Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stephen MacKay. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Stephen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Day to day the world can seem like a tough place, but there’s also so much kindness in the world and we think talking about that kindness helps spread it and make the world a nicer, kinder place. Can you share a story of a time when someone did something really kind for you?

Dave Wallace took a risk and hired me at Montage Deer Valley in 2012 as I returned home from New Zealand to help him with the wine list / beverage program and give me my first taste of hospitality at the highest level.

10 years later I can walk into the very same hotel and Dave through his kindness, belief in the entrepreneurial spirit and quality of our wines has dedicated an entire section at the front of his list to Old Town Cellars.

To say I’m grateful for a full circle moment like this is a gross understatement. He is not only the best boss I ever had but a mentor of the highest order in how consummate a professional he is and how he teaches through fairness and consistency. My only knock on the guy is he has one of the best palates in the industry I’ve ever encountered yet he still would prefer a Miller Light at the end of the day.

With gratitude DW, thanks for everything over the years!

Stephen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Old Town Cellars is a non-traditonal, unorthodox, lifestyle winery based out of Park City, UT. Growing up in the mountains of Utah I never thought I’d end up in the wine industry. I was a ski jumper and then started down the path of becoming a Navy fighter pilot but my passion for wine wound up taking me to New Zealand where I studied wine. I transitioned back to Park City to start my first corporate job at Montage Deer Valley as a sommelier at age 26. I transitioned to their flagship in Laguna Beach, CA for a few years before coming back to Park City to become Stein Eriksen Lodge’s youngest Director of Wine and Spirits at 28.

We specialize in sourcing grapes, barrels and bulk wine from wine growing regions all along the West Coast and then blending different regions and varieties of wine to make out own unique blends. Our vision was to combine our passion for wine with where we wanted to live as outdoor enthusiasts without being reliant on owning vineyards or growing the grapes ourselves. This eliminated risk for us but also allowed us to enter the industry with boot strap capital.

We strive to de-mystify wine in Utah where their still is a gray are between the separation of church and state and alcohol is still taboo in certain areas. We offer a tasting room, wine bar experience in the heart of the arts and cultural district of Park City on Main Street but also sell our wines to local bars, restaurants and hotels. We do custom private labels for corporate entities and also sell to the UDABS (Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services) for distribution in their 50 plus stores across the state.

We are very proud to bring a unique mindset to the world of wine, one which is focused on inclusivity, creativity and breaking down pre-conceived notions of what wines is.

From our website: The Old Town Cellars philosophy is a simple blend of quality wines, authentic mountain town ambiance, and a local culture of outdoor enthusiasts and athletes. Located in historic Park City, Utah, we strive to make great wine affordable, welcoming and fun. Through a unique and innovative approach, oTc sources fine wines from top wine growing regions to blend and bottle on site at Old Town Cellars.

As passionate outdoor enthusiasts, environmental concerns are at the forefront of the oTc family’s mind. Through sustainable practices and community outreach efforts, we are always striving to bring great wine and great times to our beautiful mountain town community.

Old Town Cellars represents the future of winemaking – absent of ego, full of flavor and defined by the community and culture in which it’s made.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

Jason Morgan and I played peewee baseball together many years ago before I went down the route of becoming a ski jumper while he continued to follow his passion for baseball though college. Although we didn’t run in the same circles growing up Jason was passionate about Sports Medicine and worked at a local Physical Therapy center where I would more than occasionally go to rehabilitate from ski jumping injuries.

We reconvened in the winter of 2014 when I saw a large storm approaching the Tahoe area where he was living and working. I reached out to him on social media and he invited me to come up and crash on his couch for a few nights. The storm that hit was one of epic proportions and we skied our hearts out for days while decompressing at night at a local wine bar called Uncorked. After a few too many bottles of Riesling and Grüner Veltliner we started to reminisce about home and what it would be like to have a place like Uncorked in Park City. Not to say the idea was written on a cocktail napkin because our penmanship at that points those evenings was more than likely illegible.

Fast forward to the middle of 2015 when the company was founded and we opened out doors on March 5th, 2016.

Any advice for managing a team?

We are only as good as our team and the focus Jason puts on managing our crew regarding front of house operations allows me to focus more on the logistics, marketing and production of wine. Our focus is to create an environment for our team where there is work/life balance, adequate time off and pay better than an other hospitality entity in the area regarding tip based positions. Jason puts people in position for success based on their skill sets, and interests and we ourselves operate in unison applying the same principles.

We are still a family owned and operated business and do our best to treat our team as such.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.otcwines.com
• Instagram: @otcwines
• Facebook: Old Town Cellars

Image Credits
Dan Campbell Photography