St. Julian has been owned and operated by the same family for over 100 years. Currently under leadership of fourth generation family members, the winery continues to pilot the Michigan wine industry. With a large network of local growers, a dynamic production approach, and six tasting rooms in Michigan, the St. Julian family continues to expand. Our effective leadership team cultivates growth and strength within our organization.
Apollo Braganini II
President
Apollo is part of the fourth generation of family operators at St. Julian. He grew up around the winery, working in the tasting rooms during summers. He joined the St. Julian team full-time to oversee our wholesale operations, and took over as President in 2022, succeeding his father, John Braganini.
Dario Braganini
Out-State Distribution
Dario is another fourth-generation family member. For the first chapter of his career, he worked throughout all the organization's channels to understand all aspects of the winery. Today, he is dedicated to St. Julian’s growing wholesale channel, specifically markets outside of Michigan.
Russell Lauderdale
Chief Financial Officer
Russell is responsible for managing all of the company’s financial functions, including accounting, audit, treasury, and corporate finance. His career spans more than 12 years of varied experience in financial management, business leadership, and corporate strategy.
Joel Szakaly
Executive Vice President
Joel joined St. Julian to manage our direct-to-consumer channels. He helped grow our tasting room locations, Wine Club members, and online presence. In 2022, he was promoted to Executive Vice President and now helps oversee production at the winery.
Nancie Oxley
Vice President - Winemaking
Nancie proudly holds the title of Michigan's first female winemaker and has piloted the Michigan wine industry. She leads our winemaking team and has created hundreds of award-winning wines upholding our reputation as Michigan's most-awarded winery.
Matt White
Vice President - Operations
Matt has been with St. Julian for over 30 years. He manages the production team at St. Julian overseeing everything from crushing, bottling, labeling and more, making sure all run smoothly to provide only the highest quality products for our customers.
Sarah Braganini
Corporate Governance & Purchasing
As Michigan's largest winery, we offer hundreds of products, 6 different tasting rooms, thousands of retail partners, and a huge production facility, all which must be managed financially. Sarah assists our administrative team ensuring that our finances are managed with the same high quality as our wine.
Cassandra Poné
Wine Club Director
Cassandra has lead our Wine Club growth with innovative sign up ideas, engaging with our members, composing informative and interesting content, and creating new wine concepts. With over 15,000 members, our Wine Club continues to grow not only in Michigan, but also throughout the country.
John Braganini
Chairman
Former President and 3rd generation family member, John was the fifth family member to run the winery from 2016-2022. In addition to his role at St. Julian, he and his wife, Sarah, own and operate the winery's Mountain Road Estate Vineyard in Coloma, MI which continues to produce grapes that turn into award-winning wines.