MAGNUM WINE & SPIRITS started in November of 2019 by two women Christi Davison and Marisela Ellwanger. They got through the hard task of obtaining a distribution license in NV, however they didn’t come from the wine & spirits business. Our team bought in with them to grow the business, & eventually took over the company & all operations.
THE PEOPLE
Ron is a wine, spirits & hospitality industry veteran of more than 30 years, Starting in F&B in college he completed the Master Sommelier Diploma at The Dorchester Hotel in London in 1999. (One of only 270 in the World since 1969). As the head of Education for Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada, he taught numerous seminars and classes at restaurants, hotels, colleges, and courses for the Court of Master Sommeliers. He has also been an expert wine speaker for The Newport Beach Wine Festival and The Park City Food & Wine Classic for the past decade and been a guest sommelier with many celebrity chefs such as NOBU, Wolfgang Puck and Emeril Lagasse. Along with a strong commitment to wine he brings the unique experience of 7 years in automotive sales and sales training, Ron is a 21-year veteran of SGWS, working through the ranks and finishing as VP On Premise Wine with an additional 3 years VP Off Premise, Spirits and Operations for Vin Sauvage Wine & Spirits and add a year of National Sales for a Napa winery.
Nick started in retail at Lee’s Discount Liquor when he was 21 in 2003, became an assistant store manager & began moonlighting in retail merchandising for large distribution companies shortly thereafter. He was recruited to the SWS merchandising team, & then advanced to the SWS warehouse. He left the SWS warehouse to move into fine wine sales & was with the J&P Wholesale Fine Wine Team for 6 years. He later reunited with Lee’s Discount Liquor to run the graphics department after time away in various ventures in other outlets of distribution & running restaurant wine programs. Nick was the state Retail Sales Manager for Pemberton Distribution for 3 years before joining the Magnum team in 2021. Nick is a Certified Sommelier, has a degree in Graphic Design and is a warehouse foreman with forklift & order picker certifications.
Tara brings with her a demonstrated history of working in automotive technology, beverage wholesale distribution, automotive tools distribution and construction industries. Strong accounting professional skilled in Forecasting and Modeling, Project Management, Business Strategy, Leadership, Change Management, and Financial Accounting. Experience working in a Private Equity environment, with acquisitions, as well as small family-owned businesses and large national corporations. Iowa State Bachelors, Accounting UNLV MBA (Asst Controller SWS 8 yrs)
John is a long-time industry veteran starting after graduating UNLV in 1994. He joined SWS in1994 for four years, worked as a sommelier to open Todd English Olives at Bellagio, worked as a supplier with Sebastiani and Prestige Wine imports. He was the Corporate Beverage Director for Smith & Wollensky, Sales Manager for Aqua Health and ran brands as an independent beverage consultant in Nevada for 8 years. John runs a brokerage team with Mike Delgado a 32-year veteran of SWS working with general market and running the Beer department for over 20 years.
Debbie came to Magnum from the financial services sector with a strong emphasis on accounting and was an owner of a gourmet wine & spirits shop in Florida. She previously held investment licenses Series 7, 63, 66, 24, 9/10 and Florida State Life & Health Insurance.
Luis started his wine career in fine dining at Chef Charlie Trotter’s Las Vegas restaurant and led to running wine programs for Joachim Splichal’s Pinot Brasserie, Charlie Palmer Steak and Hotel Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Kitchen and Wine Director for Wolfgang Puck’s Spago Group. In 2002 he was the first person of Filipino descent to complete the Master Sommelier Diploma and went to work wholesale at Southern Wine & Spirits. Luis Completed the Advanced Sake Professional certification and the WSET Sake L3. He went on to run the Sake program for SWS for 3 years.
Max has degrees from the University of Massachusetts and Bentley University. He was Mixology Specialist & Spirits Educator for Southern Glazier’s for 5 years and Beverage Manager & Director of Spirits Education for Emeril Lagasse for 10 years. Max has won multiple National Mixology competitions, veteran Spirits Judge at San Francisco World Spirits Competition & International Whiskey Competition. Was twice named “Bartender of the Year’ by Nevada Restaurant Association. Max runs Bar Chef Productions.
Wine Educator UCLA For 12 Years
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