Not satisfied with just one dream, Bill Freidhof strove for two. He made a name for himself in the world of sports long before making his mark in the world of wine. Bill came to Llano wines after fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming a professional baseball player for the Kansas City Royals.

Getting his start in the industry at The Gallo Wine Company, Bill settled at Republic National Distributing in the ‘90s. There he discovered the marketing end of the business and in turn met Mark Hyman.

After 22 years on the distributor side, Bill was elated when Mark asked him to join the Llano team on the other side of the bottle. “I’m glad he did,” Bill said. “It was a great move for me. Llano is a company that’s on the upswing. We are doing many exciting things that continue to grow our business and keep it exciting for everyone involved, including the consumer.”

With more than 20 years as a wine and spirits distributor, he was a natural fit for V.P. of Sales & Marketing—the person to communicate and market Llano wine.

Today, Bill is in charge of sales and marketing for Texas and bordering states. He works closely with distributors to strengthen the presence of Llano wines in the marketplace. A born people-person, Bill loves the daily interaction with others on the job. He describes the “thrill of the sale” with the same zeal he once spoke about turning triple plays.

In line with his new dream, Bill wants to keep the winery in the forefront of what’s happening in the market. And with his help, we will expand the reach of Llano wines farther than it has ever been before.

Kristi Ward started with Llano Estacado Winery in August of 2015. She started out as the GL accountant. She quickly learned that the wine business was much more complicated than her previous experience with Production accounting. Kristi was promoted to Finance Manager in January of 2016. She took on the role to oversee the Admin office and to overlook the Finances for the company. In February 2019, Mark Hyman promoted Kristi to VP Admin and Finance. 

Kristi loves the opportunity to be able to learn and grow with Llano Estacado Winery. She enjoys working with her team and being able to adapt to all the changes necessary to make Llano grow. Kristi hopes to continue to see Llano flourish and remain at the top of the Texas Wine Industry.

Jason started his career at Llano Estacado in 2005 as a harvest cellar worker and lab tech coming fresh out of college with a biochemistry degree from the University of Houston. After eleven Texas, one California, and one New Zealand harvest, Jason earned the title of Winemaker at the completion of the 2015 Texas vintage.  

Jason Centanni loves the opportunity to work with Texas wine growers to produce unique Texas wines. His passion for showcasing fine wine to the public means he spends more time at every stage of winemaking to personally support and shape each wine to its fullest potential through his postmodern winemaking practices he provides for Llano Estacado. Although maintaining Llano’s vast portfolio of wines has provided ample experience with multiple varietals, Jason’s favorites continue to be Italian and Southern French examples such as Montepulciano, Sangiovese, Syrah, and Mourvèdre.