darrell Andrews
Restaurant Sales
A veteran at Roche Winery, Darrell has worked behind the bar in our Tasting Room and as an Account Manager so you might recognize him from one of your past visits. His attention to detail and dedication to Roche is perfect for attending to our many restaurant accounts. Outside of enjoying the release of each new Roche vintage, Darrell is a culinary enthusiast who likes teaching others about cooking and preparing special dishes for family and friends. Don’t get him started on his golfing addiction! Email: darrell@rochewinery.com
Carrie MacDonough
Account Manager
Carrie MacDonough is a recent graduate of UC Santa Cruz majoring in Environmental Studies. She brings with her experience from a small, family owned winery in the Santa Cruz mountains, Windy Oaks Estate. When Carrie’s not taking care of our wonderful Club customers you’ll find her hiking in the Bay Area’s scenic parks. Email: carnerosclub@rochewinery.com
Jason Klein
Director of Marketing & Sales
Prior to joining Roche a few years back, Jason marketed baseball bats for Easton Sports, SuperDuty F-Series trucks for Ford, and even wine for E&J Gallo. Now working for a smaller, family-run winery, he is extremely happy and will tell you he has found his “dream job” at Roche. Full of energy, you will often see Jason running around the winery to help with this or that. Jason’s favorite Roche wine? “Our Roche Carneros Estate Merlots – always full of fruit! My wife and I just love them.”
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