The Family Business

 
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Georg Marti

Owner and wine maker Georg continues a long tradition of family fermenting adventures.  Over 150 years ago his great-great grandfather, August Schell established the August Schell Brewing Company in New Ulm Minnesota, today's second oldest family owned brewery in the U.S.  Georg spent most of his early career working for his father, then president of the brewery.  Following the family’s fermentation legacy, in 1999 Georg and his oldest son Adam pursued wine making studies at Purdue University Heartland Wine School, with focus on Midwest varietals and northern climate wine making techniques.

Georg has received local, regional, and national recognition with Morgan Creek Vineyard wines. His wines were selected and served at the International Slow Food Wine Pavillion in San Francisco and at the prestigious James Beard House in Manhattan, New York. His wines have been exclusively served for the Minnesota Pork Producers Taste of Elegance chefʼs competition from 2003 -2019. Annually for the past 10 years Georg has team taught with Chef Kim Ernest of Kimʼs Cuisine a Gourmet Cooking series entitled Celebrating Food & Wine. Georg has hosted the annual Wine Makerʼs Dinner at Morgan Creek Vineyards since 1999 and designed the food & wine menu with Chef Ernest.

A classical pianist and accomplished performer, Georg is as passionate about music as he is wine. He and his wife Paula live near New Ulm, at the winery along the Morgan Creek, a tributary to the Minnesota River. 

Adam Marti

 Adam is directly involved in the wine production and Brand management of the evolving Minnesota wines of Morgan Creek since the opening of the winery. He studied wine making at Purdue University Heartland Wine School and is assistant winemaker and director of sales. He's the go-to guy at the winery for information on the wines, tours, event coordination, and as director of sales he maintains the important relationships with local retail outlets providing them education and sales support.

His interest in developing a Minnesota wine and cuisine criterion led to a variety of valued relationships with regional chefs. His work with Executive Chef Paul Lynch of the FireLake Grill House in Minneapolis, produced the first commercial house wine for a major Minnesota restaurant. Partnering with the regionally venerated Saint Peter Food Coop, Adam guided a decade of wine & cheese seminars trademarked as "Say Cheese and Savor the Wine."

Always on the lookout for promotional opportunities for all things craft, Adam included the new line of sour beers from the Schell's Star Keller Brewery in the "Say Cheese and Savor the Wine" and also introduced these new Berlin style beers into the annual Wine Maker's Dinner, partnering artisan wine and craft beer exposure to winery visitors.  As sixth generation descendant of August Schell and the family owned brewery, Adam continues the fermentation fever passed on to him from generation to generation.  

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Paula Marti

Paula is co-owner and general manager of Morgan Creek Vineyards and serves as executive chef for the Winery's Cafe.  Although her education and career experience is in classical music and corporate communications, Paula has always been drawn to cooking, particularly plant-based cuisine.

In 1970 she immersed herself in the year-long study-series Macrobiotic Cooking and Practice in Vancouver, British Columbia.  Paula also studied in Minneapolis with macrobiotic practitioner and chef Mary Wynne of the Boston-based East-West Institute for Macrobiotics. Paula enjoys applying macrobiotic concepts to the winery’s general operations and menu, focusing always on acid and alkaline balance. Wine and food pairing experiences at the winery are perfect opportunities to connect food and wine alchemy with sustainable and local organic food producers.

Paula also coordinates the development of wine label branding and event marketing. 

Deanna Fenske

Deanna - we call her "D" - is the muse behind the winery cafe for the past decade.  Deanna participates regularly in creating menus items with a jazzy flair, and is the "anchor" cook for Morgan Creek Vineyards' gourmet wood fired oven. 

Deanna's love for artisan foods and great cooking adventure is evident in her enthusiastic support of many local food and beverage entrepreneurs. Working in a variety of venues, she was former baker and cook for New Ulm's Lola's, a gourmet bistro with a full fine dinning menu; she was head cook for community senior dining services; and is a regular volunteer instructor for "Cooking Matters"  offered by the Share Our Strength program through the University Minnesota Extension. 

In her spare time she offers a variety of light catering services for private clientele. Deanna has been one of the early collaborators in the effort to establish a Food Co-op for the New Ulm Area. As past president of the New Ulm Food Coop and Market, she helped coordinate the development for this exciting new marketplace concept for New Ulm.
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Ben Marti

In addition to being Morgan Creek Vineyard's Musician-in-Residence, Ben has also served at his family’s winery as assistant wine-maker, vineyard manager, and leads the annual grape harvest crush.

For more on Ben, check out his bio in Winedown for the Weekend.

 
 
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Susan Garcia

Tasting Room and Hospitality Manager, Susan Garcia welcomes customers to Morgan Creek Vineyards with thumbs-up confidence.  "Garcia" is the winery's up close and personal contact with the daily operations of the tasting room. Before coming on board at the winery in 2014, she was a member of Morgan Creek Vineyards loyal labeling volunteer crew. Susan manages a full-time career in the Finishing Department at Corporate Graphics International and moonlights at the winery as a part time manager and full time energizer!

A positivly-people-person, Susan looks forward to welcoming customers and informing them about the wines and events at Morgan Creek Vineyards. She was born in wine country - California and grew up in Olympia, Washington -- and came to the Mankato area in 1999. Garcia has 2 sons and 5 grandchildren. One son lives in Washington, the other in Minnesota..