Jeff Fontanella

Jeff Fontanella has been crafting wine in the Napa Valley for 12 years. After graduating from UC Davis with a degree in Viticulture and Enology, Jeff began his winemaking career working in the cellar of Opus One. Soon after, he took a position at one of Napa’s great cult wineries, Saddleback Cellars, where he was able to hone his stylistic approach to winemaking and reinforce his technical training under the tutelage of Nils Venge.

Working hand-in-hand with our vineyard manager, Jeff is intimately involved with the practices used in the vineyards. His aim is to extract the true potential of the Melanson Vineyard through the delicate and strategic process of shepherding the grapes from crush to bottle.  Stylistically, Jeff uses a variety of barrel profiles and fermentation and aging techniques to create a multi-faceted wine that is approachable early and will evolve ever-gracefully over time. 

Called one of “The Next Napa Superstars”, Jeff is the recipient of numerous 90+ point ratings from Robert Parker and the Wine Spectator.  We are honored to have Jeff Fontanella crafting our wines.