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2018 Featured
Vintners & Growers
Signature Sonoma Valley offers unprecedented access to the Vintners & Growers at the forefront of this world-class wine region. Here are some of the legendary taste-makers whose company –and wines– guests will enjoy this April!
Lisa Amaroli
Winemaker
BENZIGER FAMILY WINERY
Lisa Amaroli has been a vital part of the Benziger Winemaking team since 1999. She graduated from Sonoma State University and holds a bachelor’s degree in both biology and chemistry. Previously, she worked at Martini and Prati Winery as a Production Manager. Lisa is responsible for determining styles for Benziger wines through collaborative tastings and initiates implementation in wine processing.
Lisa Amaroli
Richard & Alis Arrowood
Proprietors
Amapola Creek Winery by Richard Arrowood
Richard Arrowood is an iconic winemaster who has been making wine exclusively in Sonoma County for more than for 45 years. From 1974 through 1990, he created the wines for Chateau St. Jean, where he developed some of the first vineyard-designate Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon produced in Sonoma County.
He and his wife, Alis, founded Arrowood Winery with the 1985 vintage. Each year, they made extraordinary small-lot varietals and vineyard designates. Richard was the winemaster at Arrowood Winery until June 2010, when he resigned his position to devote himself full-time to making wines for his estate winery, Amapola Creek Vineyards and Winery.
Richard Lee Arrowood was born in San Francisco and raised in Santa Rosa, California, in the heart of Sonoma County. He began his winemaking career in 1965, working at Korbel Champagne Cellars while attending college. He earned a B.A. in organic chemistry at California State University, Sacramento, and completed graduate work in enology at California State University, Fresno.
From Korbel, he moved first to United Vintners and then to Sonoma Vineyards, where he worked for Rodney Strong and further developed his appreciation for the potential of single vineyard sites. In 1974 the founders of Chateau St. Jean chose Richard as their first employee and winemaster.
Within a few years, Richard had gained critical acclaim and a worldwide reputation for his wines. He produced vineyard-designate Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Fumé Blanc, Johannisberg Riesling, and Gewürztraminer bottlings in unprecedented numbers: from the 1980 vintage, the winery marketed nine single-vineyard Chardonnays from within Sonoma County.
By producing numerous small-lot, single-vineyard wines, Richard successfully demonstrated the significance of site—of terroir. Using virtually identical winemaking techniques for a given varietal, he showed that the differences in the resulting wines came from the vineyard, not the cellar. It was a revolutionary accomplishment. Richard received perhaps his greatest accolades for botrytis-affected late harvest wines, which rivaled even the great Trockenbeerenauslesen in richness and intensity.
In 1981 Richard met Alis Demers at the first California Wine Experience in San Francisco. They started dating and were married in 1985. In the same year, they created another partnership and began the plans for building Arrowood Vineyards & Winery.
Richard remained at Chateau St. Jean as executive vice president/winemaster until joining Alis at Arrowood full-time in 1990. Together they created a highly acclaimed prestige brand, which Robert Mondavi Corp. purchased in 2000. Richard and Alis stayed on, but after Constellation Brands purchased Mondavi in 2004 and subsequently sold Arrowood in 2005 to the (now bankrupt) Legacy Estate Group, Richard and Alis began Amapola Creek Winery.
Jackson Family Wines acquired Arrowood Vineyards & Winery through the bankruptcy court in September 2006. Richard continued as winemaster there until June 2010, when he left to devote his energies full-time to Amapola Creek Vineyards and Winery.
Richard & Alis Arrowood
Jeff Baker
Winemaker
STONE EDGE FARM ESTATE VINEYARDS & WINERY
Raised on his family’s citrus ranch in Ventura County, Jeff graduated from Stanford University and earned his master’s degree in enology from the University of California at Davis. He served as winemaker during the 1970s at the iconic Mayacamas Vineyards, in the mountains that separate Napa and Sonoma.
Jeff joined a group of partners, which included Mac McQuown, in 1980 to create Carmenet Vineyards (now Repris Wines) on the southwest side of the Mayacamas range. In the late 1990s, both Mac and Jeff planted small Cabernet Sauvignon home vineyards. In 2004 they co-founded Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards & Winery.
Jeff Baker
Prema Behan
Chief Operating Officer
THREE STICKS WINES
Look around for photos of Three Sticks Wines’ Chief Operating Officer Prema Behan: you’ll be hard pressed to find one in which she’s not open-mouthed smiling or laughing. To put it mildly, Behan, who’s first name (Prema) translates from Sanskrit to mean “giver of love,” is a joy to be around.
Behan began working for Three Sticks Wines founder Bill Price III in 2000 in an administrative position at Texas Pacific Group (TPG). She soon found herself working closely with Price, his family, and TPG’s Director of Operations. Her work there doubled as business school: she witnessed TPG’s rapid growth and global expansion, as well as from her experience closely assisting Price in his pursuits. Behan became an essential part of Price’s team, and began helping manage his winery operations. She has been involved in Three Sticks Wines from its founding, and has built relationships with every member of the winery’s allocation list as it grew from Price’s friends and family to include a growing number of Pinot-savvy consumers.
“Bill [Price] is one of the most exciting and interesting human beings to be around,” says Behan. “To me, Three Sticks Wines is really the essence of him, from his love of the land to his relentless pursuit of excellence. So it’s an enormous honor to get to run it,” she adds.
While Behan notes that she wouldn’t be in the wine industry if it hadn’t been for Price, hospitality comes naturally to her. Raised in Marin by her mother, a GM of restaurants, and her stepfather, an executive chef, she learned early on that hard work and fun don’t necessarily have to be mutually exclusive.
Behan was involved in the design and creation of Price’s other independent wine brands: Lutum Wines – a boutique Pinot and Chardonnay winery in Santa Barbara with Gavin Chanin and Head High – a lifestyle brand built with Sam Spencer to make delicious wines for adventure lovers.
“I believe in authenticity, in balance, and inspiring those around you to perform to their absolute best,” she says. “It really is my goal to have our team fulfilling their jobs via their skills and talents and loving what they do. That will equal our success,” she adds.
The Sonoma resident and busy mother of two (she has a 19-year-old and a 5-year-old son) is on the board of the Sonoma League for Historic Preservation as the Vice President, and recently completed the California State University Sonoma’s Executive MBA program (with Honors!).
Prema Behan
Nate Belden
Cheif Proprietor
BELDEN BARNS
Raised on a horse farm in Colorado, agriculture has always played an important part in Nate’s life. With one grandfather operating a cattle ranch in Montana and the other farming dairy and corn in Nebraska, it isn’t surprising that Nate developed a deep passion for the land, fantasizing about tractors and livestock the way his friends dreamed of fast cars and high tech gadgets.
After graduating University of Colorado, Boulder, Nate put his rural dreams on hold in the name of a very urban finance career that led him to New York City and then to San Francisco. But the farming bug never left him. In fact, the further away he got from an agrarian life, the more he missed it.
In 2004, while still toiling away at his city job, Nate spent a holiday weekend with friends in wine country, and decided to steal away to look at an available farm in Sonoma. Despite the fact that the property was both well beyond his budget and his time available to operate a working vineyard, it was love at first sight. The visit fueled an entire year of monthly drives to Sonoma Mountain Road, where he would park in front of the property’s mailbox and fantasize about becoming a wine grower.
On one such pilgrimage to Sonoma in early summer 2005, the “For Sale” sign had been pulled, bringing his fantasy to an abrupt halt. After a few weeks of deep disappointment, Nate called the realtor to see if any similar properties were available, only to learn that the sale had fallen through. This time, he leapt at the opportunity to plant a flag on the site we now call Belden Barns.
These days, when Nate’s not immersed in planning this year’s crops or next year’s harvest and bottling, he is most likely adventuring around the Bay Area with Lauren and their two small children, Olivia and Milo. Active volunteers, Nate and Lauren also focus their efforts on improving the lives of orphans near Arusha, Tanzania, and put a portion of wine sales towards this cause.
Nate Belden
Jamie Benziger
Winemaker
IMAGERY ESTATE WINERY
Born and raised in Sonoma County’s wine business has been such an amazing privilege, however growing up, Jamie says she didn’t fully understand what she was a part of. As a kid Jamie was always on the move whether it was playing soccer, riding her pony, or running around the winery with her two sisters, Kelly and Jill. It wasn’t until Jamie was studying Marketing at Loyola Marymount University and working summers in the concierge booth that she realized she wanted the family business to be her future. To get closer to home and the winery, Jamie transferred to Sonoma State University to complete her marketing degree and add wine business to her studies. She interned at Gundlach Bundschu winery and then branched out into winemaking after graduating. As soon as Jamie had worked her first harvest in the lab at Benziger she was mesmerized by winemaking. Since that first harvest in 2009, Jamie has had incredible opportunities to continue learning the chemistry of wine in the lab at St. Francis and Bogle wineries, traveling to New Zealand to drag hoses in the cellar at Villa Maria, and get her hands dirty in the field at Enterprise Vineyards. Now, after exploring the many facets of winemaking and the wine business, she is finally back home at Imagery Estate Winery
Jamie Benziger
Eva Bertran
Vice President of Marketing
GLORIA FERRER CAVES & VINEYARDS / WINDVANE
Eva Bertran brings a captivating blend of Spanish style and California charisma to Gloria Ferrer Caves &
Vineyards. Complemented by her impressive wine expertise and deep understanding of the Sonoma
Carneros region, Bertran is an ideal leader at Gloria Ferrer. Having left her native Spain in 1986 — where her own family was in the wine business — she is a member of the original team that launched Gloria Ferrer, and continues to oversee the winery as devotedly as if it were her own family business.
Bertran holds a master’s degree in international management from Spain’s top business school, Escuela
Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas University (ESADE). Armed with this education, she has lent her astute intelligence and dynamic energy to every job she undertakes. She is instrumental in fostering the Catalonian traditions through every facet of Gloria Ferrer, infusing the company culture with her own casual elegance, quick wit,and enthusiasm.
A passionate wine educator, Bertran embraces her role as international ambassador for Gloria Ferrer,
leading sparkling wine and food pairings for consumers,trade, and media. She is relentless in her
understanding of sparkling wine as much more than a celebratory beverage. The cooking skills that Bertran has cultivated throughout a lifetime have led to a dynamic understanding of sparkling wine and its versatility with food. Her presentations at the winery and throughout the world are insightful and
profoundly persuasive.
Bertran is equally involved in her local wine community. A past-president of the Sonoma County Vintners, she remains an active member in the association. She also served as president of the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Board of Directors and for many years on the Board of Carneros Wine Alliance. Away from work, Bertran complements her love of food and wine with her zeal for skiing, biking, yoga, and swimming.Having studied with the famous Catalan Chef Montserrat Segui,she enjoys preparing traditional Catalan dishes inspired by her grandmother,Teresa,for her husband, David, and their sons, Paul and Jack.
Eva Bertran
Jean-Charles Boisset
Proprieter
BUENA VISTA WINERY
Jean-Charles Boisset was born into the world of wine in the village of Vougeot, Burgundy, France. His lifelong passion for wine began as a child, growing up above the cellars and within view of the centuries-old vineyards of Château du Clos Vougeot, the epicenter and birthplace of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
His parents, Jean-Claude and Claudine, founded the family winery in 1961 with an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit in one of the most traditional winegrowing regions in the world. Today, the family collection includes wineries that share more than 18 centuries of combined winemaking heritage and tradition in some of the world’s most prestigious terroirs, from Burgundy to the South of France, to California’s Napa Valley and Russian River Valley.
Jean-Charles leads the family firm with passionate commitment to fine wine, history, quality and a deep respect for the environment. He implemented organic and Biodynamic farming at all of the family’s estate vineyards in Burgundy and California. Together with his sister Nathalie, he created Domaine de la Vougeraie, uniting the family’s Burgundy vineyards, including prestigious monopoles such as the Vougeot 1er Cru Clos Blanc de Vougeot – planted in 1110 by the Cistercian monks, into one of Burgundy’s leading domaines. He instituted the concept of “viniculteur”, redefining the company’s traditional role to encompass a close and active interest in all aspects of winegrowing to ensure premium quality and sustainable farming practices. He refashioned and elevated the family’s founding winery bearing his father’s name – Jean-Claude Boisset – into a premier boutique vigneron in the Cotes de Nuits.
In 2003 Jean-Charles brought DeLoach Vineyards, a pioneering producer of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Zinfandel in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley, into the family collection. He immediately recognized the similarities to Burgundy: each boast a confluence of river, mountains, and soil that is perfect for growing world-class Pinot Noir. He began a mission, inspired by his Burgundian heritage to produce terroir-driven wines with the same commitment to terroir and organic and Biodynamic farming he had instituted in Burgundy. In 2009 Jean-Charles’ quest for California wineries with a sense of history, heritage and a pioneering spirit, led him to Raymond Vineyards in the Napa Valley, where five generations of family winemaking anchors it to the earliest days of the Napa Valley. Under his vision, Raymond has become a leading producer of luxury fine wines, implemented organic and Biodynamic farming on its 100 acre Rutherford estate, and become among the most dynamic winery destinations in California, earning “Winery of the Year” honors from Wine Enthusiast magazine. In 2011, Jean-Charles’ dream of championing California wine history became a reality when Buena Vista Winery, California’s first premium winery, founded in 1857, became a part of the Boisset Collection. From this great foundation of historical, pioneering wineries in France and California, Jean-Charles’ sets forth a vision of the wine world centered on family, passion, history, innovation, a commitment to fine wines, and a dedication to sustainable winegrowing.
Decanter magazine has included him on its “Power List” of the fifty most important people in the wine world each year of its publication since 2007; in March 2008, he received the Meininger’s International Wine Entrepreneur of the Year; and in December 2008, he was named “Innovator of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. The French America Foundation awarded him their first-ever French-American Partnership Award in 2013, bestowed upon an extraordinary individual or organization that has contributed to creating a strong and enduring French-American partnership in business, government, or academia. Haute Living Magazine named him to the Haute List San Francisco, recognizing the 100 most influential people in the San Francisco Bay Area. JFK University in Concord, CA named he and his wife, Gina Gallo-Boisset, their 2014 “Entrepreneur’s of the Year” in an awards ceremony on May 16, 2014. He was honored with the 2014 Jefferson Award by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, which celebrates the museum’s historical connection with Thomas Jefferson and his renowned love of fine wine.
Jean-Charles Boisset
Erich Bradley
Winemaker
PANGLOSS CELLARS-SOJOURN CELLARS
A native of Palo Alto, California, Erich became interested in wine while helping his family develop their vineyard on a small ranch in Sonoma Valley. Prior to that, Erich studied Bio-chemistry at the University of Chicago and Philosophy and Modern European Intellectual History at the University of California at Irvine. This led him to an initial career as high school teacher and tennis coach. Since moving to Sonoma in 1998, he has studied winemaking at the University of California at Davis and viticulture at Santa Rosa College. He has also benefited greatly from the mentoring of winemakers Richard Arrowood and David Ramey.
In 1999, Erich worked as a harvest lab technician at Arrowood Vineyards and Winery, a position that extended into Assistant Enologist through 2002. Erich left Arrowood in January of 2003 to become the Winemaker for Audelssa Estate Winery in Glen Ellen, a position he continues to hold today. Erich also spent two vintages as Winemaker for Hop Kiln Winery and has consulted on various winery projects in Sonoma and Mendocino throughout his winemaking career.
When Erich takes time away from winemaking and the vineyards, you can usually find him on the golf course or in his kitchen cooking up French and Italian country classics for his friends and family.
Erich Bradley
Katie Bundschu
Proprietor
ABBOT’S PASSAGE
Sixth generation vintner, Katie Bundschu (and her canine side-kick Bacchus), has always chartered her own path in life. After college, she pursued a decade-long career in higher education before returning to the family business in 2012. Given her adventurous spirit and driving quest for discovery, Katie was keen to start a new project that branched out from the family vineyard and showcased her family’s longstanding knowledge of Sonoma Valley. Such was born Abbot’s Passage in 2016, with the vision to highlight notable but often-overlooked vineyards across Sonoma, and potentially beyond.
Katie Bundschu
Bill Canihan
Proprieter
Canihan Family Wines
Bill Canihan works closely with consulting winemaker Alexandra Romanini to craft his small allotments of premium Pinot Noir, Syrah and Cabernet Franc from his small family vineyards in Sonoma Valley. His methods showcase the extraordinary fruit from his cool-climate site and the response his wines continue to receive is nothing short of impressive.
Canihan studied business while at UOP and in his free time enjoyed ski racing (he actually almost made the Olympic Team and for three seasons raced on the Pro Circuit). After college, Canihan joined two San Francisco-based wine tasting groups, the Vintners Club, and Friends of the Grape (FOG) where he focused on the details of his favorite producers, such as Rochioli and Williams Selyem, and used them as guides in his own production.
Today, Canihan is thrilled to share his wines with others and currently offers his wines in two tasting room facilities – one being a winery collective with a group of boutique wineries in San Francisco and the other being a small barn on his vineyard property in Sonoma Valley. “Bring your boots!” Canihan laughs. “It may be a little muddy out there, but it definitely gives people the real experience.”
Bill Canihan
Katie Carter
Winemaker
BUENA VISTA WINERY
A true local, Katie Carter was born and raised in the town of Forestville. Katie earned a degree in Biology from UC Berkley in 2003. Katie’s deep love of nature and all creatures’ great (frogs) and small (yeast) led her to a variety of lab and field research jobs. She accepted a harvest position at Tandem Winery with Winemaker Greg La Follette. Katie loved the pace, spirit, and purpose of the winery led by Greg. This enthusiasm led to several winery lab positions and a 2006 assistant winemaking position with Mike Dobrovic at Mulderbosch Vineyards in South Africa.
She returned to West Sonoma County to survive her second harvest that year, joining the DeLoach team as Enologist. Promoted to Assistant Winemaker in 2012, Katie’s a key player on our winemaking team keeping winemaker Brian Maloney in line, as well as supervising lab and cellar endeavors. She’s delighted to be working with such fabulous and dedicated people. Katie loves being actively involved around the winery whether it is the regular barrel tasting, a day on the bottling line, chasing endearing dim-witted dirty sheep around the vineyard or blending our best Pinot Noir to perfection.
Katie Carter
Keith Casale
Proprietor
GEHRICKE
Born in Atlanta, GA and raised as an Army brat, Keith Casale was exposed to multiple cultures in several foreign countries until settling in Venture, CA to attend St. Bonaventure High School. As a graduate of the University of California, Davis with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, Keith settled in Napa Valley to pursue his passion for wine and a career opportunity in the industry. With a love for good food and great wine, Keith has developed a 25 year career in wine & spirits sales and finance. He currently works at 3 Badge Beverage Corporation and resides in Sonoma with his wife, Rie. Along with the good fortune of having children and grandchildren who also live in Sonoma, Keith’s passions include scuba diving, wakeboarding, and of course, Sonoma Valley wine!
Keith Casale
Dalia Ceja
Sales & Marketing Director
CEJA VINEYARDS
Dalia Ceja has been surrounded by wine, food and travel her entire life. She may have grown up in the wine industry but she comes from very humble beginnings. In the late 1960’s her grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico, worked in the vineyards and settled in the Napa Valley. With her parents as her role models, hardwork and education have been the forefront of Dalia’s drive to excel.
In 2008 she graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Marketing & Communications. After graduating from college she departed on a six month “Study Abroad” backpacking journey through South America, learning, exploring and enriching her career with real life experiences. This became the anchor for a blog that she would later launch in 2011.
In 2010 she brought her expertise to Ceja Vineyards as the Sales and Marketing Director, “A lot of minority wineries are developing their own style,” she says. “For us, it’s been about family and taking wine to a new level.” And for Dalia, being a Ceja means being part of that evolution, which includes promoting awareness of authentic Mexican cuisine and its subtle, complex flavors—the perfect companion for pairings that yield a new wine experience.
“Technology and social media have been a great way to expand our presence,” she says of the tweeting and blogging she does regularly. It is, however, cooking and the Ceja approach to wine and food that continue to be the biggest factor in opening doors. Dalia’s growing role in the culinary world is reflected in the expanding presence of food on the winery’s website, www.cejavineyards.com, and on YouTube, where she has published cooking demonstration videos.
In 2011 Dalia was named “Woman of the Year” through the Napa Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for her entrepreneurial leadership and charitable contributions. In May of 2011 she launched her own blog and website – www.ddaliaceja.com. She highlights her own passions to creatively foucs on wine, fashion, food, travel, and fiestas! In 2012 she partnered with NakedWines.com as a consulting winemaker and launched her own wines under the La Tapatia wine label exclusively selling a Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and is currently on her 5th wine vintage.
“You’re never too young or too old to explore your passions,” says Dalia, who is grateful to her parents for encouraging her to do just that. In 2014 she graduated from Sonoma State University and received her Executive MBA in Wine Marketing and Business. With her personal flare and her passion for wine, cooking and travel, Dalia is set to leave her mark.
Dalia Ceja
Cyril Chappellet
Proprietor
SONOMA-LOEB
Moving to a home in the middle of the vineyards when he was 10 years old, Cyril Chappellet’s course in life was influenced by the romance of the vineyards and the growth of Napa Valley’s wine industry. The eldest son of Molly & Donn Chappellet, Cyril was encouraged to make his own career choices and explore life away from the family winery.
After studying farm management at Cal Poly and completing his business education at Pepperdine University, Cyril began his career in corporate planning and acquisitions working on the East-coast for an oil and insurance company. In 1988, with nearly 10 years of business experience under his belt, Cyril returned to Pritchard Hill, excited by the challenges Chappellet faced in an ever-changing industry. Cyril says his goal was “to continue what my father started – making extraordinary wines that express the unique growing conditions of Pritchard Hill.”
Cyril Chappellet
Megan Cline
Partner
JACUZZI FAMILY VINEYARDS
Megan Cline is part of the second generation of Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. Born and raised in Sonoma on the winery, Megan was surrounded by wine her entire life and developed an early passion which led her to Santa Barbara.
Upon graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara she stayed in the area, exploring and working the wine industry of the California Central Coast where she passed her Certified Sommelier course through the Court of Master Sommeliers.
More recently, Megan has returned to her roots in Sonoma and can be found doing a little bit of everything at the winery–working in the vineyard and with winemaking during harvest, hosting winery events, and working in the marketing department. When she’s not working at the winery, Megan is out taking photos, enjoying the food and wine scene of Sonoma County, and traveling around the world visiting other wine regions.
Megan Cline
Winemaker & Owner
Jeff Cohn Cellars
Jeff Cohn got his start in the industry just over 20 years ago. As an intern at Boordy Vineyards in Maryland, he drove an hour and half each way to prune trees in frigid weather, pick grapes in stifling heat, and scrub everything from barrels to floors. After college he found his passion for wine steadily growing. The more he learned, the more he wanted to learn, until he realized that becoming a winemaker was his ultimate goal. The job at Boordy was a deciding factor in the trajectory of his career — in spite of all the scrubbing.
With the encouragement and support of his family, Jeff moved to California in 1993 to follow his dream. He earned his master’s degree in agriculture chemistry, with an emphasis on enology, from California State University, Fresno. It was here that Jeff discovered French winemaking techniques and the concept of terroir. “The flavor profile was so different than anything else I had ever tried,” he says of the first Chateauneuf-du-Pape he tried in school. “It was a shocker. To go from tasting only single varietals to a blend really opened my eyes.”
Upon graduation, Jeff joined Rosenblum Cellars as an enologist. He rapidly moved beyond lab work and was officially promoted to winemaker, and in 2004 was named vice president of winemaking and production at Rosenblum. He was instrumental in creating cutting-edge barrel and yeast programs at the winery. It was through experimentation at Rosenblum that Jeff perfected the technique of using different types of yeast to create even more subtle, specific characteristics in the wine he was crafting.
He began his own label, JC Cellars, in 1996. Jeff goes to great lengths to marry California fruit to the aspects of terroir and minerality you’d find in France’s oldest winemaking regions. He does so by travelling all over California, from Paso Robles to Alexander Valley, in search of the finest fruit and the best vineyards. Among some of Jeff’s most important discoveries include the Rockpile region in Sonoma, where 14 years ago he began sourcing the Syrah grapes that are now the main component of his most elegant and complex wines; the Buffalo Hill Syrah, Haley’s Reserve Syrah, and the stunning 2013 Domaine des Chirats Syrah
The future of Jeff Cohn Cellars involves exacting even more attention on the quality of the fruit. “The Rhône stuff is the passion,” Jeff says, “but now we have some great Zinfandel vineyards including Cassata, Sweetwater Springs, Iron Hill, and the remarkable St. Peter’s Church. The goal is to become a bit more focused and work with some really small vineyards and growers that we know are the best of the best.”
Jeff Cohn
PHIL COTURRI
Viticulturist / Proprietor
ENTERPRISE VINEYARDS / KAMEN ESTATE VINEYARD / WINERY SIXTEEN 600
Phil Coturri, a pioneer of organic viticulture, has been overseeing the Kamen Estate vineyards since Robert Kamen purchased the property in l980. Phil is a highly regarded Viticulturist with over thirty-five years experience with top quality northern California vineyards.
If you ask him, Phil Coturri might quote a Levon Helm song and describe himself as a “poor old dirt farmer”. However, after 35 years pioneering organic and biodynamic winegrowing in California descriptions range from “famed organic viticulturalist” by the Hollywood Reporter to “the ubiquitous wizard of sustainable winemaking” by Sonoma Magazine. He was born with the cultural palate of Italian immigrants, weaned on the music and ethos of San Francisco in the 1960’s and planted deep into the rocky hillsides of Sonoma Valley.
Phil Coturri
Cabell Coursey
Founder
COURSEY GRAVES
Cabell Coursey’s obsession with winemaking began with a harvest in Burgundy while he was enjoying an undergraduate semester abroad. After finishing his B.S., Cabell spent a few vintages picking grapes and scrubbing floors in Burgundy, and then moved up to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Following his time in Oregon, Cabell traveled to Christchurch, New Zealand, where earned degrees in Enology and Viticulture from Lincoln University where he focused on cool climate viticulture. Cabell’s approach to winemaking is to use his senses in conjunction with his knowledge in biology, chemistry, and farming.
Cabell describes his philosophy:
“Winemaking is the culmination of a vast number of decisions. Starting with the site, the farming practice, the response to weather conditions, the picking date, the tank and barrel programs, ferment protocols, and continuing through blending and bottling. It is the daily decisions, actions, and sometimes lack of action that unlocks a vineyard’s highest potential. This quest to reveal each vineyards unique personality, while dealing with the challenges inherent in farming, is what makes winemaking challenging, interesting, and highly rewarding. My goal is always the same, to deliver each vineyard’s best expression in each vintage and to make a wine where the last glass is better than the first.”
Coursey Graves is a collaboration between John Graves, a Minneapolis tech entrepreneur, and Cabell Coursey an established Sonoma County Winemaker. The relationship began when Graves acquired the Bennett Valley Winery where Cabell was making wine. Aligned with the belief that great wines aren’t dictated by specific zip codes. Coursey Graves’s mission is to grow transcendent fruit and make original wines from the lesser known mountainsides of Napa and Sonoma.
Cabell Coursey
Michael Cox
Winemaker
SCHUG CARNEROS ESTATE
A Northern California native, Winemaker Michael Cox grew up in Sonoma and spent time in both the Sonoma and Napa wine producing regions as a student. His local head start gave him an enviable background that most young winemakers find very difficult to achieve.
Mike first attended the University of California at Los Angeles, studying chemical engineering and working in a wine cellar during the summer. It was then that his love for wine surfaced and took him down another road. In order to become a member of the wine industry, he transferred to the U.C. Davis campus and graduated with a degree in Enology in 1991. Mike also took advantage of coming home from school each summer to work at Sonoma area wineries, gaining good solid experience every step of the way. He worked his way up through the cellars of two prestigious wineries, Hacienda and Dry Creek Vineyards, during and after he finished school. His first full Winemaker position was at DeMoor Winery in 1992. Mike likes to work closely with growers and prefers small production vineyards that contribute unique qualities to his blends. The Carneros grapes Mike works with at Schug offer unrivaled wine-making opportunities due to their unique diversity and complex, well-developed flavor characteristics.
In the cellar, his focus is on staying abreast of current winemaking developments. He favors progressive use of the newer technologies available to winemakers today, such as the Voll Tauchers, hydraulic punch-down fermenters that automate the process of gently punching down the cap during fermentation. Mike also has the impressive ability to manage the hundreds of separate lots stored in the cellars before blending, including the judicious adaptation of specific barrel coopers to specific vineyard lots, in order to emphasize the terroir.
As Winemaker, an important member of the Schug family team, Mike works closely with Sales & Marketing Director Axel Schug. Together their winemaking talents create the premium Carneros and Sonoma wines with the European flair that Schug is famous for.
Mike Cox
Lloyd Davis
Founder
CORNER 103
Committed to continuing his track record for producing award-winning wines, Sonoma County was selected as the ideal location to introduce his newest brand.
Corner 103 is crafting limited production wines that showcase each varietal as well as the region in which they grow. Each wine comes from a different American Viticulture Area (AVA) of Sonoma County. In selecting a varietal, Lloyd took into consideration the soil conditions, weather and vineyard location, all of which affect the flavor characteristics of the grape. This allows him the ability to create very approachable wines that reflect the true quality of that region.
Corner 103 is also about creating a unique experience where wine is explored and discussed in a relaxed and fun environment. Lloyd wants you to learn all about his wines in a friendly, non-intimidating way. As a result, you will explore seven wines in a seated comfortable environment. There will be no more than 10 guests at any time.
Lloyd is committed to making Corner 103 a “must visit” for all wine lovers, whether expert or novice, coming to Sonoma Valley. When you finish this tasting experience, you will become a “fan” of Corner 103, its wines, its staff and be able to impress your friends with the depth of your wine knowledge!
Lloyd Davis
Dan Fishman
Winemaker
DONUM ESTATE
Dan is the winemaker at Donum Estate where he started as an intern under former winemaker, Kenneth Juhasz in 2007. After working on five vintages, Dan became very familiar with the winemaking style of the Donum Estate and was named winemaker in June 2012.
Prior to becoming Donum’s winemaker, Dan spent time working a harvest at Wither Hills in New Zealand. His formal studies are in Philosophy and Psychology. His love for wine was sparked at an undergraduate course at Cornell University, Wine Appreciation 101. He holds a BA in Philosophy and Psychology from Cornell University and a MA in Social Psychology from the University of British Columbia. In addition, he has worked at wine shops in Vancouver, Los Angeles and Washington, DC.
Dan Fishman
Squire & Suzy Fridell
Proprietors
GLENLYON VINEYARDS & WINERY
Squire Fridell
Squire may look like a Vintner, Winemaker and Vineyard Manager, but he also holds the possible distinction of being the only actor in history to have never drawn unemployment benefits. He graduated from University of Pacific and holds a Master’s Degree in Acting/Directing from Occidental College.
If Squire’s face looks vaguely familiar, it’s because he was one of the most successful actors ever in television commercials. Since 1970, he performed as principal on-camera talent in over 3,400 television commercials and about twice that many television and radio voice-overs. No matter where you might be living in the USofA, he was most likely in your living room more than once trying to sell you something. He was the on-camera spokesman for Toyota (1978-2012) and from 1984 until 1991 you might have spotted him on TV wearing a funny yellow and red outfit chasing “The Hamburglar” around McDonaldland!
Squire began his professional acting career on stage in Southern California with South Coast Repertory in 1968 and was one of the last “Contract Players” at Universal Studios. He has starred in twelve television pilots (mostly short lived), five big screen features (mostly unmemorable films), and starred/guest-starred in a whole bunch of TV shows over the years. He has been on the cover of TV GUIDE, was once “#1 Across” in the crossword puzzle of Daily Variety, and was photo-featured in NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE.
Squire is also the author of four published plays, a screenplay (that was almost made into a movie) and wrote the definitive commercial acting text, ACTING IN TELEVISION COMMERCIALS FOR FUN AND PROFIT, now in its Fourth Edition, Harmony books. Go to Amazon and get a copy! If you’re a Clan Member, Squire would be glad to sign your copy next time you drop by to pick up your wine at GlenLyon!
Squire made the segue from actor/director to winemaker/vineyard manager gradually over the years, oft times wearing more than one hat, but it was a very smooth transition. “Same Greek God” as Squire is wont to say…
Suzy Fridell
Suzy McDermaid was born in Long Beach, California and grew up in Whittier. She holds a BA in Dance from UCLA where she taught, choreographed and performed with the UCLA Dance Company for three years.
In 1969 she moved to New York City to study dance with Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis and three months later, packed her bags to leave for her first European tour with the Nikolais Dance Theatre Company. She stayed with Nik for nine years, performing in twelve foreign tours and over forty US tours.
Suzy married Squire Fridell in 1977 and the newlyweds settled on a bi-coastal life. After a couple of years of frequent flying from NYC to LA and LA to NYC, they decided to give up Suzy’s cherished (rent-controlled) loft in Manhattan and take up “permanent” residence in their new home in Sunset Beach, California. After Suzy “retired” from the world of professional modern dance, she and Squire became proud parents of their daughter, Alexandra McDermaid Fridell, in 1982.
In 1986, Suzy and Squire decided that Sonoma Valley might be a wonderful place to raise their three-year old daughter.
Since their move to Glen Ellen, Suzy spent a zillion hours campaigning for school bonds, fund raising for schools, and volunteered for the schools and a myriad of community events. She and Squire were responsible for the construction of both an outdoor and an indoor theatre for two public schools in our Valley and they produced, choreographed, and directed plays in each for years. Suzy and Squire were both recognized and awarded “Volunteers of the Year in Education” for all of Sonoma County and when Suzy’s not at GlenLyon, you could find her somewhere in the middle of a gaggle of fellow vintner gals, choreographing and performing “Magnum Force” at each year’s annual Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Wine Auction. Suzy and Squire were honored to be co-chairs of the Auction a few years back.
Squire & Suzy Fridell
Jeff Gaffner
Winemaker
RAM’S GATE WINERY
A grower at heart, Ram’s Gate Winemaker Jeff Gaffner is most content in the vineyard. He believes that wine is made there and focuses a great deal of his energy in the vineyards during the growing season to ensure balance and flavor, bringing the best possible fruit to cellar.
With more than 30-years of experience as both a grower and winemaker in Sonoma, Gaffner has developed longstanding relationships and recognition as a highly sought-after consulting winemaker. His first collaboration with Ram’s Gate Proprietor Jeff O’Neill began 15-years ago, and O’Neill, impressed by Gaffner’s depth of knowledge and belief that only great vineyards produce truly great wines, knew Gaffner was the obvious choice to lead Ram’s Gate’s mission: to produce the region’s finest single vineyard designate Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.
Jeff Gaffner
Paul Giusto
Co Founder
HIGHWAY 12 VINEYARDS & WINERY
Paul Giusto
Bart Hansen
Proprietor-Winemaker
DANE CELLARS
My career in the wine industry began as a summer job. During that first harvest, my job was to deliver five tons of grapes at a time, down the mountain, in a one-ton truck. It was from that experience that I knew I wanted to be a winemaker. I began my professional career with Kenwood Vineyards in 1986, where we specialized in vineyard-designated Zinfandels and Cabernets grown in Sonoma Valley.
In 1998, I left my position as Cellarmaster for Kenwood and joined the wine-making team at Benziger Family Winery, just down the road in Glen Ellen. My focus was the production of wines for the Benziger Family Ranch including Tribute, Imagery Estate and Benziger vineyard designates, and in particular the Zinfandel wines for Benziger and Imagery Estate. It was at Benziger that I was introduced to biodynamics and organic farming. At the time, both practices were new to the industry and we developed winemaking methods to go along with the farming practices.
I loved the idea of bringing cutting-edge techniques to age-old winemaking processes. With a passion for creating small-lot, distinctive wines, I was thrilled to join the Lasseter Family Vineyards in 2007 and to have the opportunity to create premium vintages of Rhone and Bordeaux-inspired blends from organically-grown grapes. It was also in 2007 that our son, Dane was born, becoming the inspiration and namesake for the opening of Dane Cellars, that same year.
Bart Hansen
Kevin Holt
Winemaker
BELTANE RANCH
Kevin Holt crafts Beltane Ranch’s Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel to reflect the property’s authenticity and rustic elegance. Under his supervision, the grapes are allowed to mature until they develop the desired flavors, then are whole cluster pressed and cold soaked in stainless tanks to protect the juice. Holt uses a combination of new and neutral oak barrels to add a hint of spiciness to the bright, intensely flavored wine. Holt honed his skills at MacRostie Vineyards in Sonoma, Artesa in Napa, Testarossa Vineyards in Los Gatos, Quivira Vineyards in Healdsburg and before joining Beltane Ranch.
Kevin Holt
Glenn Hugo
Winemaker
B. R. Cohn Winery
Winemaker Glenn Hugo began his career in Napa Valley 10 years ago at Girard Winery as a harvest intern. He was quickly promoted to Cellar Master and Assistant Winemaker, finally earning the title of Girard Winemaker.
Glenn’s background in the restaurant industry informs his artisanal approach to winemaking and wine as part of the culinary experience. A native Texan, Glenn developed his passion for wine in the restaurant industry before moving to Napa Valley with his family in 2003 to pursue a dream of becoming a winemaker.
Glenn’s formative winemaking experience was in Napa Valley and includes early assignments with Provenance Vineyards, where he learned from Napa legend Tom Rinaldi. As General Manager of Bounty Hunter Wine Bar in downtown Napa, Glenn met Marco DiGiulio, Chief Winemaker for Vintage Wine Estates, who launched Glenn on his winemaking career at Girard.
Glenn has garnered numerous awards, accolades and 90+ point scores for the Girard portfolio. In 2018, he accepted formal winemaker duties for B.R. Cohn Winery in Sonoma Valley, having worked with Marco on the Olive Hill Vineyard estate wines since Vintage Wine Estates purchased the property from Bruce Cohn in 2015.
Glenn’s philosophy is simple: wine is to be shared with friends, family and great food; it is a living and breathing expression that constantly evolves and instills memories.
Glenn Hugo
Richard and Susan Idell
Proprietors
IDELL FAMILY VINEYARDS
Idell Family Vineyards, founded in 2005 by Richard Idell and Susan Kornblatt Idell, is well-known for producing Sonoma Valley premium grapes and wines. The vineyards are located within both Sonoma Valley and Sonoma Coast AVA’s. Idell Family Vineyards has partnered with viticulturist and vintner Steve Matthiasson of Napa to develop an ultra-premium Chardonnay vineyard, the Michael Mara Vineyard®. In addition to producing our own Chardonnay wine, from the Michael Mara Vineyard, grapes from this world class vineyard are currently sold to Kesner Wines, Scholium Project, Broc Cellars and Iconic Wines as well as Matthiasson Family Wines. These producers are all small premium wineries making hand-crafted wine. Six producers produce Chardonnay with a vineyard designate. The soil of this vineyard is similar to the rocky lower sections of the Durell Vineyard, which is, as the crow flies, a mile or so away. From the planting of the first vines, Steve Matthiasson, our partner along with his wife Jill, has continued to oversee vineyard operations for the Chardonnay Vineyard and additional red-wine plantings for our Oscar® line of red wines, Syrah and our traditional dry-farmed field blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane, Mourvedre and Grenache, all harvested and co-fermented as our Oscar® Mixed Blacks.
Richard & Susan Idell
Jason Jardine
President
HANZELL VINEYARDS
Taking over as President and Director of Winemaking of Hanzell Vineyards in spring of 2014, Jason brings extensive wine business experience that starts literally from the ground up. After planting his first vineyard at the age of 18, Jason has acted as Vineyard Manager, Director of Winemaking and President for some of the finest wineries in the country including Flowers Vineyard and Winery, Rhys Vineyards, Clos Du Val, and Domaine Serene amongst others. With tremendous passion, Jason leads the Hanzell team through the implementation of Integrated Biodynamic Farming practices, allowing the vineyards to thrive and best express themselves in our wines. When not working here on the farm, you can find Jason in the family vegetable garden and spending time with his wife Ali and their two children, Gabriel and Pippin. Jason holds an MBA from Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business.
Jason Jardine
Kenneth Juhasz
Winemaker
AUTEUR WINES
My father arrived in the United States as a refugee from the Hungarian revolution. His story of survival and freedom taught me early to never let anything stand in the way of my pursuits and to live with depth and conviction. Financing my college education I worked in fine wine shops and restaurants, and when I saved enough I backpacked around the globe with my twin brother, John. Each experience further fueled my passion for wine and my visits to Burgundy were life-altering. The pursuit of Burgundian style wines brought me to Oregon’s Willamette Valley where I first started making Pinot Noir. After a few years in Willamette, followed by several in New Zealand, I eventually joined the esteemed wine team at The Donum Estate in Sonoma and began Auteur.
As a winemaker I extract all of what each grape gives me and begin to build a wine of character and complexity. Happiness for me is harnessing fear and understanding its delicate balance within me. Wine can be celebratory, but also have moments of solitude. I am very grateful knowing that I can bring pleasure and peace to family, friends, and to those I may never meet.
BEYOND AUTEUR Kenneth’s consulting clients include: The Donum Estate in Carneros (Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2013), Dunstan Wines (Durell Estate Vineyard), Pali Wines (Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2014) and newcomers, Blue Farm and Attune. He has also worked with Gary Farrell Winery and Semper.
Kenneth Juhasz
Robert Kamen
PROPRIETOR
KAMEN ESTATE WINES
Growing up in a city housing project in the Bronx and earning a Ph.D in American Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, Robert believes everything happens for a reason, and yet nothing in his life was ever planned. His screenwriting career started quickly with the unexpected sale of his first screenplay. While visiting friends in Sonoma to celebrate this success, he happened upon the 280 acre property. After falling in love with the view, he purchased what is now his vineyard estate and the muse for his bottled screenplay – Kamen Estate Wines.
Robert has enjoyed an uninterrupted film career with over twenty of his screenplays becoming major motion pictures, among them: Taps, The Karate Kid series, Fifth Element, The Professional, Transporter series, A Walk in the Clouds, Lethal Weapon III, Taken and Taken II. When he is not occupying seat 6A of American Airlines travelling for his films or the wines he produces, visitors often find him at his desk in Sonoma working on future film scripts or worrying about the weather.
Robert Kamen
Jordan Kivelstadt
Founder & Head Winemaker
Kivelstadt Cellars
As Founder and Head Winemaker at Kivelstadt Cellars, Jordan seeks to create wines that stand out. His passion for food and wine permeates everything he does. By day he is the Founder and CEO of Free Flow Wines, a wine on tap company focused on improving the quality and sustainability of the wine we drink in restaurants. He initially cut his teeth in wine working harvests in California, Argentina, Chile and Australia. Kivelstadt Cellars is Jordan’s creative outlet and brings balance to his daily responsibilities at Free Flow. He pours all of those experiences into innovating in the wine industry and crafting unique and delicious wines vintage after vintage.
Jordan Kivelstadt
Chris Louton
Winemaker
ST. FRANCIS WINERY & VINEYARDS
Chris Louton brings cutting edge knowledge and finely honed hands-on experience to his role as Winemaker. He joined St. Francis in 2013 after nearly seven years as part of the winemaking team at Napa’s Beringer Vineyards, where he focused on the luxury tier of wines and helped craft award-winning Cabernet Sauvignons and other Bordeaux varietals.
As Associate Winemaker at Beringer, Chris became a devoted fan of Cabernet Sauvignon from Knights Valley and Alexander Valley, which gave him a special appreciation for Sonoma County’s diverse appellations and unique terroir. “The wines from Sonoma express themselves differently than the wines from Napa,” he says. “They have their own unique brightness and great intensity. This is a spectacular place to make Cabernet.”
Making world-class wines wasn’t the career Chris originally planned for himself. He was studying biology at UC Davis with every intention of becoming a veterinarian when he took a winemaking class his senior year. That class hooked him, and instead of applying to vet school after graduation, he went back to UC Davis to study enology and took a job as a harvest intern at Schramsberg Vineyards in Calistoga. He stayed at Schramsberg for four years, working as an enologist after graduation and later as Assistant Winemaker.
At St. Francis, Chris oversees production of our Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varietals, as well as our popular Sauvignon Blanc. His goal is to create wines that are approachable, yet compelling, and always a true expression of Sonoma County. In 2016, Chris was awarded the North Bay Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty, recognizing his leadership, talent and community involvement. Above all, he says, “I want to make wines you want to revisit again and again.”
Chris Louton
Chris Loxton
Proprietor
LOXTON CELLARS
Chris Loxton is the 4th generation to be a grape grower, but the first to be a winemaker. The family vineyard is located in the Riverland of South Australia and the property was first planted in the 1890’s. The early years were associated with grapes for the dried fruit industry, but the emphasis changed and over the years the grape varieties became Grenache, Mataro, Carignane, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. In early 2016, Bob Loxton, Chris’s father completed what might be nearing his 70th harvest, growing almost 200 tons of Cabernet, Shiraz and Chardonnay.
Although deciding to be a winemaker sometime during high school, and making some home-made wines prior to graduate school, a PhD in physics interrupted this dream. A year that was going to be post-doctoral work at Penn State soon became almost 2 years at Arizona State, then 8 years as a research Scientist of University of Illinois Materials Research Lab in Champaign Urbana.
A year at UC Davis to study enology was followed by harvest intern positions at Quivira in Dry Creek, St. Hallett in Australia and Sonoma Cutrer in Russian River before deciding in 1995 to remain in California. A full time winemaking position at Wellington Vineyards in ’95 led to the first Loxton Cellars wine to be made in ’96 as an after-hours project. This side project became the main focus in 2000 after leaving Wellington and winemaking moved over to the current location in 2004. The emphasis has remained on handmade wines, made without compromise, from some of Sonoma’s best vineyards.
Chris Loxton
Martin Mackenzie
Winemaker
PETRONI VINEYARDS
Born and raised in New Zealand, Martin Mackenzie found his passion for wines and destiny to be a winemaker in his late twenties. Convinced that his future lay in wine production, he shut down his carpentry business and moved from Auckland to Hawkes Bay where he was able to study Viticulture and Oenology at the Eastern Institute of Technology. Martin completed his first year as the top student and served his year-end internship at Stonyridge Vineyard, the iconic, organic red wine producer of New Zealand, based on beautiful Waiheke Island. At the end of his internship he was offered the position of Assistant Winemaker. Martin worked at Stonyridge from 1999 through to late 2008 quickly assuming responsibility for all aspects of wine production, having become Winemaker in 2002, and finally Winemaker/General Manager in 2007.
In his ten years at Stonyridge, Martin carved a reputation of consistent excellence producing world-renowned Bordeaux blends, most notably Stonyridge Larose, as well as some of the country’s best Syrah and Malbec. The 2008 vintage, Martins last at Stonyridge, resulted in a 95 point wine in Wine Advocate, a stunning result for a New Zealand Cabernet.
While at Stonyridge, Martin met his future wife, a California sweet heart who proved to be the catalyst for their move to California. Martin had long considered California to be the most exciting red wine region in the world. Having now completed three vintages at Petroni Vineyards, his passion and commitment to quality are ideally suited to the continued production and improvement of the outstanding red wines of Petroni Vineyards.
Martin Mackenzie
Proprietors
MacLeod Family Vineyard
MacLeod Family Vineyard started off as an irresponsible adventure, a crazy roll of the dice and a sucker’s card game. George and Greta MacLeod were a typical suburban family with four young children, and society expected them to live between the lines. Instead, they soared, without a net, to pursue their madcap desire to relive the pioneer life, grow great grapes, make distinctive wines and live as close to forever as possible on fifty abandoned, rocky and hilly acres in Kenwood, California in Sonoma’s Valley of the Moon. Forty-five years and many vineyard and wine quality awards later, the family has prospered. George passed away recently at the age of 96 ½ years but left an indelible mark on this land, this family and this valley. His children, along with his beautiful bride of 69 years, continue his legacy. It’s a family affair with all major responsibilities headed up by family members—Richard, winemaker; Noel, cheerleader; Susan, doer; and John, vineyard manager.
John & Marjorie MacLeod
Tom Meadowcroft
Proprietor
MEADOWCROFT
Tom’s passion for wines stems from his experiences growing up, working and traveling in Europe and the United States. Early in life, he began his journey in winemaking by working the harvest of 1979 in Bordeaux. Following that harvest he studied at UC Davis and Napa College graduating with a degree in Viticulture and Enology. After earning his degrees, he worked in Napa and Washington State as a vineyard Manager focusing on sustainable farming and environmental advocacy. Throughout his career, Tom has managed dozens of properties for top wineries in Napa and Sonoma, all along instilling core principals relating to wine cultivation from the growing of wines to the making of the wines. These experiences inspire his vision for the Meadowcroft Wine he proudly makes today.
“As the winemaker I am ever in the pursuit of creating wines infused with an explosive strength of diverse character that strike a soulful chord. The zeal of creativity with which I am driven is inspired by the rich cultural experience from where Meadowcroft Wines originates. I proudly focus on a wide array of beautiful varietals, from our Cabernet Sauvignon which is grown on our estate vineyard property located on the esteemed Mount Veeder in Napa, to Bordeaux grapes scrupulously sourced from sustainable vineyards around Dry Creek, Carneros and Alexander Valley, I happily direct a global dialogue into my winemaking process. My hope is to create wines with a Sonoma pulse that express the complexity found in European varietals. I invite you to raise a glass of Meadowcroft and wish you bountiful gatherings and many happy toasts! Cheers!” – Tom Meadowcroft
Tom Meadowcroft
Michael McNeill
Winemaker
HANZELL VINEYARDS
On a personal quest to produce significant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Michael McNeill has spent many years and worked with dozens of vineyards throughout California and Oregon. In his early winemaking days, McNeill honed his talent and skill at Chalone Vineyard. His appointment as Winemaker at Hanzell in 2008 brought him full circle in working with the great California pioneers. Here at Hanzell, informed by tradition, he seeks to produce wines that best express the special and unique qualities of this place. Outside of Hanzell, McNeill enjoys live music, working in his garden, skiing in his beloved Tahoe and riding in the annual “Bring Your Own Big-Wheel” race in San Francisco.
Michael McNeill
Korbin Ming
General Manager
KORBIN KAMERON
Korbin graduated from Boston University with a BS in Hospitality Administration and is now a Masters candidate at UC Davis for Viticulture & Enology. He originally took a couple of wine courses at BU as a way to bond with his father, but soon realized that it was his true passion. He joined the Korbin Kameron team the summer after he graduated and has been growing the company since. He wears a lot of hats, doing everything from working in the vineyard and cellar, national and international sales. In 2012 he promoted himself to General Manager and now bosses his father around.
Korbin Ming
Michael Muscardini
Proprietor/Winemaker
MUSCARDINI CELLARS
Michael Muscardini
Winemaker
Larson Family Winery
Nori Nakamura was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. He was influenced by wine at a young age since his uncle owned an Italian restaurant and was able to experience the knowledge of great wine. After graduating from Keio University with a degree in Economics, he started his career at a hotel management company, Hotel Nikko. One of the biggest reasons he worked for a hotel was to learn about wine. While working at different hotels in Japan, he obtained the certification of sommelier with Japan Sommelier Association and he was transferred to the Hotel Nikko San Francisco as a Catering Manager in 1999. Since he had many opportunities to visit local wineries in Napa/Sonoma, he came to enjoy California wines and his interest in wine grew and leaned toward making wine rather than tasting wine.
A year later, he decided to alter his career and study winemaking. He went back to Japan to give up his hotel job and returned to California, and experienced two harvests at Koves-Newlan and Pine Ridge in Napa. After obtaining a second bachelor degree of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis, he worked at Napa Wine Company, where he benefited from observing a variety of winemaking styles. He then spent 7 years working as Assistant Winemaker at Artesa and 2 years as Winemaker at Jamieson Ranch Vineyards in Napa before arriving Larson Family Winery in March 2015. These experiences have enabled him to establish his own style. He also has his own brand called NORIA, whose concept is to produce wines that can go well with Japanese food. Nori is a huge fan of Pinot Noir, which is a perfect pairing for him to be with us in the Carneros region.
Nori Nakamura
Zeke Neeley
Winemaker
KENWOOD VINEYARDS
Zeke Neeley, grew up in California but not the California people think of when they hear “California”. The town of Daly City, south of San Francisco, has a climate more resembling foggy London which was why it was always such a joy for him to visit his grandparents in a sunny paradise called the Sonoma Valley.
That soft-spot for Sonoma wine country hung with him throughout his college years studying Biochemistry and later while living in San Francisco and working in the Biotech industry on cancer research.
Eventually, after finding that he and his wife spent every vacation visiting wine country, it dawned on Zeke what he wanted to do — become a winemaker! After returning to UC Davis for a M.S. in Viticulture and Enology, Zeke worked at wineries in Santa Cruz, Carneros, and Napa—the last 10 years as a winemaker in Napa—and finally found his way to Kenwood. All those years after burning his pale, Daly City skin in the Sonoma sun he has made it full circle and found a roundabout way to a childhood dream.
When not orchestrating the cellar, Zeke likes to spend his time with his wife and two children, watching baseball, and going for the occasional run.
Zeke Neeley
Joel Peterson
Founder-Winemaker
RAVENSWOOD WINERY
Always a vino-revolutionary, Joel Peterson took his first big steps toward personal independence in 1976. Educated as a clinical laboratory scientist with a degree in microbiology, the Oregon State University grad was working full-time in cancer immunology research at a San Francisco hospital and dabbling with wine on the side. The two single-vineyard Zins the longhaired winemaker made from the 1976 vintage would be the first he unveiled to the world.
The son of two chemists, Joel grew up on Point Richmond on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. Mom was a nuclear chemist who worked on the Manhattan Project; she used her scientific training to become an excellent cook who tested recipes and helped edit Alice Waters’ first cookbook. Dad was a physical chemist specializing in high-temperature lubricants used in industrial machinery.
Walter Peterson also was a wine lover and serious student of the grape who organized twice-weekly gatherings of the San Francisco Wine Sampling Club (today’s San Francisco Vintners Club) at the family home. Joel’s oeno-education began at the age of ten when he sat in on his first tasting session, with stern instructions to “Shut up and spit.” (Afterward, his father carefully measured the wine in the boy’s glass and in his spittoon to make sure everything was expectorated.)
Back then, California had a dearth of fine wines; most of the bottles the club tasted were from France, Italy and Spain. By the time he was a teenager, Joel had a working knowledge of European vineyards and vintages. He not only learned how to judge wine, he learned how to talk about it (to the delight and consternation of everyone’s who’s met him since).
During his early career as a medical researcher, Joel made extra money through wine writing and consulting. Eventually it dawned on him that he had the background (not to mention strong opinions and the confidence to stick by them) to be an actual winemaker. He apprenticed with Joseph Swan — one of California’s outstanding craftsmen of fine Zinfandel — to learn the art of traditional winemaking as practiced in Bordeaux and Burgundy. “From Joe, I learned to pick grapes by taste and to farm for less fruit, not more. That using wild yeasts may be tricky, but makes for more interesting wines. To ferment long and warm, and age in French oak.” Ravenswood still uses these same basic techniques to make its wines today.
In 1976 Joel founded Ravenswood in partnership with fellow wine lover Reed Foster, a Harvard MBA who handled the green stuff while Joel oversaw the red stuff. In the ensuing years, Joel had dual careers, working nights and weekends in the lab as he built the winery during the daylight hours. In 1977, he’d left his job in San Francisco and moved to Sonoma to work in the clinical lab at Sonoma Valley Hospital. He didn’t quit that job until 1992, a few years after the winery turned its first profit and Robert Parker pronounced Ravenswood wines “first class – bold, dramatic and complex.”
Today, Joel works with 100+ northern California growers who provide grapes for Ravenswood, consulting on irrigation methods, cultivation practices, cropping levels and a slew of other vineyard management issues. This attention in the field, coupled with the fact that Ravenswood is one of the few wineries that has had the philosophical and winemaking skill of one winemaker for over 30 years, contributes to a consistency of quality and style rarely found in California.
Joel is a current member and former president of the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance (S.V.V.G.A.) and is on the Board of Directors for the Sonoma County Vintners. He is a founding Board member and former two-time President of Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (Z.A.P.). Joel is also a Senior Vice President with Constellation Wines US.
A rakish raconteur (and provocateur) whose erudition and down-to-earth enthusiasm make him an articulate spokesman for the winery (and sometime-heckler of the wine industry), Joel is a stylistic trendsetter who helped make Zinfandel the runaway phenomenon it is today.
Along the way, the raven maven (dubbed “the Godfather of Zin” by one media wag) has built a legacy of enjoying wine with grins and gusto.
JOEL PETERSON
Chris Towt & Ellie Phipps Price
Proprietors
DUNSTAN WINES
CHRIS TOWT
Chris began working with Durell Vineyard in 2006 and partnered with Ellie in the launch of Dunstan Wines in 2008, with a focus on direct-to-consumer and national sales. After completing the Winemaker’s certificate course at UC Davis, he has worked closely with winemaker Kenneth Juhasz to craft exceptional wines for Dunstan.
Chris’ love of wine and technology joined together in 2011 with the launch of VineSpring, which provides affordable eCommerce solutions for wineries. DunstanWines.com runs on the VineSpring platform.
ELLIE PHIPPS PRICE
Ellie is a California native with a love for fine wines. She studied English literature at UC Berkeley, then Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis.
A mother of two children, she is an avid equestrian and active supporter of animal welfare and environmental preservation initiatives. As a steward of the historic Durell Vineyard, Ellie embraces farming practices that are respectful of the land, water, and animal life there as well as those that maintain natural balances throughout the property.
Chris Towt & Ellie Phipps Price
Bill Price
Principal
PRICE FAMILY VINEYARDS – THREE STICKS WINES
“Three Sticks” refers to the three Roman numerals that follow Founder and Principal Bill Price’s written name. He was known as “Billy Three Sticks” growing up surfing in Hawaii, where the young Price attended high school. As he describes his path from seawater to wine in a calm, steady voice, it’s hard to guess that this is the same man who spent much of the last 30 years in corporate board rooms. Rather, it seems only natural that Price would trade in a thriving business career for a life among the vines, and that the father of three would wax poetic on the importance of leaving the world a better place for generations to come—whether through sustainable vineyard and winery practices, or through his nonprofit work.
Born in Los Angeles, Price was introduced to wine at an early age by his father, who was born in France, and would give him thimble-sized tastes of wine mixed into a glass of water. Price remembers playing ball against the wall of the Louis M. Martini Winery in St. Helena, bored and impatient, while his father, who often brought his son along on sojourns to Napa and Sonoma wine country, tasted wine inside the winery.
Price attended high school in Hawaii before returning to California to study at Stanford University. He earned his law degree from the University of California Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law, and following 10 years practicing law and also consulting at Bain & Company, he was hired to work for Jack Welch at GE Capital.
In 1992, Price co-founded Texas Pacific Group (TPG), a private equity firm, with two partners. TPG invested in companies as large and diverse as J. Crew, Burger King, Continental Airlines, and Petco. In 1995, TPG purchased Beringer. “That’s when I was really introduced to the wine business,” says Price.
The company continued to invest in wineries, including Chateau St. Jean., which sourced grapes for some of its wines from the Durell Vineyard in Sonoma. It was then that Price began to take a more active interest not just in the business of wine, but in vineyards as well. He purchased the Durell Vineyard in 1998, and launched Three Sticks Wines in 2002. In 2007, he sold his share of TPG back to his partners, and entered the wine business full-stop. He was soon approached by Steve Kistler to partner with him in his vineyards, and Price’s role as a farmer began to grow.
“I realized I’d made all the money I needed to make in my career, and I longed to return to something that brought me back in touch with the natural world on a more regular basis,” says Price.
Price is the proprietor of Classic Wines, LLC and Price Family Vineyards, LLC—including ownership and management of Sonoma Coast vineyards including Durell, 111 Wilson Vineyard, DuPont Vineyard, One Sky Vineyard and Gap’s Crown Vineyard. Classic Wines also has ownership interests in Kistler Vineyards, Buccella, Three Sticks, Lutum and Head High. Price is chairman of Gary Farrell Winery.
Price’s business strategy is to work with winemakers who have their own individual style of winemaking and who maintain that vision with each vintage and with each piece of land. He believes that this commitment to a specific style lets one perfect their identity as a winemaker while also allowing them to stand out in the marketplace.
Price sees his family vineyards and winery investments as something he can share with his children someday. Already, his two eldest children, both now following his footsteps at Stanford, have wines named for them: “The James” from Three Sticks, and a “Natalie” Cuvee from Kistler. Soon, Price says, he’ll introduce a wine in honor of his youngest daughter, Alana.
Price is also an active philanthropist, and holds positions as Chairman of the Gladstone Foundation, which serves as the fundraising arm of the Gladstone Institutes, a leading organization in the research and development of solutions to widespread disease; and as Chair of Common Sense Media, which rates, advocates and educates families and schools on media and technology for kids.
Price resides in Marin County with his family, and strives to get in at least 30 days of surfing per year.
Marta & Scott Rich
Proprietors
TALISMAN WINE
Scott Rich, founder of Talisman Cellars, had his first exposure to winemaking at age 6 in the home of Greek friends who made wine in their Salt Lake City basement each year. He attended graduate school in the enology program at U.C. Davis and has worked as a research enologist for both RH Phillips and Robert Mondavi. He has been winemaker at Mont St. John, Carneros Creek, and Etude, where he made highly-acclaimed Pinot Noir and Cabernet. Currently, Scott’s time and energy are spent as winemaker/owner of Talisman, as well as winemaker for Moraga Vineyards in Bel Air, California. Moraga produces sought-after Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc.
Marta Rich actually has no memory of life without wine. Her father made wine in their Minnesota basement, using virtually any form of grapes or juice he could get. Yearning for warmer climes and more interesting terrain, Marta fled for the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she earned her degree in Psychology. After taking up residence in Napa Valley, Marta began an 18-year stint at Robert Mondavi. She worked her way up the ladder, first scheduling grapes during harvest and eventually running Robert Mondavi’s Northern California sales team. She was well-prepared for both of her current jobs, Director of Sales for Calera Wine Company, one of California’s Pinot Noir pioneers, and Director of Sales & Marketing for Talisman Wines.
Together, they happily zip around in their travels, spreading the gospel of wine to anyone who will listen. Quality, artistry, and promoting pleasure are their key objectives. In their spare time, they ski and play in the outdoors.
Marta & Scott Rich
David Rossi
Winemaker
FULCRUM WINES
As a young man, David Rossi used to watch “The New Yankee Workshop” in fascination as master craftsman Norm Abram would take a piece of wood and turn it into a meticulously wrought dresser, chest or bookshelf. Though he had no woodworking skills of his own, David admired the perfection of the detail, the elegance of the joinery and the obsessive commitment to craft. Most of all, he admired Abram’s ability to start with a vision and the finest raw materials to create something enduring, original and of lasting value.
In the late 1990s, David found his own craft when he started making small lots of wine in his basement. More than being just a simple home winemaker, he soon began flying in Riesling and Gewurztraminer grapes from Washington, Malbec from Argentina, and Petite Sirah, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir from California, ultimately making up to forty 10-gallon lots of wine each vintage. He also formed relationships with local winegrowers in Monmouth County N.J., helped to plant new vineyards and gained extensive hands-on viticultural experience.
With a basement overflowing with professional winemaking equipment, a fully outfitted winemaking library and laboratory, and a shelf full of national amateur winemaking awards, David recognized that it was time to take the next step. As a self-taught winemaker, he had been able to develop his own style and palate, uninfluenced by winemaking instructors or the commercial goals of a winery. What he appreciated most in a wine was balance, complexity and ageability. Though he enjoyed working with a multitude of grape varieties, when it came to California Pinot Noir, he felt there was a void in the style of wine he loved. In this void, he saw an opportunity to contribute something worthwhile and distinctive, and in 2005, he founded Fulcrum Wines.
For those who appreciate poise and complexity, David has emerged as one of California’s most exciting Pinot Noir winemakers, and one of its best-kept secrets. Vintage after vintage, Fulcrum’s wines are among the finest from their appellations. The reason for this is simple; David creates each wine with a profound sense of purpose and place. Just as important, he takes personal responsibility for every viticultural and winemaking decision. This process begins by selecting vineyards he is inspired to work, and at times, pruning them himself. From there, David personally ushers each wine from grape sorting to bottling, working to perfect each vintage of Fulcrum Pinot Noir.
“When you take complete responsibility for every aspect of a wine, there are no excuses,” says David. “These wines are true expressions of their sites, but they also reflect my choices as a winemaker. Great vineyards have inherent qualities that make them great, but it takes craftsmanship to let the character and complexity of a vineyard shine through.”
David Rossi
Steve Sangiacomo
Partner
SANGIACOMO FAMILY VINEYARDS
Steve Sangiacomo is a third generation partner at Sangiacomo Family Vineyards, located in Sonoma, California where his family has farmed since 1927. He grew up on the ranch and began learning the ropes from his father and extended family at a young age. As far back as he can remember, he clamored to tag along with his father and uncles during early morning frost protection after which he enjoyed a special treat — doughnuts. He took to the fields early and recalls jumping off a tractor to race to seventh grade orientation. In his early 20s he began learning the family business from the ground up and in his 30s he and his brother Mike took over the reins.
Today Steve shares responsibility with his brother for managing the family’s 1600 acres of vineyards as well as grape sales to more than 70 premium wineries, many of whom vineyard-designate their wines with the Sangiacomo name. He flat out loves his job, particularly the wide variety of responsibilities spanning the agricultural, strategic, and operational aspects of the business.
He has lived his entire life in Sonoma Valley with the exception of his college years at St. Mary’s where he studied business and economics and an internship at the Xerox Corporation. He never wavered, however, in his desire to return to the ranch.
Steve is a board member and former chair of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission where he has taken a lead role in its sustainability initiative. He is a former chair and board member of the Carneros Wine Alliance and also serves on the Development Committee of the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation. He was selected as a North Bay Business Journal “Forty under 40” award recipient in 2013.
A natural athlete, he calls upon his earlier experience as a high school basketball, football and baseball player as well as college football to serve as a volunteer coach. He was an Assistant Football coach at Sonoma Valley High School for fifteen years and today coaches Little League baseball and CYO basketball.
Steve lives in Sonoma with his wife, Connie, and their sons Drew and Sam. When not in the vineyards or spending time with his family, he enjoys playing golf and basketball.
Steve Sangiacomo
August Sebastiani
President – 3 Badge Beverage Corporation
GEHRICKE
A fourth-generation member of one of California’s oldest wine families, August Sebastiani is the president of 3 Badge Beverage Corporation in Sonoma, California, where he lives with his wife, Allison, and their four children. August earned a degree in Political Science from Santa Clara University before returning to his hometown and immersing himself in his family’s business. In 2009, August spun off to independently launch a wine sales division he named The Other Guys. Today, the company is known as 3 Badge Beverage Corporation.
Thinking back on his childhood in Sonoma, August remembers the excitement of discovery and freedom as he studied his small town and its outskirts. He remembers dusty roads that led to forgotten vineyards and properties… the Gehricke brand is a tribute to one such road.
August Sebastiani
Kristina Shideler
Winemaker
Arrowood Vineyards & Winery
Arrowood Winemaker Kristina Shideler developed a passion for Bordeaux varieties while working at wineries around the world and has an intimate understanding of Sonoma’s mountain Cabernet belt. Joining Arrowood in 2015, she carries on a storied tradition of revealing the region’s seemingly inexhaustible potential for incredible Cabernet Sauvignon. Born in San Diego and raised in Missouri, Kristina interned with a Missouri winemaker in 2007, working her way from the vineyards and bottling line to the cellar. Kristina remembers the invaluable wisdom she received, “Taste everything you can get your hands on. Never stop learning and never get bored.”
Following harvest stints in New Zealand, Kristina completed the Viticulture and Enology Masters of Science program at the University of California Davis. Kristina’s wine career then took her to the steep vineyards of Neipoort Vinhos in Portugal’s Douro Valley. She became fascinated by the unique complexities of mountain vineyards and studied how the dramatic interplay between climate, elevation and varying soil types are critical to making high quality wine. Kristina’s subsequent experiences at Bodega Caelum in Mendoza, Argentina as well as Verite and Stonestreet in Sonoma County, cemented her desire to produce artisan Bordeaux wines reflecting the terroir of truly remarkable vineyard sites.
Kristina Shideler
Bettina Sichel
Managing Partner
LAUREL GLEN VINEYARD
In 2011, Bettina Sichel became the steward of Laurel Glen Vineyard after purchasing the iconic estate from founder Patrick Campbell in partnership with a small group of wine lovers. Once considered one of the great Cabernets of California, the next chapter of Bettina’s career is dedicated to rebuilding the quality and reputation of Laurel Glen Vineyard.
Bettina has over 20 years experience in sales and marketing in the wine business. She has launched, re-launched and built many brands. She helped launch Quintessa in 1998 and developed the Napa Cabernet’s reputation and profile distribution as Director of Sales & Marketing for 8 years. In 2007, Bettina became Marketing Director for the Napa Valley Vintners, a non-profit trade association representing over 350 Napa Valley wineries. She was responsible for both domestic and international marketing of the Napa Valley brand for 2 years.
The daughter of Peter M.F. Sichel, the man responsible for making his family’s Blue Nun wine a household name in America, Bettina is the fifth generation of the Sichel family to work in the wine business.
Bettina Sichel
Peter Spann
Proprietor
SPANN VINEYARDS
While attending college in New Orleans in the early 1970s Peter Spann took a job waiting tables in a French restaurant and became infatuated with classic French wines and food. His preferences were those from Bordeaux and the Rhone Valley. From the restaurant business he moved on to a career in wine marketing, sales and importing before meeting Betsy, an experienced winemaker who had lived in Bordeaux and made wine in Dry Creek Valley and South Africa. Together they bought a vineyard near the top of the Mayacamas Mountains in 2000 to start Spann Vineyards, making richly flavored, incredibly smooth Bordeaux and Rhone-style blends.
Peter Spann
Greg Stach
Winemaker
LANDMARK VINEYARDS
Greg Stach is renowned for crafting elegant, world-class vintages. Stach’s winemaking approach combines traditional techniques with a “less is more” philosophy. Believing that great wine begins in the vineyard, he intervenes only to ensure consistency and quality, relying more on the fruit’s intense flavors and distinct vineyard characteristics.
Greg Stach
Phil Staehle
Proprietor/Winemaker
ENKIDU WINE
A native northern Californian, Phil comes from a rural background that includes living on the family’s cattle and sheep ranch when he was a young boy. After high school Phil attended U.C. Davis to play baseball and is where he gained his first exposure to the world of wine. While his degree is Political Science-Pre Law, Phil did explore enology classes at UCD that fostered his love for wine. After graduation, and a short stint as a wine buyer, Phil joined Carmenet Vineyard (now Repris Wines) in 1987 and began his wine making career under the tutelage of Jeff Baker and Pam Starr. Carmenet, of the Chalone Wine Group, provided an excellent platform for learning the craft that is still the basis for Phil’s wine making today.
After leaving Carmenet, Phil set out to run the Wine Cap Company where he developed the Wax Cap closure that is still used on his wines today. In 2003 an opportunity arose to begin producing wines once again, and combining his business experience with his wine making background, Phil created ENKIDU WINE in Sonoma. Phil’s focus is to work with outstanding vineyards that become the basis for producing distinctive wines of integrity and character that, most importantly, ‘just taste good!’
When Phil is not roaming between the barrels and tanks at the winery, or at his home exploring his culinary desires in the kitchen with his wife, Melissa, he’ll be on the trail backpacking with his Lab Anu, or on the diamond playing hardball with his mates.
Phil Staehle
Tony Stewart
Proprietor
VALLEY OF THE MOON WINERY AT MADRONE ESTATE
Tony is a second-generation wine grower of the Stewart family. A pioneering west coast wine family,
the Stewarts have over a half-century of experience farming exceptional vineyards and crafting fine wines. Their philosophy has been to do more with less, with a commitment to low impact viticulture practices and vineyards solely focused on providing the winery team with ripe concentrated fruit that expresses its sense of origin.
A lover of fine wine and regional food influences, Tony believes intently that the winery experience must focus the consumer not only towards the wines but also to the pairing of
these wines with local culinary traditions. His unwavering commitment to quality wines and excellence in customer service is passed on through the entire team.
Tony’s vision and guidance have been instrumental in developing another Stewart family property, Quails’ Gate Winery, as one of Canada’s top wine and culinary destinations. At Madrone Estate Winery, Tony and the Stewart family are deeply committed to implementing the same uncompromising dedication to producing quality wines, and welcoming, professional service.
Tony Stewart
John Sweazey
Founder & Proprietor
ANABA WINES
John Sweazey created Anaba Wines because, quite simply, he just loves the wine business. “I never personally wanted to be a winemaker,” John explains. “My desire to get into the business was fueled by my long-time interest in production — making the best possible wine from the finest grapes, then marketing and selling it. To me, that’s the romance of wine.”
A native of Chicago, John headed west to Stanford University for college, where he earned a degree in economics. While at Stanford, John and his Kappa Sigma fraternity brothers decided one year to extend the annual “Big Game Weekend” between Stanford and Cal, and headed north to Napa Valley for a fraternity party at the iconic El Bonita Motel in St. Helena. With the sun setting over the Mayacamas Mountains, John offered a toast with a memorable glass of Charles Krug Vin Rosé — and his journey to the world of wine officially began.
He continued his wine research during the 70s while earning a living in San Francisco. This research included becoming a home winemaker, attending numerous classes on wine and food, and visiting the French wine regions to learn more about the wine production methods of France. Over the years, he became enamored with the Sonoma Wine Country because it reminded him of his experiences in France. “Sonoma is more attuned to my personality — and is the best place to grow the Rhône blends and Burgundian varietals that I love.”
In 2003 he was finally able to begin his search for a premium winegrowing property in Sonoma, finding a serendipitous spot in Western Carneros, where cool winds temper the summer heat, allowing for a longer growing season for his chosen grape varieties. Inspired by the unique upward anabatic wind patterns that prevail, he decided to name it Anaba.
In shaping Anaba, John relies on his proven track record as a team builder, creating an environment where people are excited about their work and share their passion for wine. He prides himself on bringing together different personalities to build an esprit de corps — just as a winemaker works with different grapes to craft a harmonious blend.
John Sweazey
Don Van Staaveren
Winemaker
TYGE WILLIAM CELLARS
Award-winning winemaker. Vineyard specialist. Surfer, skydiver, and all-around adventurer. Among his many feats was having his 1996 Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cépages named Wine Spectator’s “Wine of the Year,” a triumph that brought international attention to Sonoma County.
Don, who began his career managing vineyards, earned acclaim as winemaker at Chateau St. Jean, Artesa, and Three Sticks wineries.
Don Van Staaveren
Margo Van Staaveren
Winemaker
CHATEAU ST. JEAN
From vineyard to glass, our winemaker Margo Van Staaveren takes a hands on approach, working closely with her winemaking team to oversee each step of the winemaking process. She celebrated her 35th harvest at Chateau St. Jean in 2014, and her attention to detail ensures that the signature of the vineyard is captured in every bottle. Like the founders of Chateau St. Jean, Margo firmly believes that great wines are grown – not made. Vineyard designated wines have been the foundation of our portfolio since the early 1970s, and Margo has been instrumental in ensuring the vineyards selected for these wines consistently product exceptional varietal character. She has also guided the icon Cing Cépages bottling since its first release in 1990. The art of blending is the cornerstone of Margo’s winemaking philosophy. To her, it is a great accomplishment to create a signature wine style or blend that can achieve consistency from vintage to vintage while still capturing the unique personality of a particular growing year. One of the things she enjoys most about her job is putting together the final blend for the Reserve wines. These blends represent the most concentrated, distinctive and balanced wines made at Chateau St. Jean.eu, blandit sed, blandit a, eros.
Margo Van Staaveren
Brion Wise
Proprietor
B WISE VINEYARDS
I grew up on a farm in Washington state. That’s where I learned about growing fruit. I loved it, but Dad encouraged me to go on to college where I became an Engineer. I worked for Shell Oil Co. for four years but the entrepreneurial bug that bit my dad also got me and I soon started an energy company during which time I traveled the globe.
The world’s greatest restaurants and wineries became my classroom for learning about the most interesting and alluring fruit of all – the wine grape. The farming gene was still strong and the more I learned the more certain I became that I needed my own vineyards. And so the search began. I visited all the greatest wine growing regions, here and abroad, to find that special site where I could pursue the dream of wine growing. It was this mountainside in Sonoma that captured my heart.
It’s here, in these vineyards that I can engage in the process, gain knowledge and pursue perfection. I continue this research with regular trips to the finest growing regions in the world – because for me, learning what it takes to make stellar wine, and sharing the results is the true path to good life.
Brion Wise
The Wood Family (Alexa, Lauren, and Alex)
Proprietors
BELTANE RANCH
Six generations of the Wood/Benward/Krause family have lived and worked on the Beltane Ranch over more than 70 years, and they are committed to protecting it for future generations.
Producing award-winning wines as pioneer viticulturist John Drummond’s estate vineyard beginning in 1879, the property was later purchased by San Francisco Civil Rights hero Mary Ellen Pleasant in 1892. The property had fallen into complete disrepair following her death and our family acquired it in 1936 and slowly began restoring the Historic Landmark ranch house and replanting the property’s vineyards.
In 2002, the family reached an agreement with the Sonoma County Agricultural Preserve and Open Space District to transfer 1,300 acres to public ownership. Rosemary, her daughter Alexa, and grandchildren Alex Benward and Lauren Krause operate the ranch today, maintaining the historic inn and raising sustainably farmed produce, organic olive oil as well as critically acclaimed small production estate wines from the site of the original Drummond Vineyard.
Twenty five acres of rocky volcanic soils are planted to Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane and Alicante Bouschet vines.
THE WOOD/BENWARD/KRAUSE FAMILY
(ALEX, ALEXA, AND LAUREN)
Emilio Zanin
Founder
BENNETT VALLEY CELLARS
Emilio Zanin was born 1939 in the small alpine village of Agordo, nestled in the Italian Alps. As a young child, he was fortunate enough to spend enjoyable times working and playing in his grandfather’s vineyards in the famed Soave region of Italy. As a young man, Emilio immigrated to the US in 1969 to pursue a career in the food ingredient business. Many years later his fond childhood memories led him to the vineyards of Sonoma County, California.
In 2006 he purchased an estate vineyard that he renamed “Marina’s Estate”, in honor of his wife, soon to be followed with the founding of Bennett Valley Cellars with his son Luca. In 2010, they proudly launched their in augural 2008 Vintage Pinot Noir.
Today, Emilio and Marina can be seen walking and enjoying their vineyard property while sipping a glass of their Pinot Noir.
Emilio Zanin
Luca Zanin
Proprietor
BENNETT VALLEY CELLARS
Luca Zanin was born in Flushing New York in 1970. Following college, he joined his father to start a career in the food ingredient business by forming their own company, ATP. As a key supplier of ingredients to the wine industry, it was at ATP that Luca’s passion for wine started to emerge. Following his father’s lead, he soon started to seek his own vineyard property in the Bennett Valley. After much evaluation, he purchased his estate that he renamed “Simpatico Ranch”, the producer of Bennett Valley’s first limited release and award winning 2010 Chardonnay.
Today, Luca and his wife Elizabeth live with their three children, Giovanni, Francesca, and Matteo on “Simpatico Ranch”. They spend a great deal of their time working and playing in the vineyards, showing their children good stewardship of their land in the hopes that the next generation will carry on with their deep rooted relationship for growing grapes and making fine wines.