Our Team
Thomas Polesel
Thomas Polesel joined the winery full time in 2005 and is currently the General Manager and winemaker for Villa Antonio. Thomas was raised in South County and graduated Oakville Senior High School before attending the University of Missouri at Rolla. Upon graduation he went on to serve with the United States Army and later obtained his professional engineering certification. Since joining the winery full time he has updated and modernized their winemaking practices and utilized his engineering skills to plan and implement the wineries many infrastructure improvements. Currently he is leading the effort to expand and improve our business structure in order to ensure the best possible experience for our guests.
Fernanda Polesel
Fernanda Tarticchio Polesel has been the winery’s chef since we began offering food around 2003. Born near the town of Gallesano, Italy (now Croatia) during World War Two, Fernanda and her family immigrated to the United States in 1953 and settled into St. Louis’s Italian “The Hill” Neighborhood. A graduate of Southwest High School she went on to work her way through nursing school before meeting and marrying Antonio in 1967. After the founding of the winery and the early realization that good Italian hospitality required food as well as wine she began work as the winery’s cook. Drawing upon her years of preparing Italian food for family gatherings she was soon offering Seven Course Dinners and catering weddings and events with quality food created from scratch. Working countless hours in the kitchen she has personally served her homestyle Italian food to thousands of guests throughout the years. Fernanda retired from the kitchen in 2023 but she is still very much with us and drops by often.
Antonio Polesel
Antonio is the founder and namesake of Villa Antonio Winery. He immigrated to the United States in 1956 from the Veneto region of Northern Italy when he was just sixteen years old. Some of his earliest memories are of life on his family’s farm near the village of Cessalto during and immediately after World War Two. It was there that he learned the basics of grape growing and winemaking from his father while acquiring a lifelong passion for gardening. He and his wife Fernanda formed Villa Antonio Winery in 2001 and worked tirelessly to expand the vineyards and renovate the grounds while reinvesting all of the winery’s earnings back into new equipment and better facilities. While Antonio passed in 2019 at the age of 84, he is certainly still with us in spirit. During his life nothing gave him greater joy than to watch families enjoy the winery and experience.
Ron Norris
Ron is currently serving as the Vineyard Manager for Villa Antonio. Ron is a graduate of Oakville Senior High and joined the Villa Antonio Team in 2006. After graduation, Ron formed his own landscaping company and learned the art of hardscaping through countless projects around the St. Louis area. A self described jack of all trades (master of none) Ron has spent a sizable portion of his time building retaining walls, paver patios, and landscaping the winery grounds. In addition to managing the vineyard, Ron is also in charge of equipment maintenance, grounds maintenance and pretty much anything else we can think of.
Brooke Weyand
Brooke has been a member of the Villa Antonio Winery team since 2010, joining the winery full time in 2016. She is currently our operations and sales manager Brooke handles all contracted events, schedules our entertainment, assists with social media and handles all other general office work. Prior to joining us full time, she spent 15+ years in the legal field, as a legal assistant/office manager. Since joining the winery, Brooke has helped revamp most of our internal documents, menus and policies. Brooke possesses a steadfastly cheerful and professional personality as well as a complete dedication to our family and our customers. No matter what the issue is, Brooke will take excellent care of you and do her utmost to ensure you have a wonderful experience here at Villa Antonio.
Ashley Argana
Ashley joined the Villa Antonio Winery team in August of 2021 as the Event Coordinator. She handles all planning meetings with our brides and completes the contract process. As the Event Coordinator, Ashley is directly responsible for hosting most winery weddings and events and is dedicated to ensuring our staff exceeds expectations! With her extensive background in planning, coordinating and managing all types of events including weddings, private parties, corporate functions, and fundraisers, she is an excellent addition to the winery team.
Jeff Appleton
Villa Antonio’s “Superman” Jeff joined our team in 2010 as a mixed drink bartender. Through his 20 years of restaurant and managerial experience he has become a valued employee here at the winery. Jeff is our Personnel Manager and handles a variety of tasks from scheduling, inventory, beer and linen orders to booking reservations. His customer service skills and his willingness to assure that all of our customers’ needs are met are a quality that we find to be a great addition to our family and business. Jeff works closely with all of the different weddings, bridal and baby showers, private parties and corporate events to assure they receive the high standard of service we provide here at Villa Antonio!
Kyle Matthias
Kyle joined the Villa Antonio family in 2022 as our Head Brewer. Kyle has been brewing professionally since 2014 and has worked at neighborhood breweries producing a few hundred barrels of beer per year to large, national breweries producing hundreds of thousands of barrels per year. Most recently, Kyle spent 5 years at a large regional brewery in Bend, Oregon where he led research and development. Prior to that, he graduated from Mizzou with a degree in Nutritional Sciences and spent a year doing graduate work before deciding to pursue a career in beer. He then completed the Master Brewer’s Program through the University of California- Davis and went on to complete assessments from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in pursuit of the Diploma in Brewing. Kyle has also completed coursework pertaining to the business of craft brewing through Portland State University. When he is not brewing, he can be found spending time outdoors with his wife and twin boys.
