Ortega Family Wines was founded by Jesus Ortega in 2018 (first vintage). Jesus was born in and raised in Napa Valley; his father Jesus Sr., migrated to the U.S. with his two brothers from Michoacán, Mexico for the first time in 1947 as part of the United States Bracero Program. This program was established in 1942 by the Mexican Farm Labor Program to … [Read more...]

Backstage Wines. Founder of Backstage Wines, Angelo Perra grew up in Marin County; his family did not come from a wine background and his early career was working with private equity. His first introduction to premium wine was at age 23 in 1993. After graduating from business school his mother announced she would take him and his two siblings out to a fine … [Read more...]

Maria Concetto Winery. Founder, Maria Reznikova was born in the former Soviet Union; she eventually moved to the U.S. before later spending five years living in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (an alpine town in the Bavarian alps in southern Germany near the border of Switzerland) with her family. The former Soviet Union does not have a culture of wine (vodka is … [Read more...]

INNOVATUS Wines. Founder Cecil Park grew up in Seoul, South Korea and majored in Biotechnology Engineering at Yonsei University. After graduating she began working at Kraft as a product manager on the marketing side of their operations. Realizing she needed more education to develop her career she began looking at MBA opportunities and subsequently came to … [Read more...]

Morisoli Vineyard. The Morisoli family is deeply rooted in Rutherford. Fifth generation, Chris Morisoli's great great grandfather Rocco Morisoli immigrated to the U.S. from the small town of Monte Carasso in what is now southern Switzerland in 1883. Monte Carasso is located about an hour and 15 minute drive from the airport in Milan and is in the Bellinzona … [Read more...]

Castlevale Winery. In 2002 after the sale of Louis M Martini Winery to GALLO, Louis' granddaughter Carolyn Martini and her family kept an approximately 200 acre rectangular piece of land in Chiles Valley, site of their own home (the 'castle') and also 33 acres of vineyards. This property was part of approximately 800 acres her father Louis P Martini … [Read more...]

Kanpai Wines is the creative collaboration between founders and owners, Peter Chiang (originally from Taiwan) and his wife Azumi Kubo (originally from Japan) and winemaker Steve Matthiasson. The word 'kanpai' means cheers in Japanese or is literally translated to, empty cup. While attending the Culinary Institute of America (which he later graduated from), … [Read more...]

L'Envolée Wines was founded by winemaker Caitlin Lhommeau; her first vintage was bottled under the brand Resolution but transitioned to L'Envolée in 2019. The word L'Envolée is pronounced, LON-vo-lay and in French means "to take flight" or "to soar" and features an image on the label of small birds leaving their nest for the first time. This name also ties … [Read more...]

Sarah Francis Wines. Sarah Francis is the winemaker and founder of her namesake Napa Valley based wine brand. Her interest in agriculture began at an early age when visiting her grandmother who lived in Missouri (Sarah was born in Texas). Her grandmother grew a number of grapes in her backyard and Sarah developed an emotional bond with these particular … [Read more...]