Conn Creek Winery was founded in 1973 by Bill and Kathy Collins (Bill died in early 2017 at age 89 and Kathy passed in late 2023 one day short of age 94); this is one of the older continuously operating wine brands in Napa Valley. Bill and Kathy purchased 54 acres of Zinfandel (finding the property listing in the Wall Street Journal's real estate section) … [Read more...]

Pott Wine (Aaron, Claire & daughters) was started by long time Napa winemaker Aaron Pott. He and his wife Claire own several sizable and rugged pieces of land on Mt. Veeder. Their first property (76 acres) was purchased in 2004, a former prune orchard at about 1600 feet. They started with only 1/3 of an acre of vines and later planted out a total of … [Read more...]

Kelleher Family Vineyard. The Kelleher Family (Don and Donna) produce a limited number of wines each year, bottled under the brand Kelleher. They also own Brix Restaurant located on Highway 29 about 2 miles north of Yountville. Brix opened on March 28, 1996. Don would often visit Napa Valley in the 1980s and 1990s; he would try to get a reservation last … [Read more...]

Big Cat Wines was founded in 2018 by Jose Tenorio and Brian David Kulich. Jose is the sole proprietor of Big Cat; he also operates another wine brand called Huino (pronounced like 'we know'), both under the parent company of Jo Ten Beverage. Big Cat Wines sources grapes primarily from premium vineyards in Napa Valley, although some of their bottlings are … [Read more...]

ELLMAN Estate Winery was founded by two brothers, Neil and Lance Ellman. Both were born in South Africa and moved with their family to the United States when they were very young (to the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area) in 1974. Their grandfather Nathan Ellman started Softex in 1954, a pillow and bedding manufacturing business in South Africa (the family grew … [Read more...]