In Ted's Words...
"I'm a cook! Winemaking is a lot like cooking; a chef will want to grow or select his produce and likewise, a winemaker will want to grow his or her own
grapes; we call it winegrowing. To do my job, I need to be involved in the grape growing; there are so many grape growing decisions that will affect the
flavors and quality of the wine, and the bottom line is deciding when to pick. As the vine ripened tomato has the best flavor, so too will the vine
ripened grapes make the best wine; we walk the vineyards frequently during harvest to make this decision. Once we hand harvest our desired fruit, we
bring our produce to the "kitchen", our winery, to proceed with the making of our /wines/index.html.
While the chef produces a feast over a stove and in the kitchen in a few hours, our process involves vinification at lower temperatures for months and
years. That's why many of us winemakers are good anglers; we have a lot of patience.
Since grammer school, I lived in the Russian River Appellation and watched it change from apples to grapes. I loved both, and my Father introduced me
to wine at an early age. I was always associated with agriculture but it wasn't until graduate school did I decide to pursue my interest in wine.
I was 23, and finally recognized my vocation, which has developed into a life long passion. While settling in the Napa Valley for the past 20 years,
my winemaking has evolved from the academic winemaking of a young student to where I am more of a Chef, and wine is my area of expertise. Today, I
am so stimulated to learn about different growing regions, climates, soils and varieties. I will always be a student of wine and winegrowing."
Ted holds a Bachelors and Masters of Science from the University of California at Davis. After six years as "cellar rat" and Assistant Winemaker at
Freemark Abbey and Rutherford Hill Winery, he was named "the big Kahuna" Winemaker in 1985 at Freemark.
