Aspire Wine (not to be confused with The Spire Collection, also in Calistoga) was founded by Phil & Beth Rielly; this 230 acre ranch is perched on the divide between Napa and Sonoma County, with the county line running through their property and roughly dividing their land 50% in each county. The Napa Valley side of the ranch is in the Calistoga sub … [Read more...]

Kingsmark Wine was founded by Dallas based Whitney Skibell. In 1888, Whitney's great great grandfather started Colorado Cooperage Works; his first business was to deliver wood barrels to Coors Brewery in Golden, Colorado. Her grandfather, Samuel Rudd, the eldest son worked for the family business. Rudd, a career entrepreneur (died 1986) moved to Wichita … [Read more...]

Stereograph Wines was launched in 2023 and is a partnership between winemaker Sally Johnson Blum and her husband Max; that same year, they founded SJB Winemaking, a full-service winemaking firm providing winemaking services for a number of small brands both in Napa Valley and and outside of the valley. This is a cohesive partnership; Sally makes the wines … [Read more...]

Đồi Đá (pronounced doy dah) was founded with its inaugural vintage in 2022, a Cabernet Sauvignon. Their 18 acre rocky property is located directly behind (east) of Signorello Vineyards. It is surrounded by other AVA's but is not within any of them, rather this is designated as Napa Valley Appellation. Although perhaps these rocky slopes should be a part of … [Read more...]

Scarecrow was founded in 2003 (inaugural vintage) by artists Bret Lopez and Mimi DeBlasio. But the story begins with Judge Joseph Cohn, Bret's grandfather. Cohn was born in Harlem in 1895; his family was very poor. Lopez remembers visiting his grandparents at their home for dinner and wondering why his grandfather always had two loaves of bread in the … [Read more...]

Aubert Wines was founded by Mark and Teresa Aubert with the first vintage in 2000 focusing exclusively on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The first single vineyard wine bottled under Aubert was a 2000 Chardonnay from the now iconic Ritchie Vineyard in Sonoma County. While not the first to vineyard designate a Chardonnay from this vineyard, (that honor goes to … [Read more...]

Kongsgaard Wine - A cave shrouded in silence is perhaps the ultimate studious environment to work within an underground winery. A cave with classical music playing quickly changes the atmosphere and ties the science of winemaking into the art of winemaking. Judging by John Kongsgaard's large collection of CDs in the wine cave - his work here is seldom done … [Read more...]