THE DISTILLED SPIRITS COUNCIL OF THE U.S.

The Board of Directors for DISCUS has elected DAN LEESE, Hotaling & Co. President & CEO, as chair of the national trade association. Leese brings to the role of chair more than 40 years in the beverage alcohol industry. Prior to joining Hotaling & Co., he served as CEO and founder of V2 Wine Group where he built a multimillion-dollar enterprise which he sold to Delicato Family Wines. He also held executive positions with Brown-Forman and Beringer Blass Wine Estates.
The Board also appointed MARY BARRAZOTTO, Brown-Forman Corporation Senior Vice President Deputy General Counsel, as vice chair. Barrazotto has worked at Brown-Forman Corporation for more than 33 years. She has played an integral role in key DISCUS committees that help the association navigate complicated regulatory challenges and advocate for the spirits industry in the federal and state policy arenas. Mary joined DISCUS’ Laws and Regulations Committee in the early ‘90s and chaired this committee for more than a decade. In addition, she has served more than 20 years on the DISCUS Code Review Board. Mary was named chair of the Code Review Board in 2015 and remains in that position today.