Wine was “not so much” a part of his life growing up in a small farming town in Iowa, except as an altar boy. After college he worked as a skid-loader, movie projector operator and bartender. It wasn’t until he travelled the country as an actor and started a two-year acting program in NYC that…
You grew up in Pennsylvania in an Italian family and your grandparents made wine. What role did wine play in family gatherings? Did your grandfather’s hobby influence your decision to become a winemaker and winery owner? Sunday dinner was a big event for our family, exactly what you can imagine from how it is portrayed…
Welcome to the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers! You are our newest grower member. In 2017 you purchased 80 acres of unused grasslands on Adobe Road. How did you choose the site? I had been looking at potential vineyard sites for about 3 years. The property was not yet on the market and Bob Gregg and David…
We know you grew up in a food-centric family. What is your first recollection of tasting wine and realizing that you liked it? Do you remember what variety it was and why you liked it? Were you certain at that time that wine was a direction you’d like to go in as you grew up?…
Al, you grew up in Shasta County CA and, after getting out of high school, attended the US Air Force Academy. Did you know at the time that you wanted to be an attorney? Did you plan to own a vineyard? What twists and turns did your life take along the way? When I entered…
You grew up in the Midwest in farm country. Your mom and dad were college professors, but your mom grew up on a ranch near Santiago, Chile. What influence did that have on your decision to become a vineyard owner/grower? My family has been ranching since the early 1900s. My great grandfather grew up in…
You both grew up in Iowa and wine wasn’t part of your family experiences. Do you remember the first wine you tasted and whether you liked it? Cody: Outside of communion at the Lutheran church I grew up in, the first wine I ever tasted was at the Morgenhof Estate in Stellenbosh, South Africa. I…
You were 18 years old, living in Mexico City and just about to enter college when your father purchased 650 acres of land in Petaluma. As a teenager, were you excited about spending time in California? Did you ever think you’d one day be responsible for growing and selling grapes and being in the California wine industry? I’ve always loved plants,…
Your dad inspired you to be a doctor and get your MD degree, which you did in 1998, yet you’ve chosen to be a winemaker. Tell us what inspired you to go from pathologist to enologist? Do you ever think about going back to medicine? Throughout medical school and residency training, I was always an enthusiastic…
You and your wife, Yun Chu, have a 24–acre vineyard in the Petaluma Gap. How and when did you acquire the land and why did you choose this site? We acquired the property in 1999 with the aspiration that one day there would be a vineyard there. The vineyard wasn’t developed until 2008. We wanted to make sure we…