Michelle Jaenke graduated in 1996 with a Pastry Arts and Food Service Management degree from Johnson and Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina and started her career as a restaurant manager and wine buyer, spending 5 ½ years with Tim Mallett’s independent restaurant group in St. Louis. A group that included such restaurant brands as Blue Water Grill, Big Sky Café, Ellie Forcella, and Remy’s Kitchen and Wine Bar.

In 2001, while working at Remy’s, Michelle completed Level One of the Court of Master Sommeliers (back when there were only 3 levels). Michelle went on to spend 12 years with Missouri Beverage Company (which later became Major Brands), advancing to the role of lead sales rep where she created many deep and lasting relationships with many of the area’s finest wine shops and independent restaurants.

Throughout her lasting career in the wine and spirits industry, Michelle has had the opportunity to travel throughout many of the major wine and spirit regions of the world including Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone Valley in France, the wine regions of Germany, Australia and Scotland, as well as top U.S. vineyards including many in Oregon and California. Michelle also earned the Certified Specialist of Wine designation from the Society of Wine Educators in 2009.

Michelle joined the Vintegrity Wine and Spirits team in 2015 and enjoys sharing her passion for fine wine and craft spirits with St. Louis area restaurateurs, proprietors of wine and spirit shops and, of course, all of the wonderful growers, vintners and distillers Vintegrity represents.

In her spare time, she enjoys golf and fishing with her husband Kevin, a middle school industrial arts teacher. Michelle and her husband love to travel and one of their favorite spots is Hilton Head, South Carolina. When they’re not strolling the beach, they’ve been known to compete in barbeque competitions around the country.

Aaron Sherman has worked in the restaurants of some of the Midwest’s most accomplished chefs, including Curtis Duffy (Avenues, Grace), Sean Pharr (NoMI, Bristol), Stephanie Izard (Girl & the Goat), Gerard Craft (Niche), and Ben Poremba (Elaia). Aaron began his professional life as a classical musician, but quickly discovered his passion for all things beverage. He spent several years focused on coffee before discovering his love for wine. After several years working in fine wine retail, he was invited to join the wine staff of the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago, where he served as Wine Steward in the award-winning Avenues Restaurant. Later, Aaron took over the wine program at NoMI at Park Hyatt, Chicago where he oversaw their Wine Spectator “Best of Award of Excellence” wine list.

Aaron went on to become the Sommelier and Assistant General Manager of Girl & the Goat, the award-winning restaurant of James Beard Award-winning chef Stephanie Izard. Concurrently, he opened Gather, a neighborhood restaurant in Lincoln Square with David Breo and Chef Ken Carter. Aaron moved on to St. Louis, joining Gerard Craft’s group as Beverage Director, later joining Ben Poremba as Bengelina Hospitality Group’s Wine Director and Director of Operations. In June of 2016, Aaron joined Vintegrity, bringing his vast restaurant experience to the sales side of the business in the St. Louis market.

Aaron has been awarded a diploma from the International Sommelier Guild (ISG) and the rank of Certified Sommelier for the Court of Master Sommeliers, and was subsequently asked to be a faculty member for the ISG, where he conducted wine education classes in Chicago. Aaron’s writing has been featured in Today’s Chicago Woman and on the National Public Radio’s website. Aaron lives in St. Louis with his wife, Jelena, a professional musician, and their dog, Bear.

Steve Wood graduated from Illinois State University and served for several years as a graphic designer and art director for publishing companies, consulting firms, and government agencies. Then Steve made a decision to pursue his true passion, never looking back as he happily embarked on a second career in the wine and spirits industry. Steve’s love of wine occupied his spare time as he studied and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and Certified Spanish Wine Educator before accepting a sales position at Lukas Wine & Spirits in St. Louis. Moving on from Lukas, Steve accepted the role of Party Center Manager at Dierbergs Marketplace, and maintained the #1 Party Center ranking in the 24-store chain. An Illinois distributor, Marketplace Selections, recruited Steve as their first wine representative for the Metro-East region. Working with Marketplace Selections sizable craft beer portfolio led Steve to a third certification as a Certified Beer Server and he quickly advanced to become one of the company’s top-performing sales representatives. Steve’s now back on the Missouri side of the river with Vintegrity and says, “The team at Vintegirty is amazing – and it’s been great representing such a wide array of high-quality products and working with equally high quality accounts.”

In his spare time, Steve likes to run, listen to the latest music from indie bands, and cheer the St. Louis Cardinals and Blues on to victory. He also enjoys exploring new restaurants and films with his wife, Caren, a teacher at Maryville University. Their son Alex keeps the two busy with music performances and cross-country training and the whole family enjoys traveling around the country to visit their many friends and family.

Shannon Behnen has been a native to St. Louis, Missouri her entire life. Shannon graduating from Fontbonne University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and, throughout college, Shannon worked in the restaurant industry, quickly developing a passion for food and fine wine. After eight years of restaurant industry bartending, Shannon put her college degree to work with a job as a teacher in St. Louis. But, after two years of teaching, Shannon decided it was time to change careers, moving on from teaching to join the sales team at A. Bommarito Wines. Over four years of hard work, Shannon doubled her territory revenue becoming one of the top sales reps in the company while building relationships with many of the top food and wine professionals in the St. Louis area. In May of 2019 Shannon decided it was time to embark on an exciting new journey, making the decision to join the sales team at Vintegrity.

Shannon has her Level One from the Court of Master Sommeliers and is planning on becoming a Certified Sommelier in the near future. Shannon’s favorite wine regions include Piedmont, Alto Adige, Alsace, Oregon, Beaujolais, Pfalz, and Champagne.

When Shannon isn’t working, she loves to play soccer, travel, go on hikes, play a round of golf, and spend time with her partner, Jaimie, and their cat, Roxy.

David Kouzmanoff started his career in the wine business working in the restaurant world – from Illinois to Tennessee. After working on the restaurant side of the business, David moved on to spend six years as a sales manager for a fine wine wholesaler. He was a sales manager with Chalone Wine Group when he first met Vintegrity founder and partner JP Gilmore. They became instant friends – and work colleagues. During his career David has also worked with many iconic Napa Valley wineries including Inglenook (owned by Francis Ford Coppola) and Grgich Hills. When the economic crisis hit the U.S. in 2008, David decided to look globally for his next challenge. His in-depth research led him to relocating in Hong Kong, where he partnered to create that country's second full-scale winery. Another opportunity knocked when Charles Krug winery, operated by Peter and Marc Mondavi, offered David a sales position back in the U.S. Later, following a passion for Biodynamic farming formed from his days at Grgich Hills, David went to work for the King Estate Winery in Oregon where he worked for four years prior to joining Vintegrity where he brings his vast wine knowledge to Eastern Missouri as St. Louis Sales Representative.

David’s passion for wine extends from his work to his personal life as he’s always on the hunt for high quality in both wine and in food. David also enjoys ice hockey and live music – both being a life staple in St Louis! At one point in his career he even contemplated parallel careers in both ice hockey and percussion instruments back in Nashville. We’re glad to say David ventured back into wine and a home with Vintegrity.

Courtney Weaver is a native Kansas Citian with a passion for her hometown. She has worked in the restaurant industry for over 15 years, in nearly every position: host, server, bartender, and manager. A passion for spirits and craft cocktails led her to complete the industry-leading bartender certification program, BarSmarts. Courtney also became an active member of the Kansas City Chapter of the United States Bartender’s Guild where she was recently appointed Chapter Secretary. Courtney is an active volunteer with the nationally recognized Paris of the Plains Cocktail Competition in Kansas City. Courtney has also competed in many cocktail competitions, and introduced the craft cocktail movement at the last restaurant and bar establishment she was a part of – creating the cocktail program there and providing spirits training for bar staff. At Vintegrity, Courtney is sharing her knowledge of craft spirits with the team while expanding her own education in the world of fine wine.

Courtney is married to her wonderful husband Levon, and together they have two sons who she absolutely adores, Jack and Charlie. She loves being outside in nature and having trees over her head. She also has a love of cooking and likes to spend time growing veggies in their community garden. Courtney says, “It’s harder to find time while chasing two little boys around these days, but when I can, I also love to read, do yoga, and see live music.”

Richard’s career at Vintegrity began as a part-time delivery driver, delivering I-70 and Wichita supply routes throughout Missouri and Kansas. After two years on the road, Richard parked the truck and settled in as warehouse manager in Wichita for Vintegrity’s Kansas branch.

Richard was born and raised in Wichita so the move to Vintegrity’s Kansas warehouse was not a major geographic transition. Richard’s parents originally hail from Texas and Oklahoma, so Richard’s good-natured combination of Midwest friendliness and Southern hospitality come as no surprise – and, perhaps, that’s what makes Richard a favorite with Vintegrity customers.

According to Richard, the aspect he enjoys most about Vintegrity are the people: “Whether working with our Vintegrity team in the office or with each of the customers, the best part about this job is definitely the people you work with every day.”

When away from the work, Richard enjoys spending time scale-model building, perusing estate sales for interesting finds and spending time with his adorable cats!

Sean Strehl was a student-athlete playing football at Northern Illinois University prior to moving to Kansas City. He has been in the wine and spirit industry for nearly five years including in college where Sean worked part time for Valley Wine and Spirits. Sean has been a “jack of all trades” since joining Vintegrity. Sean was a Wichita-based Vintegrity Kansas sales representative, covering Manhattan, Salina and Topeka. Returning to Kansas City, Sean has worked in the warehouse, learning Vintegrity operations – and making deliveries to Vintegrity’s many Kansas City restaurant and retail accounts.

While in Kansas City, Sean attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Sean was one of the founding members of Project Wake Up, a non-profit raising awareness around mental illness and suicide prevention. Sean is a big outdoors guy who’s also very passionate about golf and loves to spend time hanging out with his German Shepherd, Bella. Now with Vintegrity for over a year, Sean is excited about the future as a Sales Representative for Vintegrity Kansas.

Chase Bruggeman began his career in the service industry 15 years ago as a food runner and busser. During this time, he was trying to find his niche and came across Georges French Bistro in Wichita. It was a good match – in fact Chase became a fine dining server at Georges Bistro for over five 5 years. A media highlight for Chase during his time at Georges was a Chicago Tribune article featuring the Bistro – illustrated with a photo of Chase serving and, carrying numerous glasses of wine.
While working in Wichita at the Bistro, Chase developed a sincere passion for wine. Chase learned of the job opportunity at Vintegrity when his stepfather saw an advertisement in the Wichita Eagle Beacon. The timing was right for a career move, so Chase applied for the job. One thing led to another and Chase joined Vintegrity. Today Chase serves as a Kansas sales representative for Vintegrity.
Chase is a graduate of Wichita State University where he studied business with an emphasis in marketing. His business and marketing education combined with his years in fine dining provided Chase with the tools he would need to service and grow Vintegrity’s book of business in southeast Kansas. Chase says his favorite part of working at Vintegrity has been expanding and sharing his ever-growing knowledge of wine and spirits with his clientele.
Chase is the third of four children and says his mother serves as a major inspiration to him. Chase also shares his father’s love of sports and his dad taught him the fine points of the game of baseball. Chase said he has fond memories of his family traveling to and from Manhattan for Kansas State football and basketball games while growing up. Today Chase considers himself an avid sports fan and enjoys live sporting events, golfing, and playing pickleball.