Our Team
Winegrowing calls for intensive field work. From the grueling hand labor of planting and tending the vines through the growing season to the back-breaking manual harvest, we would not have the high quality product that we are able to bring to your table without the help of a multitude of vineyard workers. For the lifetime of our winery, we have supported vineyard worker healthcare via Salud, first as 20-year members of the Vintner’s Circle, and now as bidders at the Salud auction. We encourage you to support vineyard worker healthcare.
Beyond the vineyard, both behind the scenes and behind the bar, our core team of resilient, creative, and brilliant employees wear many hats and accomplish the work of a small army for Raptor Ridge. We are honored to work shoulder to shoulder with the individuals below. Come visit us to see what we mean!
We're proud of our closely knit team that not only works well together, but to a person, shares a passionate commitment to make Raptor Ridge a safe and enjoyable environment where all who love wine should feel a sense of belonging. This is demonstrated by the manner in which we welcome every guests, treat our employees, and conduct ourselves towards our community of wine professionals. We are committed as individuals and as a company to continue our work to actively change the face of an industry that is woefully in need of diversification.
After signing the WVWA Diversity Pledge, we have taken a couple of small steps in 2020. One was to provide Spanish translations for our daily tasting menu, and the option for tours and tastings conducted in Spanish by our new Tasting Room Manager, Luiggi Uzcategui. We also examined our supplier relationships for opportunities to diversify, and have shifted to two Black-owned businesses who now supply us with our logoware and lovely organic syrups for our Alcohol Free tasting flight. In addition, we began the conversation about self-study in this year of conflict. See each team member’s picks at the end of their bio and view our complete company promise here.
Scott Shull
Founder & Winegrower
Annie Shull
Proprietor, Chief Operations Officer
Shannon Gustafson
Winemaker
Paige Bellamy
Hospitality Manager
It was destiny, when our order of service shifted more to reservations, we enticed Paige to join us, bringing her wide-ranging front-of-the-house knowledge and team building skills from resorts as far-ranging as The Lodge at Talkeetna, Alaska, Glacier National Park in Montana, and Steamboat Springs in Colorado. Paige’s depth of customer service, calm demeanor, and quiet persistence inspires us all, and makes our guests feel welcome and cared for. Her love of all things nature and passion for furry friends make her a perfect fit on our team.
To Watch: Handsworth Songs, When They See Us, The hate u give
To Read: What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker, For Black Americans The White Terror in D.C. Looks Familiar, When They Call You a Terrorist
To Listen To: Seeing White
Caroline Justice
Manager of Membership and Digital Sales
Luiggi Uzcategui
Tasting Room Manager
Ileana Higashiyama
Hospitality Lead
Larry Nelson
Hospitality Associate
Larry wins the prize for the shortest commute to work, which is how we first made his acquaintance. Larry is firmly entrenched in “retirement” after an active life doing everything under the sun. Larry works as half of Chehalem Mountain Pottery at his nearby home studio. A native of Colorado Larry was transplanted as a lad to the Tacoma, Washington area before landing Beaverton. A 40-year wine industry veteran who started as a stock boy at The Cheese Shop, Larry partnered with his brother in 1976 to launch Nelson Brothers Cheese & Wine, curating a selection of 500+ wines from around the globe. Back then, he enjoyed hosting winemakers from Europe, the US, and local wineries, learning about Oregon wines as fast as Oregon winemakers were learning how make them. And the everything under the sun part? A PSU art degree, scuba instructor, professional pyrotechnician, and home beer brewer. We’re just wondering when he is going to start learning to train elephants.
To Watch: The Central Park Five
To Listen To: Seizing Freedom, The American Tapestry Project, It's Been A Minute, All Things Considered
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