The Creative Team

They’ve seen a lot of us throughout this process, and yet they’re still smiling.

Alana Ahouse – Photographer

Alana Ahouse was raised in the Finger Lakes and developed an early appreciation for vineyards and the beauty of the region. As a professional she has worked in Tasting Rooms and as a steady hand in vineyards for the past ten years around the Banana Belt region of Seneca Lake, becoming a close friend to many in this calendar in the process. As a photographer she jokes that her prime model is her beloved Old English Bulldog, Sherman, but in reality her eye for detail has led to several shows featuring her work, as well as one of her photos chosen as cover art for a book by a local sommelier. While this unique background always made Alana the ideal and immediate first choice to be photographer for this calendar, the entire team involved would like to extend their appreciation and admiration for the hard work and passion she brought.


Cary Becraft – Stylist

Creating pastry, handcrafted chocolate (carymochocolate.com), fashion styling, tasting room host and flight attendant are a few of Cary’s passions that she fills her days with. She enjoyed collaborating on this sexy project with some of her good friends, talented winemakers and creative visionaries. Let’s raise a glass to 2021! 


James Haswell – Calendar Designer

James and Bethany Haswell started Stomping Grounds in Geneva, NY in 2011. James is the computer nerd part of the team at Stomping Grounds. His technical aptitude was sparked when he was the only one of his immediate family who was able to correctly set the time on the VCR, although it was the process of creating Stomping Grounds with his wife that really gave focus to his abilities. He enjoys working on interesting projects, digitizing and repairing vintage maps, D&D, and existentialism. He takes his work terribly seriously.


Stuart Pigott – Introductory Essayist

Photo Credit: Jared Cocken

Stuart Pigott was born in London, England in 1960. While studying in London for a bachelor’s degree in fine art at St Martin’s School of Art (1981-84), then a master’s degree in cultural history from the Royal College of Art (1984-86) he began writing about wine. In 1989 he moved to the Mosel Valley in Germany, then on to Berlin in late 1993. Although his name is most closely associated with German wines and Riesling he has undertaken in-depth research in regions as widely contrasting as the Médoc in Bordeaux, Thailand and Arizona, USA. In 2008-9 Pigott was a guest student at the famous wine university in Geisenheim, Germany. Since then he has combined a scientific approach with a freewheeling style of journalism inspired by the works of Hunter S. Thompson and Tom Wolfe. He was the wine columnist of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Sunday edition) from September 2001 to March 2019 and was a contributing editor to JamesSuckling.com from September 2016 to March 2019. Since then he has been the Riesling Ambassador of the Gut Hermannsberg wine estate (the ex-State Domaine of the Nahe region), Germany and continues to write for a handful of magazines and websites, including his own.


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