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Lee A Pancake, DipWSET
Academy Principal
Lee got his start in the wine industry in 2011 as a stock clerk at a locally owned wine market in Orlando. At the time, he was finishing his degree in business management and entrepreneurship at UCF and still figuring out what he wanted his career to look like. The longer he spent around wine, the harder it pulled him in. He read everything he could get his hands on and built a serious foundation of wine knowledge long before he ever thought of himself as an educator.
In 2017, Lee met Orlando based Master of Wine Jean Reilly and began his formal journey through the WSET. He rose quickly under her guidance and, later that same year, Jean invited him to start teaching at Slate Wine & Spirits Academy, finally stepping into the educator role he had always wanted. Four years later, Lee took over the academy from Jean, continuing the school she had built and stepping into his role as its Principal.
Since then, Lee has grown Slate into one of the most active WSET programs in the Southeast. What began as a single classroom in Orlando has expanded to multiple locations across Central and North Florida, with thousands of students taught to date. Lee holds the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines and is the academy’s principal nominated educator, responsible for the quality and delivery of every course SWSA offers.
Outside the classroom, Lee is an avid runner, hiker, and lifelong musician. He trains year round for endurance races and spends as much time as he can in the mountains. Home for Lee is Orlando, where he lives with his wife Madison.
Jean K Reilly MW
Founder
Jean K Reilly MW started her career in wine as the sommelier for a small French restaurant in Manhattan in 2001. She moved on to work as a wine journalist, eventually visiting over 1000 wineries in 60 wine regions and working the harvest in 3 different countries. Jean shared her passion for wine on television and radio and with readers of magazines such as Fortune, Wine Enthusiast, and American Airlines’ Latitudes.
She also ran the purchasing departments for such prestigious retailers as Morrell & Company in New York and JJ Buckley in California and in 2010, after 7 years of study, became just the 5th American woman to become a Master of Wine.
Jean divided her time between educating wine professionals and consumers through Slate Wine & Spirits Academy and hosting wine, beer, and spirit events for business groups through her company Masterful Wine Events. When not in front of a crowd talking about wine, Jean could be found jumping out of airplanes.
On February 2, 2024 we said farewell to our cherished friend and the founder of Slate Wine & Spirits Academy. Jean’s remarkable mentorship touched the lives of many, leaving an indelible mark on the Central Florida wine community. Jean’s commitment to the education of wine professionals and enthusiasts will serve as a lasting source of inspiration as we continue to foster our academy and grow a thriving community in her memory.
Connor Doran, DipWSET
Lead Educator
Connor is originally from Southern Maryland, just outside the Washington, D.C. area. After graduating from the University of Maryland, he moved down to the beautiful Sunshine State. Perhaps sparked by his late father’s award-winning home winemaking, Connor soon discovered his passion for wine.
Connor first came to Slate as a student and earned his first three qualifications here, from the WSET Level 1 Award in Wines through the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines, before completing his WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines at the American Wine School in Chicago. He has taught for the academy since 2022 and has led the WSET Level 1 Award in Wines program for most of that time, and he now teaches every wine qualification the academy offers through the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines. Connor has completed the WSET Educator Training Programme and is one of the academy’s nominated educators.
Outside the academy, Connor films and narrates wine education documentaries for Winedos.com, an online wine retailer. With an absolute thirst for wine knowledge, Connor loves everything French wine. When he is not in the classroom, he is traveling and exploring new wine regions or at home playing guitar.
Max Mozo
Course Educator
Max is a Jacksonville native and has lived in St. Johns County for nearly two decades. He graduated with his BS in Civil Engineering from Florida State University in 1994. He has a passion for wine and for wine education, and he loves offering the community a place to explore and learn about wines from all over the world. Max holds the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines and has run our St. Johns classroom since it opened in 2023, teaching every WSET Level 1 Award in Wines and WSET Level 2 Award in Wines course we hold there. He also works evenings and weekends at Tim’s Wine Market, and by day he is a professional structural engineer in the Ports and Maritime Industry. If you want to talk wine, cruise ships and submarines, Max is your guy!
Malcom Gifford
Course Educator
Malcom grew up in Connecticut, and a love of theater brought him to Florida, where he has lived for the past six years. He always enjoyed being creative behind a bar, but it was a job with a retail wine and spirits chain that gave him the wine bug and the urge to learn more. He started with Gallo University’s wine and spirits courses, was pointed toward the WSET Level 2 Award in Wines in 2024, and never looked back, adding spirits and sake along the way and picking up his Napa Valley Wine Expert certification.
It was during his studies for the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines, which he completed with Distinction at Slate, that Malcom decided he wanted to teach. He has since earned the WSET Level 3 Award in Spirits through WSET School London and the WSET Level 3 Award in Sake through the Commonwealth Wine School, and he is building Slate’s spirits program from the ground up. In the classroom he keeps coming back to the important ideas until they stick, and he treats a good question as the sign that a class is working. Wine still holds a special place for him. Malcom loves Oregon wine country and went out to Portland to work the 2026 harvest. When he is not studying for his next course, he is at a game night with friends, out on a hike, or home with his spoiled cats.
Matthew Mercier
Course Educator
Matthew is the Beverage Director at Norman’s in Orlando, where he runs the wine program and trains the service team. Before wine he was a high school teacher, and he has never really stopped teaching. Matthew first came to Slate as a student and completed the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines with Distinction. He teaches the way he runs his floor, as a conversation, and he puts as much weight on a student’s confidence as on the material. Matthew brings the restaurant floor into the classroom with him, and with it a feel for how wine is served and talked about with a guest at the table.
J.P. Donnelly-Davis, SWS
Course Educator
J.P. grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC, eventually falling in love with wine while living with his parents in Naples, Italy. He has successfully attained the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines qualification and is a Spanish Wine Scholar and Certified Sherry Wine Specialist. J.P. is deeply passionate about natural and biodynamic wines and loves introducing students to these traditional viticulture methods. When he’s not studying or teaching wine, he enjoys exploring historic sites, punk rock, and the works of Ernest Hemingway.