Joe Benny

Joe Benny began his career working his way through college and graduate school in the restaurant business, where he held various management roles. He joined Wine Merchants in 2004 as an on-premise Sales Representative. Joe was promoted to on-premise Brand Manager for the E&J Gallo portfolio at Colony Liquor & Wine. In June 2008, Joe joined the E&J Gallo Winery as State Manager, on premise, for Massachusetts. In October 2011, he was promoted again to State Manager, retail, for New Jersey, and soon after to Area Manager for the Fine Wine portfolio. In July 2013, he was made the Director of Fine Wine Retail for the Midwest Region and relocated to Chicago. In January 2014, he returned to Upstate New York to become the General Manager of the Royal Division at Empire Merchants North. He is a graduate of Siena College and holds an MBA from the State University of New York at Albany.