The Team
Quinton Jay
Proprietor
With over 16 years’ experience in the wine industry, Quinton Jay is the proprietor of Bacchus Wine Shop and has actively contributed to the success of many wine ventures in the Napa, Sonoma, and Oregon regions. (Entrepreneurship runs in the family as you will often find his Mom in the shop.) His knowledge of wine from grape to glass gives Quinton a true appreciation of what makes a great wine.
In addition to being a wine enthusiast, Quinton has a newfound love for brown spirits with Japanese whiskey being his latest obsession. He also strives to take the mystery out of food and wine or spirits pairings, making it easy and fun to plan a meal with his recommendations on what to serve with various dishes.
JW
Shop Manager
A self-professed cooking enthusiast, JW delights in his role as shop manager where he is responsible for purchasing beer, gourmet cheeses and charcuterie. He’s also the creator of Bacchus Provisions’® beef jerky and flavored vinegars sold in the shop. Prior to Bacchus, JW spent 25 years as an advertising photographer for Fortune 1000 companies. In addition to his love of cooking, JW is honing his skills growing heirloom tomatoes.
Derek Smith
Director of Operations: Catering & Shipping
Ditching the corporate world to join a specialty wine shop with a “small town” feel, Derek adds a personal touch to the areas he is responsible for at Bacchus, including events, ecommerce, and beverage delivery service. Previously, Derek was an event coordinator at Nutanix and the Event Lead at a corporate catering company. He enjoys drinking whiskey, discovering new distilleries, and helping with whiskey tasting events. In his spare time, Derek likes to play guitar, listen to music (all kinds), surf, and watch a lot of soccer, football and basketball.
Carolyn
Wine Club Manager
As Wine Club Manager, Carolyn is the behind-the-scenes person welcoming new members and making sure all aspects of the Wine Club run smoothly. Prior to joining Bacchus, Carolyn owned and operated a wine bar, and worked at several wine retail shops and wine bars prior to that. She has been in the food and beverage industry for over 15 years and holds a sommelier certificate with the Court of Master Sommeliers. In her spare time, Carolyn likes to garden, go on hikes with her five-year-old son and German Shepherd, and drink wine (of course!).
Cindee
Marketing and PR
In another life, Cindee would be a celebrity chef and author/blogger focusing on food, cooking, and travel adventures. Instead, she fulfills that dream by working with the Bacchus team on marketing the shop’s wildly fun tastings, events, world-class selection of wines and spirits, and more. Cindee enjoys experimenting with new recipes, fostering rescue pups, and traveling to exotic locales around the world.
Daniel Bellinger
Resident Chef
Our resident Italian Chef started out in the fields of southwestern Tennessee.
Hunting, fishing, and learning about foraging his own produce and crops. He worked with animals growing up and learned to honor the whole animal from head to hoof.
He started out in farm to table bistros in his early teenage years and developed a hunger to learn more and strives to learn more every day. This Navy Veteran eventually found himself working alongside legendary chefs in New York City in the Batali and Bastianich group. Those tireless hours of pursuit and perfection of his Italian cuisine have not stopped as he now heads our culinary department as our resident chef.
His passion involves the highest quality to include sustainable, farm to table practices that involve both locally sourced and seasonal menus.
Ryan Lawson
Resident Butcher
Ryan Lawson is that rare person who began pursuing his career at a young age and performs it exceptionally well. At age 14, while on a shopping trip to Pape’s with his parents, he was offered a part-time job helping around the shop. And so Ryan’s journey in the meat business began.
After an apprenticeship with EI, a high-end grocery purveyor in Manhattan where he studied the fine art of dry aging beef, Ryan returned to his native Millbrae where he lends his newfound expertise to Pape’s. He’s now widely considered an expert in the process of dry aging.
An avid hiker and backpacker, if you don’t see him at Pape’s, Ryan is likely camping in the mountains or deserts of California. His calm demeanor, sense of humor and excellent customer service are among the many reasons many people won’t buy their meat anywhere else.
Perry DeLuca
advisor / investor
Perry has wine in his blood. While sitting as a wine conference panelist, he was once formally introduced as someone who started drinking burgundy in his sippy cup (it happens to be true).
Perry's great grandmother, Rosa Greco, opened her own wine store in Sicily in the early 1900's. From the 1940s until the early 1970s his grandfather Frank Titone and Uncle Bruno Giardina owned and operated Wilkins Liquors on Clay and Presidio in Laurel Village, San Francisco. Wilkins continues to operate under different ownership to this very day.
Much of his family has continued in the industry. His father, John, ran the California Wine Institute from 1975-2003. His sister, Carla, completed an award winning film documentary on Prohibition in 2005.
Perry has lent his expertise as an advisor and lender to many major wine companies in California. He served as a Board Member at Sonoma State's wine business program, and he’s a member of the public policy committee at the Wine Institute. He’s also serves as a board member at Trentadue Winery in Healdsburg.