Donnell Brown is the New Director of the Long Island Merlot Alliance
The Long Island Merlot Alliance(LIMA) has announced that Donnell Brown will be taking over as the group's Executive Director, taking over for Len Dest whose other commitments led him to step down.
Brown has worked in marketing and public relations for more than 15 years, and has been a serious student of wine for a decade. She holds Intermediate and Advanced (pending) Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust and is an active member of the James Beard Foundation, the Slow Food East End Convivium, and a member of the Board-led Outreach Committee for the Peconic Land Trust, a land conservation organization dedicated to the protection of working farms (including vineyards) and natural lands on Long Island.
Richard Olsen-Harbich, a founding member of LIMA said of Brown “We are excited to have the enthusiasm and energy of someone who is as passionate about East End wines as Alliance members are,” said Richard Olsen-Harbich, a founding member of the Long Island Merlot Alliance, and winemaker at Raphael. “Donnell’s professional skill and keen interest in local, artisanal, food-friendly wine will fuel our mission: to establish the East End of Long Island as the premiere terroir for red wines in the U.S., a bridge between the Old World and New World of merlot and merlot blends.”
Hopefully, Brown will be able to help the group grow its membership and also become more publicly active in the local wine community.
Lenn, thanks for the press! I do hope to grow the group and its profile in short order, and will keep you in the loop. More to come!