About Row Eleven Wine Company
Our People
Richard de los Reyes, Founder/Winemaker
Richard de los Reyes, or Ricardo d. as he is more often known, has been in the wine business since he entered Cal State Fresno as a transfer student in oenology and viticulture thirty years ago. Upon graduation he began work first in a winery lab, then as winemaker, and was quickly hired as the manager for Noble Vineyards. Mentored by Augustin Huneeus after Noble was acquired by the Quintessa founder, de los Reyes worked for several different wineries throughout the state, including Beringer, in various capacities ranging from vineyard scout to hands-on winemaker.
Most recently he spent the last 17 years of his career as a partner in the firm JW Ciatti, the largest bulk wine brokerage in the US (the folks you would go to if you wanted, say, 52,385 gallons of Chenin Blanc from Mendoza). His three decades in the business, and in particular his tenure as the only oenologist at JW Ciatti, have given de los Reyes a lot of experience, which are chiefly manifest in the ability to make lots of different kinds of wines, and an intimate familiarity with an obscenely large number of vineyard sites and their products on the west coast of the U.S.
Ken Conner, Founder
Ken is a veteran entrepreneur and private investor with over twenty five years of hands-on experience nurturing and developing growth companies. After co-founding Lombard Investments in 1985, Ken's leadership was instrumental over the next fifteen years in building the firm to over $500 million in committed capital and investments on three continents. With expertise in start-ups, acquisitions and operations, Ken has successfully guided numerous investments in many sectors, including the food, beverage, real estate and media industries. He and his partners started Row Eleven Wine Co., LLC in early 2004.
Craig Boggs, National Sales Manager
Craig Boggs has over twenty years of experience in marketing and sales. His last twelve years have been dedicated to developing new beverage alcohol brands. As a twenty one year-old Lieutenant in the Marine Corp., Craig’s first assignment was to run the one hundred and ten-man external security force guarding the American Embassy in Lebanon.
Upon completion of his military assignments, Craig joined Gallo as a field marketing manager on the east coast, just as Gallo launched into the premium sector there and in the mid-Atlantic region. After five years he was recruited by Pepsi to represent its portfolio of premium wines and spirits, and, specifically, to focus on the repositioning of Stolichnaya Vodka. Two years later, in 1994, he launched his own company, Better Beverages Importers, which focused on specialty spirits, beer and European wines. Craig is considered an American expert on Scotch Whiskey.
Craig sold Better Beverages Importers in 2000 and opened a consulting firm, Whisper Consulting, which also dealt in distribution. The company was ahead of the curve in foreseeing demand for the then new product, hard lemonade. The company succeeded in distributing the One Eyed Jack brand to forty one states in a mere ninety days. Eager to get back into the wine business that he always loved, Boggs joined Row Eleven as National Sales Manager in 2005. He immediately opened fourteen states in one of the most difficult distribution times in the history of the wine industry. When he is not flying across the United States selling Row Eleven wines, he lives in Philadelphia with his wife and four daughters, where he spends any free time he has watching the basketball team of his alma mater, North Carolina.