Shamus Booth

founder

winemaker

From a long line of Renaissance men; where the Booths go, things happen, driven to the bone to create their visions. Before the age of 20 a licensed plumbing and heating professional, by 21 a homebuilder with a natural ability to craft things by hand. Although Ann Arbor, MI, was a good home, the west coast was calling. In 2005 he started a small construction company in San Francisco doing specialty remodels, and in 2008 he co-founded Umi, which became a successful Japanese restaurant. At Umi he met Ross Newcomb and Aran Healy. In 2011 wine maker Aran Healy became the proprietor of Ruby Wine Shop one block down from Umi. Aran and Shamus quickly became close friends, sharing their love for great wine. With Shamus' vision and connections in Napa, Aran's expertise and palate, and Ross' enthusiasm and love for all the that is good, the three friends founded Thistle Cellars.

Ross Newcomb

co-founder

A product of the Adirondack region of New York State and a descendant of French Canadian bootleggers, Ross Newcomb first developed his appreciation and love of wine during childhood family trips to Europe. The thirst continued while going to college in the Finger Lakes region accompanied with a semester abroad in Limoges, France. A career in ceramic engineering took him to Kohler, Wisconsin where he found there was actually a small area making creative fruit wines, Door County. After five years of grueling mid-West winters and too many bratwursts, Ross decided to join his brother in Northern California and found residence in the crown jewel neighborhood of San Francisco, Potrero Hill. Here was born the tradition of Friday night wine flights with the neighbors at Ruby Wine followed by a pilgrimage of wine bottle wielding friends to feast on the city’s finest sushi at Umi. After a few consist years of this practice, a self-proclaimed “Connoisseur of Life” has truly found his home.