Frank Hannah, Owner and Visionary

Frank is a native of Atlanta, Georgia.  He completed his medical training at Duke, in Durham, NC and then moved to Shelby with his wife, Barbara in the 70s to start practicing ophthalmology and to raise their family.

He owned 140 acres of land north of Shelby for over 30 years and in 2002 decided to venture into the vineyard and winery business with the planting of 10 of those acres.  More plantings will be happening in the near future.

Sean McRitchie, Vineyard Manager and Winemaker

Sean's career in wine started at the ripe young age of 9.  His father, Dr. Robert McRitchie was a winemaker so Sean was able to work on various wineries on weekends and during the summers.  In his 20s, he travelled the world helping with the harvests in the United States, Australia and Europe.  He has worked in all different capacities of the business from the moldy caves in Germany to being the cellar foreman at Domaine Chandon in Napa.  For several years, he worked at Benton Lane in the prestigious Willamette Valley of Oregon. 

Then, his career brought him to Shelton Vineyards in North Carolina where he designed the infrastructure and vineyards.  He enjoyed his time at Shelton, but he and his wife decided to start a winery and viticulture consulting business and as a result, have played an integral part in the growth and development of the North Carolina wine industry.  In addition to helping to develop numerous wineries and vineyards in North Carolina, Sean is also the winemaker and winemaking consultant for several wineries, including Owl's Eye.

Pierre Dalmas, Director of Sales & Marketing / Tasting Room Manager

Despite the French name, Pierre is a native North Carolinian, born and raised in Raleigh. "Wine is in my blood." Pierre says. His family has an unbroken chain of winemaking in NC dating back to the 1920's. The Dalmas family operation went commercial in 1990 operating today as Waldensian Heritage Wines in Valdese, NC. He previously worked at Biltmore Winery, Raffaldini Vineyards, RagApple Lassie Vineyards and attended the Viticulture and Enology classes at Surry Community College - the first wine education program in the state.

704-471-9196 1414 Metcalf Road, Shelby, North Carolina  28150