Sheila McNeil, Owner and General Manager, has over 25 years’ experience in the wine industry and has learned about wine and spirits from the ground up. She began her career long before wine was the popular part of American culture that it is today. Sheila has managed Wine & Sprits of Slingerlands since 1997 and has a well-deserved reputation as an expert in a field once dominated by men. She is a member of the Chaine des Rotisseurs, the Jack Daniels Single Barrel Society, and the proud recipient of the 2000 Retailer of the Year Award from the New York State Grape & Wine Foundation. Sheila tastes every wine she sells and is an educator as well as a purveyor of fine wine and spirits. Sheila's favorite cocktail is a classic Martini and her favorite wines are Champagne and Chardonnay. Upon tasting a spine-tingling wine, she has been known to say...it's a beautiful thing!

Seaborn Jones, Assistant Manager, has been with Wine & Spirits of Slingerlands since 2001. Experienced as a sommelier for Albany landmark restaurants and internationally educated in Business and Marketing, Italian language, oenology, and culinary arts, Seaborn has cultivated and honed his knowledge of food and wine pairing. An admitted lover of pinot noir, Champagne, and the bounty of Italian wines, he relishes the challenge of exploring the oeno–gastro globe to design the best possible – traditional or otherwise – gourmet union of food and wine.

Ian Ostrander, a lover of all things Zinfandel, has been with Wine & Spirits of Slingerlands since 2004. With a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, specialized training through Wine Spectator, and his own insatiable curiosity about the pleasures of wine drinking, Ian is a consistently reliable and always open-minded resource for respected, adventurous, and sometimes unjustifiably ignored wine gems.

Hunter Ostrander, a wine and spirits enthusiast since he began with Wine & Spirits of Slingerlands in 2003, learned by bull-by-the-horns tasting. While he puts to noble use his degree in Elementary Education to help shape young minds, he spends much of the rest of his time guiding not-as-young minds in their search for the perfect Bourbon, Scotch, or Australian Shiraz – plus plenty of other sought after vine and barrel treasures.

Denise Chiofalo, a Certified Cellar Master and Certified Wine Specialist with advanced degrees in Bordeaux, Burgundy, and German wines, has been with Wine & Spirits of Slingerlands since 2005 With extensive knowledge in winemaking and expert wine tasting, Denise – a professed devotee of the beauty and integrity of French Bordeaux and Burgundy – is always on hand to share her expertise in the particularities and histories of wines dotted across the map. Denise comes to us with over 30 years in the wine and spirits industry, having worked with suppliers, importers and distributors.