Wine Producers, Growers, & Labels

As part of video wine review series, Cult Wines of Crushpad, IntoWine had the delightful opportunity to catch up with Twin Oaks winemaker Mark Weiner to hear his thoughts on the Twin Oaks wines and wine topics in general. Thanks to Mark for chatting. What inspired the name Twin Oaks Cellars? Named after my twin daughters, as well as the twin oak trees in our neighborhood...

Giacomo d’Alessandro is the founder and owner of the d’Alessandro Winery, located near Agrigento in Sicily. Though the winery’s lands and vineyards have been in the family since 1820, only in 2006 did Giacomo open the family winery. His latest entrepreneurial venture is d’Alessandro Wines, a technologically advanced winery that merges the family history and connection to the land with modern ecological “green” practices while making wines from indigenous Sicilian grapes. Giacomo lives in Rome where the corporate office of his travel business is located, traveling frequently to the family home in Agrigento to oversee the development and expansion of the winery. When not in Sicily or Rome, Giacomo can be found traveling the world promoting d’Alessandro Wines.

IntoWine recently caught up with Brotherhood Winery's Winemaker, César Baeza to discuss wine and his thoughts on current trends in the wine industry. What prompted you to pursue winemaking as a career? I was born and raised in Chile, a country that’s always been proud of its wines. Back then, Chile was producing “artisanal” wines, using minimal technology.

IntoWine recently caught up with Dragon's Hollow President and Founder, David Henderson to discuss wine and his thoughts on current trends in the wine industry. Why China? The truth of the story is China picked me, I did not necessarily pick China. I originally went to China in the ‘70s to manufacture packaging material for the Chinese as they began to unearth and export Chinese antiquities. I also started a small engineering school to teach distribution and industrial packaging to the newly opening China. While in China in the early 1980’s I constantly heard comments from all the ex-patriots in Beijing complaining about not having access to imported food and wine. So in 1988 I created Montrose Food and Wine and obtained the first direct license to import wines into China. Montrose would eventually represent many famous international wine labels and would also take on the role of teaching people in China how to drink and appreciate wines. I am still a major shareholder in Montrose Food and Wine which remains one of the largest importers and distributors of wine and spirits in China www.MontroseChina.com & Hong Kong www.Montrose.com.hk today. In many articles written about my time in China, writers have called me “the father of the present day Chinese wine industry”.

IntoWine recently caught up with Duckhorn Wine Company's Migration winemaker, Neil Bernardi to discuss wine making and his thoughts on current trends in the wine industry. What prompted you to pursue winemaking as a career? I got into winemaking very early, almost out of sheer luck. I attended UC Davis intending to study Italian, without any knowledge of its reputation in the wine industry. On the first day of freshman orientation, I was walking through the halls of the Winkler Building, which I would come to know and love, and met Jim Wolpert, then chair of the Viticulture and Enology department. I must have looked lost because he struck up a conversation, and suggested I take a look at studying wine. I was intrigued, and was impressed by the major’s field of study. I was attracted to the diverse and extensive coursework, including plant biology, fermentation science, microbiology, physics, economics, business, and foreign languages, and added V & E as a double major. I was hooked after my first harvest internship at Gundlach Bundschu and knew that wine would be my life’s work.

IntoWine recently caught up with george wine company's winemaker and founder, George Levkoff to discuss wine making and his thoughts on current trends in the wine industry. What prompted you to pursue winemaking as a career? I became a winemaker as a result of an epiphany I had at dinner in late 1994. The restaurant was Joe’s in Venice, CA, and the meal was tuna foie gras. My friend Mark brought along two bottles of pinot noir from Williams Selyem, Rochioli Vineyard 1991 & 1992. The meal which I had many times before, never tasted better, and I proclaimed that one day I would make wine like this in Healdsburg, a town I had never visited. Four years later I sold my house and quit my job, and moved to Healdsburg.

IntoWine recently caught up with Pisoni Vineyard's winemaker Jeff Pisoni to discuss wine making and his thoughts on current trends in the wine industry. What prompted you to pursue winemaking as a career? Both my brother and I were fortunate to grow up around it. We were both very young when our father was already making wine and started planting vineyards. When only a few years old, Mark and I would “make wine” in mason jars and stomp grapes in old redwood fermentors that belonged to our great-grandparents. Seeing all this at a young age gave us an appreciation for winemaking and a desire to work with the family. I had always been very driven to the winemaking side, whereas my brother felt closer to the farming side. Now Dad watches over things but leaves the winemaking up to me and the viticulture to Mark.

IntoWine recently caught up with Chris Ball of 417 Wines, the producers of Tangent Cabernet Sauvignon, to discuss his foray into winemaking: How did your foray into winemaking come about? I was first really exposed to wine while studying Architecture in Sienna, Italy. After I came back I began developing a taste for what I appreciated, which in turn led to collecting wines, and eventually the desire to make wine…specifically wine in the image of what I enjoy. My good friend David Dain of Dain Wines has served as a mentor as well as consultant on our inaugural release of the two 2007’s