Wine and Drinks College Manitoba

WINE&DRINKS WESTERN CANADA’S PREMIER WINE AND DRINKS EDUCATION FACILITY OFFERS WINE, BEER, AND SPIRITS COURSES FOR EVERYONE FROM THE HOBBYIST TO THE PROFESSIONAL.

COLLEGE MANITOBA

We are happy to announce six new WSET Level 2 in Wines graduates in the Jones & Company team! This small group assembled (complying with COVID-19 restrictions in place) to tackle the WSET 2 qualifications under the guidance of our teaching team, Ricki-Lee Podolecki, Sylvia Jansen, and Gary Hewit.

Jenny VanDenDriessche

The office manager knows all, sees all, and catches all our mistakes. When we are lucky, we get to work with someone like Jenny, who has that rare ability to see our mistakes and love us anyway. Since 2014, Jenny has been sorting out the intricacies of everything from payables to receivables to balancing and reporting—in short, she takes care of all those areas that are above the heads of the wine geeks. She can frequently be seen in front of the California Cabernets or the South African Pinotage collections, where, in her view, the selections are very good for ending a day filled with numbers.

Leah Watkins

Leah is a key team member who understands that to support local means being passionate about turning the everyday into the extraordinary. She joined Jones & Company in 2020, bringing first-class experience in sports and entertainment management, team building, client relations, and marketing to our team. She describes the opportunity to join the Jones & Company family as an adventure and a challenge. Leah has jumped into the wine world with enthusiasm to learn and a desire to make our customers’ experiences extraordinary. Her own loves include big Cabernet Sauvignons and Tempranillo.

Alyona Lyubytska

Wine has always been part of Alyona’s life. As a child, she helped her grandfather crush grapes and make wine in his cellar in the south of Ukraine. The joy of those connections led her to later work in wine tourism, to challenge herself to learn multiple languages, and to move to Canada with her family. She joined our team in 2019, and she has eagerly applied herself to wine studies at WDCM. She is one of our key front-of-house staff, helping customers and building beautiful baskets when we need them. Alyona is a fan of Bordeaux and Bordeaux-style reds but is always keen to learn your favourite wine style!

Dylan Watkins

Dylan is learning the business of Jones & Company from front to back. He is one of our core frontof-house customer service team members and also works with our delivery logistics, sending wine to restaurant and retail customers around our fair city. Dylan joined our team in March 2020 with experience in service and bartending at Smith Restaurant. He has found the wine world to be everengaging and interesting. Dylan loves Chianti Classico and Côtes du Rhône wines, but he also loves a challenge: ask him the hardest wine question you can think of, and he will find the answer!

James Johnston

James is a wine student in our WSET programs, a core team member who keeps our stock well organized, someone who can find anything in our maze of a store cellar, and a musician who plays the flute, the oboe, and the clarinet. He joined us in 2017 and has been an anchor for the team ever since, pulling wines for our important retail customers and always lending a hand to our logistics team. If you find him working in the cellar, you might hear one of his favourite musicals on the speakers. In-store, he may be soft-spoken, but he knows more about wine than he usually lets on!

Manon Paquin

Manon Paquin joined the Jones & Company team as General Manager in October 2020. She has more than 15 years of experience in management, team building, and hospitality. She has worked for much of her career with Joey Restaurants, a great partner of Jones & Company. A few years ago, Manon also took on the challenge of opening a new concept in a new city, launching The Local in Ottawa to great success. She returned to Winnipeg to head Joey Kenaston. She joined our team in search of a new adventure. Manon loves teamwork and people. Importantly, she also loves wine, and the great wines of Burgundy hold a special place in her heart!

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