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, Brian and Andrea Rahn met in high school in Fresno and later both attended Fresno State. After graduating with a degree in Agriculture, Brian 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...]

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...]

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 a small town in what is now Switzerland in 1883; ten years later he married Lodovina and they both settled in a small house on Niebaum Lane in Napa Valley in 1902 as sharecroppers. After … [Read more...]

Castlevale Winery. In 2002 after the sale of Louis M Martini Winery to Gallo Family, 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...]

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...]

Matthew Wallace is owned by Matt Hardin and his wife Alicia (Regusci) Hardin. Both the Hardin and Regusci families have lived in Napa Valley for generations; Matt is 6th generation and Alicia is a 5th generation resident. Hardin's family is deeply rooted in Pope Valley and are among the early Napa Valley pioneer settlers; Robert Hardin came to California as … [Read more...]

Fait-Main is pronounced (fay-ma). In French it simply means, handmade. And these two words succinctly summarize winemaker Benoit Touquette's dedication to his craft and winemaking philosophy. It starts in the vineyards he works with, special sites within Napa Valley of distinguished provenance, which are meticulously farmed by hand. It also encompasses the … [Read more...]