Mike rosalina

Business Development & Sales

For Mike, wine isn’t just a job but a family affair, from the straw-bottled Chianti his Italian family enjoyed with Sunday spaghetti and meatballs to the 1945 Margaux once shared with his wife Nicole, a parting gift from the cellar of then-employer Charles Banks of Screaming Eagle fame.

Mike left his hometown Cleveland, OH, at age 22 for a career as a pro-golfer before landing at J.W. Marriot as head pro, transitioning to sales. After a four-year adventure as the owner/chef at his own Bay Area restaurant, Mike moved to Santa Barbara and worked with entrepreneur Charles Banks, founder of cult-wine based Terroir Fine Wines, which in Mike’s 10-year tenure grew from two wineries to 16. He then took a turn as GM for The Palm in LA before moving with his family back to Cleveland. Because it turns out, happiness truly can be found in your own back yard.

Along the way, Mike gathered a solid foundation in the wine business that fully allies him with WineGame’s core proposition: wine should be fun, not pretentious. For him, success is all about relationships and the discipline instilled when he was a young pro golfer: Practice, practice, practice.