Board of Directors

Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Roney served as the Chief Executive Officer of VWE from its inception until February 2023, having co-founded Legacy VWE in 2007 with the late Leslie Rudd. Mr. Roney has spent his 30-plus year career in the wine, spirits, and food industries, beginning with his first job as a young sommelier at the legendary Pump Room in Chicago. He has been hands-on in every aspect of the wine and spirits business—from production to sales and marketing, to finance and senior management, at some of the industry’s most important brands, including Seagram’s, Chateau St. Jean, Dean & Deluca and the Kunde Family Winery. Mr. Roney’s idea to bring fine wine brand Girard together with a direct-to-consumer brand Windsor Vineyards, to form Vintage Wine Estates, illustrates his deep knowledge of market trends and consumer behaviors. Mr. Roney models an entrepreneurial spirit and is dedicated to preserving the heritage of iconic wine brands while maintaining focus on the customer and innovative ideas. He holds a B.S. degree from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. degree from Southern Illinois University. He is well-qualified to serve as a director because of his manifold roles in operations, finance, sales, and marketing throughout his career in food and beverage companies, including leadership of Legacy VWE from its very beginning.

Robert has served as a director since July 2019. Mr. Berner is a founder, Joint Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Bespoke and Chairman of Bespoke’s Investment Committee since 2014. He has been active in the private equity industry for over 30 years. Mr. Berner has sat on numerous boards and is currently Chairman of Johnnie-O LLC (men’s lifestyle brand), which he has served on since 2006. Mr. Berner also was a principal investor in, and Chairman of Diversified Distribution Systems, LLC (DDS), the largest specialty retail distribution and services business in the United States, which was recently successfully sold to Bunzl Plc in 2017. Mr. Berner was a Partner at CVC Capital Partners from 2007 to 2010, a global private equity firm with over $100 billion of assets under management and assisted in the opening and development of the firm’s US efforts, including serving as Chairman of CVC US. Prior to CVC, he served as a Managing Director at Ripplewood Holdings from 2000 to 2007 and was a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. Prior thereto, Mr. Berner was a Partner and member of the Investment Committee of Charterhouse International. Mr. Berner began his career in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley where he was a principal in the mergers and acquisitions department. Mr. Berner also serves on the board of Bespoke’s portfolio companies. In addition, Mr. Berner has acted as a non-executive director on the boards of numerous private equity portfolio companies during his private equity career and has sat on the board of several charitable and not for profit organizations. Mr. Berner has an MBA from Northwestern University and a BBA in Finance from the University of Notre Dame. With his track record of success in private equity during his career, Mr. Berner is well-qualified to sit on the Board as a Director.

Mark has served as a director since July 2019. He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of BCAC from December 2020 to June 2021. Mr. Harms is a founder and Joint Managing Partner of Bespoke since 2014. Mr. Harms also founded Global Leisure Partners (“GLP”) in 2004, where he is currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. GLP has advised on over $60 billion of transactions, deploying over $500 million of capital into a number of investments and developed an industry leading operating executive network with 75+ members. Mr. Harms has completed over 130 advisory and principal transactions in North and South America, Europe, and Australia. Mr. Harms has extensive experience with regard to leveraged debt, mezzanine and equity financing techniques in Europe and the U.S. with over $100 billion in completed transactions, making him well-qualified to serve on the Board as a Director. Prior to founding GLP, Mr. Harms worked at Oppenheimer as a Managing Director and at CIBC World Markets as the founder and head of the Consumer Growth Group. Mr. Harms built within Consumer Growth Group strong industry verticals in branded consumer products and services, gaming, health and fitness, specialty retail and travel and tourism. Mr. Harms has served on the board of Bespoke’s portfolio company, World Fitness Services, since 2017. Mr. Harms was a non-executive director of 24 Hour Fitness, a Bespoke portfolio company, from 2014 to 2020. Mr. Harms was a Vice Chairman of the World Travel & Tourism Council from 2009 to 2014 and is a member and on the board of the International Association of Gaming Advisors. He was also a non-executive director on a number of other charitable, educational, and not-for-profit boards. Mr. Harms has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA from the University of Michigan.

Candice has served as a director since June 2021. She previously served as a director of BCAC from July 2019 to November 2019. Ms. Koederitz brings capital markets, due diligence, financial market product development, international and risk management experience, which she gained as a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley where she spent over 30 years, before retiring in 2016. At Morgan Stanley, Ms. Koederitz worked with companies and governments globally to raise over $30 billion in capital. Ms. Koederitz held various senior management roles, including head of Capital, head of Regulatory Implementation, Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley Asia (S) Ltd in Singapore, and head of Capital Markets Execution. She co-chaired the Capital Commitment Committee, Equity Underwriting Committees, Americas Franchise Committee and was a member of the Firm and Securities Risk Committees. Ms. Koederitz is currently an independent, non-executive director of ICE Benchmark Administration Ltd, a financial benchmark administrator, and of Scotia Holdings (US) Inc., whose parent company is The Bank of Nova Scotia. She previously served as an independent non-executive director of TEAM, INC. (Nasdaq: TEAM) from August 2021 to November 2021. She is also active in several non-profit organizations. Ms. Koederitz has an M.B.A. degree from Harvard Business School and a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. She is qualified to serve on the Company’s board of directors because of her financial acumen and executive skills.

Jon became interim CEO of VWE in February 2023 and has served as a director since June 2021. Mr. Moramarco has nearly 40 years of uninterrupted involvement in the wine industry. Since 2009, he has been Managing Partner of BW166 LLC, a consultancy to the beverage alcohol industry and provider of beverage alcohol industry data. Industry reports published by BW166 LLC include the bw166 Total Beverage Alcohol Overview and The Gomberg & Frederiksen Report. From 2010 to 2014, Mr. Moramarco was President and Chief Executive Officer of Winebow Inc., a significant importer of table wines into the U.S. market and a wholesaler of fine wines and craft spirits. From 1999 to 2009, was an executive with Constellation Brands, holding positions such as President and Chief Executive Officer of Canandaigua Wine Co. (1999-2003), President and Chief Executive Officer of Icon Estates (2003-2005), President and Chief Executive Officer of Constellation Europe (2007-2007) and Chief Executive Officer of Constellation International (2007-2009). In his final role at Constellation Brands leading to his recruitment to Winebow Inc., he served on the Executive Management Committee of the parent company and participated in all board meetings. From 1982 to 1999, Mr. Moramarco held a series of positions with Allied Domecq and its predecessor companies. He holds a B.S. degree in Agricultural Science & Management from the University of California at Davis and a certificate in Organizational Change from Stanford Business School. Mr. Moramarco’s professional affiliations include the Executive Leadership Board for Viticulture and Enology of the University of California at Davis and former board positions with the Wine Institute of California, the American Vintners Association, and the Wine Market Council. He is qualified to serve on the Company’s board of directors because of his deep understanding of the wine industry and his financial and managerial skills relating directly to the industry.

Tim has served as a director since August 2019. He is qualified to serve on the Company’s board of directors due to his 38 years of experience in the practice of law, primarily in the highly regulated industries of pharmaceuticals and drinks. Mr. Proctor served as global general counsel at Diageo plc from 2000 to 2013, managing a worldwide team of lawyers in support of marketing, M&A, regulatory, and compliance challenges, during a period of company growth. Prior to his time at Diageo, Mr. Proctor was US general counsel at Glaxo (now GlaxoSmithKline) from 1992 to 1998, then moved to London to be the global head of human resources. Mr. Proctor also served in several positions at Merck Sharp and Dohme ("MSD") from 1980 to 1992, which included senior attorney (US), New Products Committee Secretary, MSD Europe Counsel, MSD US Counsel, VP & Associate General Counsel and Global Human Health Marketing and Research. Before his time at MSD, he spent five years at Union Carbide Corporation. Mr. Proctor’s previous board service includes the Northwestern Mutual, Wachovia Bank and Allergan, Inc. Mr. Proctor has MBA and JD degrees from the University of Chicago, earned in a joint program.

Lisa has served as a director since June 2021. She retired in May 2021 from Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ), a Fortune 500 company and a leading international producer of beer, wine, and spirits with operations in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, and Italy. Ms. Schnarr joined Constellation Brands in 2004 and earned promotions through a series of positions with increasing responsibility, including Vice President of Compensation and HRIS (2011-2013), Senior Vice President of Total Rewards (2014-2015), Corporate Controller (2015-2017) and Chief Financial Officer of the Wine & Spirits Division (2017-2019). Before joining Constellation Brands, Ms. Schnorr held financial and accounting positions at various public and private companies and she began her career in 1987 at PricewaterhouseCoopers (formerly Price Waterhouse), all in Rochester, New York. Since 2014, Ms. Schnorr has been a member of the board of directors of Graham Corporation (NYSE: GHM), where she serves as an Audit Committee member and Compensation Committee chair. She holds a B.S. degree in Accounting from the State University of New York at Oswego. Ms. Schnorr’s experience in VWE’s industry is a valuable contribution to the Company’s board of directors, as is her experience in strategic planning, audit, financial planning and analysis, capital allocation, public company corporate governance and risk management, among other functions and roles, making her well-suited to serve on the Board.

Jonathan has served as a director since June 2021. He previously served as a director of Legacy VWE from October 2018 to June 2021. He founded Sonoma Brands in January 2016 to invest in high-growth, emerging consumer brands and selectively incubate new concepts. Mr. Sebastiani currently leads all aspects of Sonoma Brands’ investment strategy and portfolio company management. Prior to founding Sonoma Brands, he was the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of KRAVE Pure Foods, acquired by The Hershey Company in 2015. Prior to KRAVE, he was the President of Viansa Winery from 1992 to 2005. Mr. Sebastiani holds a B.S. degree from Santa Clara University and a dual M.B.A. degree from the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, and Columbia Business School. Mr. Sebastiani is qualified to serve on the Company’s board of directors because of his success as an entrepreneur and investor with respect to consumer products companies, particularly in the wine industry.

Lead Independent Director Paul Walsh has served as a director since July 2019. Mr. Walsh brings with him a wealth of experience as Chief Executive Officer of a large multinational branded consumer products corporation operating in highly regulated markets. Mr. Walsh previously served as Chairman of Compass Group PLC from February 2014 to December 2020. He also previously served as the Lead Operating Partner of Bespoke Capital Partners, LLC (“Bespoke”) from August 2016 to June 2020. Mr. Walsh was the Chief Executive Officer of Diageo, the world’s largest spirits company, from 2000 to 2013. Prior to that, Mr. Walsh was the Chairman and President of The Pillsbury Company from 1996 to 1999. Under Mr. Walsh’s leadership, Diageo was transformed from a multi-national conglomerate into a focused global market leading spirits business via a combination of organic growth and significant acquisitions. Mr. Walsh and his management team created over $80 billion of shareholder value while in leadership at Diageo. Mr. Walsh brings with him substantial corporate leadership experience, knowledge of consumer-centric companies, international operations expertise, and experience with regulated industries. He has also held executive-level finance positions, including as Chief Financial Officer of Grand Metropolitan Foods and Intercontinental Hotels. Throughout his career, Mr. Walsh has built success and growth at his companies through the deployment of effective brand development and marketing strategies, which brings added perspective to our Board and makes him well qualified to serve as a director. Notable successes include the creation of the Johnnie Walker family of Scotch Whiskey brands. He also currently serves as Executive Chairman of McLaren Group. He is a non-executive director of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) and FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX).