Sir Peter Michael is the owner of the Peter Michael Winery in the Knights Valley appellation of Sonoma, California. Since it was founded in 1982, the Peter Michael winery has accrued dozens of accolades for its wines.
Dennis and Judy Groth founded Groth Vineyards & Winery in 1981 in the heart of the Napa Valley in what is today the Oakville AVA. The 1985 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve was the first California wine ever to receive a 100-point score from wine critic Robert M. Parker.
David Adelsheim is the founder of Adelsheim Vineyard, the Chehalem Mountains’ first winery, which he founded in 1971 with his former wife, Ginny Adelsheim. Adelsheim has no formal training in viticulture but got advice from Oregon’s other early vintners before purchasing his original 19-acre parcel in Yamhill County, becoming part of the ten families to make wine in the Willamette Valley before 1980.
Pam Starr established Crocker & Starr in 1997 with Charlie Crocker, great grandson of Charles Crocker, founder of the Central Pacific Railroad. Starr partnered with the San Francisco businessman to resurrect the 100-year-old vineyard he purchased in 1971. The winery’s 100-acre estate vineyard in St. Helena sits on land that has grown grapes since the 1870s
John Caldwell, founder and owner of Caldwell Vineyards in the Coombsville district of Napa Valley, was one of the first vintners to realize Coombsville’s potential for fine wine. He was at the forefront working with the French regulatory agency ENTAV (Établissement National Technique pour ‘Amélioration de la Viticulture) to import French clones into America.
Dan Petroski is the winemaker at Larkmead Vineyards, an historic estate in the Napa Valley, and the founder and owner of Massican, one of the few Napa wineries to focus on top-notch white wines exclusively.
Nick Farr is considered one of Australia’s top young winemakers, and a specialist in Australian in pinot noir. He is co-owner and winemaker of Wines by Farr, which he runs alongside his father, the legendary Gary Farr.
Karen Williams is the founder and owner of ACME Fine Wines in Saint Helena, Napa Valley, a gallery-style wine showroom with a focus on first-release Napa Valley wines plus highly regarded wines of the world.
Bill Harlan is the founder and owner of Harlan Estate in Oakville, in the Napa Valley. The Harlan Estate wine a cabernet blend, is considered one of California’s greatest wines, and a wine highly sought after by collectors worldwide.
Nearly half a century ago, a handful of women quietly worked their way into the California wine industry. More than trailblazers, these pioneering women helped set the course of the industry for the next 50 years. Along the way, each has become an icon. No one more so than Merry Edwards.
Chris Phelps is the founder and winemaker of Ad Vivum, a top cabernet producer in the Napa Valley. He studied viticulture and enology at the university of Bordeaux as well as the University of California at Davis. During the famous 1982 vintage, he lived and worked at Château Pétrus in Bordeaux.
Françoise Peschon was the long-time winemaker for the famous Napa Valley winery Araujo and is now the consulting winemaker for three small, exclusive estates: Cornell, Vine Hill Ranch, and Accendo
