Simon Family Estate. Sam Simon (Armenian but born in Iraq) immigrated from northern Iraq through Lebanon to Detroit, Michigan in 1973 at age 9 along with his parents and four siblings. They family brought only $200 with them and lived in a church (one of their sponsors) before they found their own housing. The story of his success over the past few decades … [Read more...]

Lanthanide Wines was founded by Diane Wu and Philippe Venghiattis with their inaugural vintage in 2018. While the focus of their production is on Napa Valley grown Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon, they do produce several other bottlings including of Marsanne, Viognier, Tempranillo and Aglianico. Diane is the winemaker for Lanthanide; it is clear that she … [Read more...]

The Vice Wine. Founder Malek Amrani was born in Morocco and raised in Casablanca. His father was a pilot who was often routed on flights to and from various countries in Europe. The family conveniently lived 15 minutes from the airport. Malek remembers his father encouraging him at age 8 to smell wine for the first time. His father drank wine and it was … [Read more...]

Wolf's Head Wine is a partnership between winemaker Cameron Woodbridge and Shaun Mesher (a chemist involved in the oil industry). Both men are from Canada. Shaun has met several Napa Valley vintners whose relationships led to wine business opportunities including the founder of Essere Franco wines, Frank D'Ambrosio. Shaun was one of Essere Franco's wine club … [Read more...]

Stormy Weather Wine founder, Cameron Woodbridge was born in Ontario, Canada and was introduced to wine early in life with his family embracing a European openness to alcohol, allowing their children to sample tiny amounts of wine with food. During high school the family lived in Edmonton. The drinking age in Alberta is 18 years old. Cameron recalls his … [Read more...]

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...]

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 was founded in 2013 by Benjamin Brenner and Matt Nagy. A third partner, Jeff Warren joined the ownership in 2024. Both Ben and Matt 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 … [Read more...]

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...]