Team Scale Wine Group
Desmond Echavarrie, M.S. CEO & Owner
Desmond “Des” Echavarrie founded Scale Wine Group in 2016 with a vision to represent a portfolio of small, dynamic wine producers on a national scale. Des and his team are responsible for the promotion and wholesale sales of over 20 boutique wine brands across the United States and abroad.
Before starting Scale Wine Group, Des was the director of sales for Realm Cellars, where he managed the wholesale and direct sales channels for the highly sought-after Napa Icon. Prior to Realm, Des was a senior wine advisor at Soutirage helping clients build some of the world’s greatest wine collections.
Earlier in his career he served as a sommelier at Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif. During his tenure at the restaurant, Des achieved the title of Master Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2012.
Originally from Arizona, his career began at The Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale under the mentorship of Greg Tresner, MS and continued in Las Vegas where he worked as a sommelier in some of the city’s most-respected restaurants and hotels, such as The Bellagio Resort and the Wynn Las Vegas.
While his duties at Scale have grown with the company, his role as husband to Genevieve Echavarrie and father to Eloise are still the most rewarding.
William Dale Vice President
In his role as Vice President at Scale Wine Group, Will Dale brings more than a decade of national sales experience and a proven track record for giving a voice to family-owned wineries from Napa and Sonoma. He excels at building the right relationships with distributors and accounts to promote small, dynamic brands through restaurant and retail placements.
Having held various positions in the wine and hospitality field since high school, William has developed an incredible passion for telling the story of what makes the wines he shares unique. As the national sales manager for Barnett Vineyards for six years before joining Scale, William built and managed wholesale partnerships that resulted in Barnett doubling their sales in several key markets. He successfully launched new markets for the brand while strengthening existing distributor partnerships building a network of exceptional wholesale representation.
His career in the wine world began with Trefethen Family Vineyards, where he hosted guest tastings, focused on direct to consumer wine sales, hospitality and events. Following several years with the Trefethen family, William transitioned to Astrale e Terra, a small winery in the Atlas Peak AVA. A native Californian, William graduated from Pacific Union College in Angwin, Calif. with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration—Management.
Joshua Stanko East Coast Sales Manager
Joshua Stanko joins the Scale Wine Group team with over twenty years of hospitality experience, and it’s the combination of warmth, graciousness, and wine expertise that makes him the perfect person to represent Scale brands on the East Coast. As a Regional Sales Manager, Josh works with our distributors to tell the story of each brand, cultivating the best restaurant and retail placements for our wines.
Josh discovered his love of wine through his work in restaurants which began at age 16. A Pennsylvania native, He moved to New York with a musical theater degree and a plan to work on Broadway. Working as a sommelier at Becco in the theater district’s Restaurant Row he realized his leading role was in the wine world. Josh spent the last 15 years as sommelier at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle in Manhattan, home to a 2600+ selection wine list that received Wine Spectator’s Grand Award from 2017-2020. At Del Frisco’s, he got involved with the Court of Master Sommeliers program and became an Advanced Sommelier in 2017. He is currently studying for the Master Sommelier exam and enjoying his most important role as a new father.
Josh lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife Joyce and their son Miles.
Phillip Murphy Director of Operations
Phillip Murphy’s decade of experience managing operations for small family-owned wineries is just one one of the factors that makes him a vital member of the Scale Wine Group team. As Director of Operations, Phillip ensures that every aspect of our company operates smoothly and efficiently, keeping the trains running on time within every department and coordinating with our winery partners. Most importantly, he makes sure wine arrives when and where it needs to be.
Phillip moved to Sonoma County in 2002 to study Small Business Administration at Sonoma State University and quickly fell in love with all that Wine Country had to offer. His first wine industry position was at a small Calistoga winery, Envy Wines, where he ran all winery operations beginning in 2009. From there, he became Director of Operations at Revana Family Vineyards in 2014, managing operations across three wineries in Oregon, California, and Argentia. Unsurprisingly, he was promoted to General Manager of Revana’s flagship winery in 2018. “I have a passion for making sure a business runs smoothly, efficiently and profitably,” he says, “and actively develop systems and policies to help achieve those goals.”
A longtime resident of Downtown Santa Rosa, Phillip is an avid outdoorsman, from hiking, trail running, kayaking and snowboarding to surfing and indoor rock climbing. In other words, whether running ops at Scale Wine Group or literally running up a mountain, Phillip is nonstop.
Elizabeth Keplinger Communications Manager
Elizabeth Keplinger is an expert in the details. Her background includes office management and executive administration along with project facilitation, making her a pro at moving projects from start to finish and maintaining exceptional lines of communication with everyone involved.
At Scale Wine Group, her communication management starts with our internal team and spans out to every party that makes what we do possible: coordinating with winery team members, brand managers, distributors, wholesale accounts, and the sales team. If you need something, Elizabeth either has it, or has a way to get it. From her outstanding communication and customer service to her knack for having the exact piece of information needed on a given day, Elizabeth is a crucial member of the Scale team— and we’re thrilled she made the move to Napa to support her family’s Keplinger Wines and fell in love with this beautiful valley.