EVENTS

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.

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.