Rockmere Wines was founded by Chet Pinckernell. He was raised in Maryland near Washington DC. During his youth he would accompany his father to northern California on road trips across the country in the summer. His uncle and his father were involved in building condominiums in Lake Tahoe in the late 1960s and 1970s. But his first trip to Napa Valley wasn't … [Read more...]
Dave’s Wines, The Club Launches!
Dave’s Wines began as a value-added service to readers of the Napa Wine Project in 2023. Since 2006 Dave has visited, tasted and interviewed more than 1,150 wineries and brands in Napa Valley and created extensive written reviews of each one. He continues to revisit wineries and stay current with the pulse of Napa Valley. He knows the valley extremely well … [Read more...]
Hibou Wine
Hibou (pronounced ee-boo) was founded by winemaker Jason Driscoll and his wife Hilary with their first vintage produced in 2014, a few barrels of Pinot Noir from Marin County and also the Russian River Valley. The name is French for owl. During a trip to Burgundy, Jason was inspired by 'golden owls', the city of Dijon's 'symbol'. One of these owls is on the … [Read more...]
Harbison Estate Wines
Harbison Estate Wines. This small slice of Oakville is planted to 5 acres of vines. The soils here are quintessential eastern Oakville: red, iron rich and aggravatingly rocky for humans, but in a good way for grapevines. These soils are characteristic of the eastern Oakville benchlands and elevations higher on Pritchard Hill. This is a prime part of Oakville … [Read more...]
Five Vintners
Five Vintners was founded by winemaker Krisi Raymond with her first vintage in 2001. Her winemaking heritage is deeply rooted in Napa Valley. Her great, great grandfather Jacob Beringer, along with his brother Frederic founded what is now Napa Valley's oldest continuously producing winery, Beringer Vineyards in 1876. The impetus for starting her own brand … [Read more...]
Scarlett Wines
Scarlett Wines was founded with their first vintage in 2006. In 1990 E.J. Mcgah purchased a piece of property on Ponti Lane in Rutherford extending to the Silverado Trail and in 1992 purchased another piece of property to the west of Ponti Lane. The previous owner, Edward Westgate oversaw the development of the Sheraton Maui in 1963, was involved in building … [Read more...]
Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi
Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi was founded and is owned by two winemakers, Lucas Foppa Alves and Ricardo Ambrosi with their first vintage produced in Brazil in 2017. Both men met in 2012 while students at Instituto Federal de Bento Gonçalves, Brazil's first oenology college. They are from the small town of Garibaldi in the state of Rio Grande do Sula in Brazil, a … [Read more...]
Hailstone Vineyards
Hailstone Vineyards was founded by Akron, Ohio born and raised Chris Zazo; he and his wife Jessica oversee the operations of the brand. Chris grew up on a farm, but not one directly producing agricultural crops, but rather a dirt farm. His family business involved mining and screening peat, the resulting products were packs of mulch supplies for various … [Read more...]
Lish Wines
Lish Wines is part of the Napa Valley based Brian David Wines portfolio (founded by Brian David Kulich) which also includes the brands: Brian David, Cana and Wise Decision. Brian David Wines sources grapes from a diversity of regions within California including Napa Valley, Russian River Valley, Central Coast and Santa Barbara. Lish is rooted in a previous … [Read more...]
Grand Napa Vineyards
Grand Napa Vineyards was founded by Dwight Bonewell. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, while in his early twenties he immediately took a job at a small brokerage firm on Wall Street. Two weeks after he started, on October 19, 1987, the stock market crashed. His company survived as it was under ownership of much larger banks. This was quite … [Read more...]