Our Winemaker
Jeff Fontanella, our winemaker and owner, has been making wine in Napa Valley for 10 years. A graduate of the University of California at Davis he holds a degree in Viticulture and Enology. Jeff began his winemaking career working in the cellars of Opus One and ZD. Soon after, he took a position at one of Napa’s great cult wineries, Saddleback Cellars. At Saddleback Jeff sharpened his winemaking skills under the tutelage of Nils Venge, whom Robert Parker named one of the 20 most influential winemakers in the world. During his tenure at Saddleback, Jeff was able to hone in on his stylistic approach to winemaking while reinforcing his technical training in the art. While challenged with the task of producing wines from 13 different varietals, Jeff was able to display his versatility as a winemaker, matching different winemaking techniques with specific vineyards in order to achieve the wines full potential.
It is this philosophy that Jeff has set as the foundation of Fontanella Family Winery. Jeff is intimately involved with the viticulture practices used in the vineyards he has selected for our wines. It is from this point that Jeff is able to extract the true potential of each vineyard through the delicate and strategic process of shepherding the grapes from crush to bottle.
