Business Unit: Rootstock MN

Emma Buls

Emma was born in Australia and grew up with parents that were avid home cooks and wine enthusiasts, who later moved the family to the Twin Cities. She got into wine in a serious way when she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to become an ESL teacher and discovered the joys of California wine. These “gateway” first bottles of wine led her to wine classes at U.C. Berkeley and U.C. Davis Extension, a job working in the tasting room at Ridge Vineyards, and Sommelier Level 1 Certification. She later explored the world of sherry and became a Sherry Wine Specialist and passed the WSET Level 3 Exam. After years in California, she and her husband moved back to Minnesota where she joined the Rootstock team in May 2022.

She loves combining her teaching experience with her wine knowledge to help wine hunters find the right bottle of this life-enhancing drop. In her spare time, she can be found writing, exploring her new home city of Duluth, and searching for the next great value wine.

Nick Shaw

Nick is originally from Iowa and comes from a family history of farming & agriculture – of course, this meant he had to study literature & political science at a liberal arts college as an act of teenage rebellion. After a misguided attempt at a career in academia, Nick fell into the restaurant business, working almost every position back-of-house and front-of-house. His first real exposure to wine was at the (sadly departed) Minnesota outpost of Hodges Bend, where he eventually found his way into beverage direction & management. A brief stint in wine retail – coupled with an abundance of free time during the onset of Covid – helped solidify a voracious appetite for responsibly made natural wine as a way to connect his academic passions with his agricultural roots.

 

Aside from his epicurean career, he spends his days bouldering, running, collecting records, and enjoying the simple pleasures of life with his dearest friends & chosen family.

Joe Kotnik

President, Founder

After graduating from the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences in 1985 with a degree in Biology, Joe, a budding entrepreneur, launched CW Marketing. After 10 years in the marketing business he had had enough and, on a vigorous climb in the Sierra Nevada range, and possibly with altitude sickness, made the decision to move out of marketing, and into the business of wine.

His love of wine began as a teenager in Wisconsin, having grown up in a family of lovers of wine and food. It was a logical step, as some of his other passions were travel, European cultures, and languages. Joe launched WorldWide Cellars in 1999, initally as an import-focused wine brokering agency, but by 2005, WorldWide Cellars had evolved into a full fledged importing company with a focus on Italy and France. By 2010, the decision was made to purchase a Minnesota wholesale license and to build out a wholesale company in the home state of Minnesota. Rootstock Wine Company is now a top-tier statewide distributor in Minnesota; WorldWide Cellars continues as importer, and sells its portfolio in a number of other states.

When he’s not working, Joe loves sailing on Lake Superior, hiking and mountain biking the old logging roads at the cabin in the Upper Peninsula, fishing, bird watching, paddling, and spending time with his family. During Minnesota’s cold winters, you may find him skiing or snowshoeing or reading in front of a blazing fire at home.

Contact Joe Kotnik

Greg Hlavka

Kurt Hegland

Account Manager – East Metro

Kurt has been in the wine business for 25 years. He started in retail in White Bear Lake and opened the award winning Ursula’s Wine Bar & Cafe which he ran for 13 years before joining Rootstock Wine Co. Kurt is a Certified Specialist of Wine, a Twins fan and a Zin man.