Amy Christine

Master of Wine

Amy Christine has over 15 years of experience across the wine industry including sales, distribution, education and winemaking. A graduate of Vanderbilt University, she was awarded her Master of Wine certification in 2013. Amy and her husband, Peter Hunken, own and operate Holus Bolus Winery in Santa Barbara County. Additionally, Amy works for Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant in Los Angeles, teaches WSET classes and is a partner at Wine Ring, Inc.

Allison Cellini Wilson

Director of Vineyard Operations, Cliff Lede Vineyards

As Director of Vineyard Operations at Napa Valley-based Cliff Lede Vineyards, Allison Wilson is responsible for overseeing all farming and redevelopment of the winery’s three estate vineyards in the Stags Leap District, Carneros, and Calistoga AVAs. She works closely with the internal winemaking team to develop and implement the vineyard department’s farming protocols, while also managing all of Cliff Lede Vineyards’ external grower relations.

A native of Contra Costa County, California, Allison’s introduction to grape growing was through harvest celebrations and weekend visits to her great uncle’s nearby Livermore Valley vineyard, cementing her interest in agriculture from a young age. After graduating California Polytechnic University as a Fruit Science major in 2012, Allison jump-started her career in Napa as assistant viticulturist at Renteria Vineyard Management, where she eventually worked her way up to become viticulturist in 2014. Eager to cultivate her career, owner Oscar Renteria encouraged Allison to join the Napa Valley Grapegrowers Association to deepen her ties within Napa Valley. This opportunity with the Grapegrowers ultimately led her to meet the team at Cliff Lede Vineyards. In January of 2015, Allison was hired as viticulturist and, in 2018, she became director of vineyard operations.

Allison is still involved with the Napa Valley Grapegrowers and is currently the chair of marketing and communications. Additionally, Allison serves on the Cultural Practices Industry Review Committee for the American Vineyard Foundation and is a California Licensed Pest Control Advisor. In her free time, Allison enjoys spending time with her dog and teaching yoga.

Phil Coturri

Vineyard Manager, Oakville Ranch

When he was a city kid kicking around San Francisco in the 1960s, becoming a rock star was a little more alluring than becoming a farmer. But when his parents bought land in Sonoma County and his family began spending weekends in the country, Phil got his first taste of how satisfying it could be to work the dirt and help things grow.

Now, with 40 years experience farming vineyards throughout the Sonoma and Napa Valleys, nothing excites him more than the opportunity to push the envelope at Oakville Ranch, which he calls one of the region's truly extraordinary places.

Phil draws inspiration from a range of sources, including his longtime friends Bob Weir and Bill Kreutzmann of the Grateful Dead. "They carved their own path," he says, paraphrasing Bill Graham. "They weren't just the best at what they did, they were the only ones who did it." He runs his vineyard management company the same way, farming both organically and biodynamically while refusing to cut corners for the sake of commerce. Each hillside and hollow in the Oakville Ranch vineyard holds its own original chord deep beneath the soil. Phil coaxes these notes to the surface, knowing that, together, they'll make music in the glass.

When he's not farming for his clients or working the various gardens that yield 80 percent of his family's food, he heads to Lake Tahoe to ski or mountain bike. He spends a few weeks each year in New York City visiting museums and listening to as much live music as possible. He collects books and wine. He's as passionate about going out for good food as he is growing his own.

Gustavo Avina

Viticulture Director, Pine Ridge

Gustavo AviÑa, viticulture director at Pine Ridge Vineyards, grew up helping his father farm tomatoes in Mexico. When he and his wife came to the United States in 1988, Gustavo began working with some of the finest vineyard management programs in Napa
Valley, including stints at Newton Vineyard and with David Abreu.

Since 2003, Gustavo has worked intimately with every Pine Ridge Vineyards estate property. He and his team understand the soils and climates of the winery’s vineyards in five different appellations: Stags Leap District, Howell Mountain, Oakville, Rutherford, and Carneros. If he had to choose a favorite, Gustavo might pick Howell Mountain. He likes the way this steeply sloping vineyard is challenging to farm; it’s also the first vineyard he developed from the ground up for Pine Ridge Vineyards. But he can talk extensively about what he appreciates about each of the appellations, and he cites the opportunity to work with such different vineyards as one of the things he likes best about his job.

“Knowing each vineyard row by row, vine by vine— that’s how I grow such high-quality grapes. I walk every vineyard, every block, once a week. This close connection to the vines is what gives us the quality grapes that allow us to make such high-quality wine.” When he’s not in the vineyard, Gustavo enjoys spending time with his family. He and his wife, Blanca, attend the basketball, baseball, and soccer games of their son, Gustavo, Jr. Their daughter, Jessica, is in college studying to become a nurse practitioner and, eventually, a doctor.

Jason Moulton

Winemaker, Whitehall Lane

Jason Moulton recently took the reins as winemaker at Whitehall Lane. Jason was hired in March 2016 and previously spent over 14 years making wine in Napa Valley, Russian River, Canada, New Zealand, Bordeaux and South Africa. He has worked with renowned winemakers Philippe Melka, David Ramey, Kale Anderson and Ashley Heisey. He quickly moved through the ranks from cellar worker to cellar master, assistant winemaker to winemaker, most notably at Long Meadow Ranch Winery in St. Helena, Cliff Lede Vineyards in Yountville and most recently at Brassfield Estate Winery in the High Valley AVA of Lake County.

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