Appellation Trading Company was founded by Charles Bartlett in 2008. Charles spent his formative years in Napa Valley (graduate of Justin Sienna High School), went to college at Chico State University and after graduating worked in printing in San Francisco. Tired of commuting from Napa to San Francisco he started his own printing company in Napa and began … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2022
Kasten Family Wines
Kasten Wines. Proprietors of Kasten Wines, John and Cyndi Kasten are from Thousand Oaks in Southern California. John has an art degree and also a degree in architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and has operated Kasten Design, a local architectural firm since 1992. Karen worked in human resources for many years. She traces their introduction to wine back … [Read more...]
Benevolent Neglect Wines
Benevolent Neglect was founded in 2013 by Benjamin Brenner and Matt Nagy. Both are from Boston and came to Napa Valley in the early 2010s. Matt first came to Napa Valley to take a position at Girard Winery; he thought he was going to be working in their tasting room but instead he began working in the cellar. And it turns out he enjoyed that type of work - … [Read more...]
Sequum Wines
Sequum Wines was founded by viticulturist and soils expert, Dr. Paul Skinner with his first vintage in 2002. Paul's background is diverse and includes both domestic and international soils analysis and vineyard management. His first wine related job in Napa Valley was working for Martini Winery, focusing on some of their vineyards in Lake County to the north … [Read more...]
Jacob Franklin Wines
Jacob Franklin Wines. The roots of Jacob Franklin date back to a bottling called Jake's Cuvee, produced by Elyse Winery. In 1998 eight-year-old Jake Coursen decided he liked having his name on the label (Elyse Winery was named after his sister Elyse) and asked his father winemaker Ray Coursen if he could have his own wine brand. Ray agreed and produced the … [Read more...]