Meet the team!
Alan Reidy
Alan was born and raised in Blennerville, Co. Kerry. He comes from a long tradition of appreciating alcoholic beverages, namely Beamish, following his move to Cork city for university in 2011. Alan was voted the King of the Redheads in 2015, at the Redhead Convention of Crosshaven. He is also a proud founding member of the Cork Disc Golf Community, and only hopes you’ll ask him about it when you meet! Alan is the analytical brain behind the business, and we’d be lost without his spreadsheets!
Gretchen Kessler
Gretchen was born and raised in Loveland, Ohio, once a sleepy backwater but now a thriving hub of microbreweries along the Little Miami River. I guess it’s in the local blood to make alcohol! Gretchen’s background is in film and television, having worked in the film industry in the States, before retraining as an Archaeologist at the University of College Cork in 2023. Gretchen is the creative force behind A Grave Success, exploring flavour profiles and testing the limits to see what all she can turn into alcohol (it’s most things!).
Gretchen and Alan met in 2022 while attending the after-party on the Quays for the Cork Pride parade. They started making wine together shortly after they got engaged, and, noticing the positive reception exhibited by their friends, decided to ramp up production to produce 128 bottles for the wedding (one for each guest). From there, it was an easy decision to turn this little hobby of theirs into a full-time business, and A Grave Success was born.
David “Dosh” O’Shea surveys the wine selection at the wedding
Gretchen and Alan live with their two pet rats (Javier and Zeus) in their cozy house affectionately know as “The Gallery” due to the amount of artwork hanging on the walls. When they aren’t making wine, Alan can be found throwing discs in the park, and Gretchen usually has her nose in a book somewhere.
Alan snowboarding in Japan
Alan, with Zeus the rat
Enjoying wine is a group sport