He never thought this silly idea would lead them to launch a wine brand. He never imagined they would make another wine beyond these first two barrels. He just wanted to create a beautiful reminder of welcoming their first-born into the world.

But then they made their daughter another wine… and then they made her a brother, who would clearly need two wines of his own! Then they realized something else: this was becoming more than a grand gesture.

This was a new tradition. Chris and Dee continue to celebrate special moments and people with new wine releases ever since.

While still living in North Carolina, Elaine and Mark spent a year searching for land in Sonoma. They were drawn to the natural beauty and wonderful climate of the Russian River Valley, its welcoming community, supportive grape growers and winemakers and its renowned Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays.

They found a breathtakingly beautiful 3-acre vineyard on a steep, rugged site in the Russian River Valley, planted in 1998 (the same year their son Matt was born) to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Elaine and Mark built their house on the land and planned to continue farming the grapes and selling them – like the previous owners. But the winemaking bug bit her and she made two barrels of wine in 2017 – one barrel of Chardonnay and one Pinot Noir.

Read more on https://cellarangels.com/wineries/elaine-wines/

This downtown winery ruled its proliferation for the next five decades: the city’s first self-made millionaire, the county’s first patent holder, the state’s largest wine producer. In 1869 Giacomo became the first Napa County resident to receive a U.S. patent for his “Wine Bottling and Corking Apparatus”. In a few short years, Migliavacca Wine Co. became an award winning winery, a household name, and was considered one of the largest and most extensive manufacturing enterprises in California. 

Nearly a century after its disappearance at Prohibition, over 150 years since its founding, the Migliavacca family offers this revival of Napa’s history. Giacomo’s great-great-granddaughter Katie Migliavacca is writing a new chapter by resurrecting this once-prolific business to carry on a family legacy.

With the help of business partner and Winemaker Vincent Traverso these two young entrepreneurs strive to make wines that reflect the passion and creativity that fueled Giacomo’s original vision: to produce wines of excellence and value, with reverence to the importance of family and community.

These principles served as the foundation for this pioneering wine brand, and we hope they will be continued with each bottle shared around the family table by a new generation of wine drinkers.

Initially, they intended on keeping the small production bottlings for themselves, but when COVID-19 pandemic affected their daily lives, they started to dedicate more time toward winemaking and created Patent Wines.

We interview Eric and Tom to learn about Patent Wines. Watch the video version of this interview on https://cellarangels.com/wineries/patent-wines/

But with adulthood came responsibilities and a successful career that took priority, Peter always wondered what happened to that dream. It wasn't until the liquidation of a Portuguese cork company that opened the door to develop relationships in wine country. Shortly thereafter, Peter Tonti officially and ecstatically entered the wine business and is now producing award-winning Old Vine Zinfandel. In just a short time, Peter has really taken the wine world by storm, with high demand for his small batch, limited productions and numerous Gold Medal-winning vintages!