Field Blend Selections
About The Company
Founded in January, 2017, Field Blend Selections is a new wine importing and distribution company based in New York City, serving the New York and New Jersey markets.
In both name and practice, Field Blend Selections celebrates agricultural traditions and diversity. The name is an homage to the nineteenth-century immigrants who co-planted an assortment of grape varieties in vineyards throughout the United States, many of which survive today. Alongside their vines, they often co-planted other crops, including fruits, grains, and legumes. This approach of co-mingling various plantings to achieve balance in the vineyards is now referred to as polyculture, and it is widely recognized as one of the best methods for naturally enriching soils and reducing disease. Polyculture, by replicating nature’s diverse ecosystems, produces healthier fruit without the necessity of artificial herbicides or pesticides.
At Field Blend Selections, we, too, believe in diversity and balance. Our portfolio of wines from around the world prioritizes wines of character made by grape growers with minimal intervention in the cellars. We believe that wine is an everyday accompaniment and we strive to bring wines of value to the market.
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Jake Halper
Jake Halper was first introduced to serious wine as a freshman at NYU in 1989. His roommate, who had gotten a job at Astor Wines & Spirits at age 17, invited him to various tastings with the motley crew of salespeople there. It was at one of these home tastings where Jake had what he likes to call his “wine epiphany.” There were two wines that he tried that evening that stick with him, a 1976 Schloss Vollrads Auslese and 1980 Penfolds Grange. They were revelations.
By Jake’s senior year, he had a part time job at Astor Wines and, after flirting with documentary film, continued working with wine. While working at Astor, Jake also became an administrator/teacher at the prestigious International Wine Center before joining Michael Skurnik Wines in 1996.
When he joined, Skurnik had less than 20 employees. By the time he left in 2003, the company had grown to 50 employees and sales had quintupled. The small size and rapid growth of the company meant that Jake had multiple responsibilities throughout the years: customer service manager (where he trained all new hires and groomed them for future roles in sales or portfolio management), sales representative, and portfolio manager for Italy, Spain, California and Chile. He was ultimately named as an Executive Vice President at Skurnik. In 2004 Jake joined Europvin, a prestigious importer of French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Hungarian wines, where he was in charge of sales for the Northeast U.S., Florida, and Puerto Rico.
In 2009, after getting married and starting a family, Jake joined David Bowler Wines, where he was critical in bringing the Louis/Dressner portfolio to the company. In addition to managing the Louis/Dressner portfolio, Jake managed a growing book of direct Italian imports.
Jake started Field Blend Selections in 2017.
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Amanda Miller-Burg
A fortuitous introduction brought Amanda to the wine world. She met David Bowler weeks before he launched his new company and was hired as his first employee. Educated by passionate and experienced industry veterans, Amanda's early wine lessons revolved around Burgundy and Germany - not necessarily the typical starting point - so it's obvious why she was so quickly hooked.
It was easy to fall for wine and the industry, and for Amanda, the idea that wine could tell a story was the most compelling part. She loves the experience that goes with wine and believes that the addition of wine turns food into a meal. And as Field Blend Selections emphasizes, Amanda cares about balance and diversity in wine.
Amanda received her undergraduate degree from Tufts University and her MBA from NYU Stern School of Business. She has held a number of roles with growing businesses in operations and financial management within the food, wine, and hospitality industry, including COO for City Winery, Director of Business Operations for an independent fine dining restaurant group in Buffalo, New York, and COO & Director of Finance for David Bowler Wine. She is thrilled to bring her experience and enthusiasm to Field Blend Selections as a partner.
For close to a decade, Amanda also taught dance to children and adults. She takes great pride in her past and present involvement with various community-oriented studios and after-school programs in New York City and Buffalo. Amanda is also a big fan of her husband and their kids.