La Pelle Wines was founded in 2016 by three partners all connected through the wine industry. Maayan Koschitzky (originally from Israel) is former winemaker at Screaming Eagle and leads the Atelier Melka winemaking team, Miguel Luna (originally from Mexico) is a long-time viticulturist in the valley and Pete Richmond (local to Northern California who was the … [Read more...]

Vice Versa Wine. Founder Patrice Breton was born in Ottawa - during his youth he gravitated towards art, books and later wine. And at age 19 (the legal drinking age in Ottawa is 18) he wasn't able to afford many wines but was able to try a particular sauternes, a 1983 Château Guiraud. Hooked but without a large budget he began to purchase books on wine to … [Read more...]

Ca' Momi Winery (pronounced 'ka momi') is a story that spans two continents, three friends and is connected by the threads of food and wine. Founders, Dario De Conti (who we originally met with many years ago) is known for his delicious pizzas and is a certified Pizzaioli, Stefano Migotto is the Director of Winemaking for Ca'Momi and his wife Valentina … [Read more...]

Mount Veeder Magic Vineyards. Karen Crouse (born in New Orleans but was raised in Los Angeles County) and her husband Greg moved up to the city of Napa in 1990 from Walnut Creek. Karen was working for American Express at the time; she moved to the Napa Valley to acquire clients and help market and host related credit card events in the region. Growing grapes … [Read more...]

Riverain was founded by several friends who originally connected in Orange County through the world of wine, Steve Nordhoff (founding attorney of Nordhoff Bengfort, a Newport Beach based legal firm) and Dean Gray (worked in the field of consumer packaging, initially for Proctor and Gamble) and Dean's wife Laurie (who captured the lovely photographs for some … [Read more...]

Okapi Wines is owned by Dan and Kim Johnson. Dan was first introduced to wine through a connection to his legal work. One day in the early 1980s he drove up to Santa Rosa from Oakland to work on a case that involved early construction at Chateau St. Jean in Kenwood (neighboring Sonoma County). When his casework was finished for the day - he was asked if he … [Read more...]

TEXTBOOK Napa Valley was founded by Jonathan and Susan (died in 2016) Pey in 2004. We caught up with Jonathan before he moved to Burgundy. What ultimately became an important event and influence in Jonathan's life occurred when he was in his teens; his father announced that he had been transferred to France for work and the family would be moving to Paris. … [Read more...]

Tench Vineyards. This beautiful 61-acre property sits just west of the Silverado Trail in Oakville. The property is the same footprint in size from when John (born in Wales, 1902-1990) and Joan Tench (born in Great Britain, 1908-2001) purchased this site in 1965, the same year that John retired as the Manager of Shell Oil. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1928 … [Read more...]