My wife, Sandy, and I fell in love with the Napa Valley early on, when a serendipitous career opportunity brought us here soon after our graduation from UC Berkeley in 1983. Having both grown up in an urban environment, we instantly knew that we wanted to settle and raise our family "among the vines." At the time, little did we know that children were not the only thing we were destined to raise in this beautiful valley.
It didn't take long before our love of the Napa Valley also extended to its world-famous wines. Our passion, specifically for Cabernet Sauvignon, soon evolved into a drive to make the very best wine possible. We had the vision; what we needed was the fruit.
In 1997, we purchased "Thomas Knoll", the 4-acre property that became our home and, eventually, our estate vineyard. The land was perfect for growing high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon - hard volcanic rock soil on a slight slope facing east. We were fortunate to find Mike Seitz, the perfect vineyard manager to help us through the process – a young, energetic person with similar passion and drive. Together, we identified the ideal clone for this growing region and, in 1997, planted our first vines. Tragically, however, Mike died in a vineyard accident soon after, but we are forever indebted to him for sharing his talent and passion with us and our wine is a testament to that.
With Mike's contacts I was able to obtain fruit from two of Napa's most highly-regarded vineyards: Morisoli Vineyard in the Rutherford Bench and Anapurna Vineyard in the Stags Leap District.