Patria Wines. Founder and winemaker for Patria Wines, Tony Biagi was introduced to wines from his father and stepfather; both men collected wines including from Ridge Winery whose bottlings formed a large part of his stepfather's wine collection. Tony could never envision himself as working a desk job; his parents always encouraged him to find something he … [Read more...]

Palisades Canyon is located in the northern reaches of Napa Valley in the shadow of the rocky Palisades, a part of the Vaca mountain range. This property enjoys a rich history, relating to both prospecting and viticulture and was part of the original Rancho Carne Humana land grant. Immigrants from Scotland, James Horn and his wife Jeannie, purchased 160 … [Read more...]

Chris Hamilton Cellars was founded by Chris Hamilton and his wife Heidi. Their managing partner in the business is Eddie Gilbert who is responsible for sales, marketing and day to day operations. Chris's first visit to Napa Valley was in 2009 and the first Napa winery he visited was Far Niente. He was impressed by the picturesque grounds and the old caves. … [Read more...]

Almacerro. Owner, Frank Scherkenbach was raised in rural Wisconsin and has been attracted to agriculture since he was a child. He became a patent trial lawyer (now divides his time between Boston and Napa Valley) but never lost his interest in farming. Prior to starting Almacerro, he helped farm mint in Wisconsin for Scurek Farms; their largest client was … [Read more...]

Rahn Estate. Founders of Rahn Estate, Bryan and Andrea Rahn met in high school in Fresno and later both attended Fresno State. After graduating with a degree in Agriculture, Bryan realized he wanted to work with grapes in some capacity and the family moved several times including living in Sacramento while commuting to Napa Valley to work for Jack Neal & … [Read more...]

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...]