Kristen Barnhisel

Last updated
Kristen Barnhisel
Born
Santa Rosa, California
NationalityAmerican
OccupationWinemaker
Known forPinot noir and Cabernet Sauvignon

Kristen Barnhisel is an American winemaker. She is Quality Control manager at Inglenook. She specializes in making pinot noir and Cabernet Sauvignon wines.

Contents

Personal life and education

Kristen Barnhisel was raised in Santa Rosa, California in the United States. Her mother was a microbiologist who worked at Simi Winery. Her father made wine at the family home. Barnhisel attended the University of California, San Diego. While in school, she studied Italian literature and biology. She also attended the University of California, Davis, where she obtained her master's degree in enology. [1]

Career

Barnhisel worked at Ruffino in Italy, making her the first woman and first American to work there during harvest season. [1] She has worked at wineries in California, Washington, and South Africa. [2] In 1997, she started as enologist at Columbia Crest. [3] She also worked at Jordan Vineyard & Winery and Belvedere. [2] She started working at Handley Cellars in 2004. [1] She worked as co-winemaker with Milla Handley until 2012. [2] [4] She was previously the Quality Control Manager for Inglenook but is now one of the leaders of J.Lohr's white wine programs. She has been in this role since 2015. [5] Barnhisel currently serves as a director for the American Society for Enology and Viticulture. [6]

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rubicon Estate Winery</span> Winery in California, United States

The Rubicon Estate Winery is located in Rutherford, California, United States. The winery sits on a portion of the historic Napa Valley property first acquired in 1879 by a Finnish Sea Captain Gustave Niebaum, founder of the Inglenook Winery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heitz Wine Cellars</span> Winery in California

Heitz Wine Cellars is a California wine producer located within Napa Valley east of the town of St. Helena. An early modern era Napa Valley presence and pioneering exponent of French oak, the estate enjoys a historical renown with the success of its Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, and has also been described as a "master of Grignolino".

Fiddlehead Cellars is a winery based in Lompoc, California specializing in Sauvignon blanc and Pinot noir, producing an average of 5,000 cases of wine yearly. It was established by Kathy Joseph in 1989. Fiddlehead uses grapes from the Santa Ynez Valley AVA of Santa Barbara County, specifically the Sta. Rita Hills AVA for Pinot noir, and Oregon's Willamette Valley AVA. Winemaker Joseph has a graduate degree in Viticulture and Enology from University of California, Davis. Fiddlehead Cellars is a member of the Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance and the Santa Barbara County Vintners' Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California wine</span> Wine made from grapes grown in California, United States

California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted Vitis vinifera vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. In the 1770s, Spanish missionaries continued the practice under the direction of the Father Junípero Serra who planted California's first vineyard at Mission San Juan Capistrano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethel Heights Vineyard</span>

Bethel Heights Vineyard is an Oregon winery in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA of the Willamette Valley. Founded in 1977 by twin brothers Ted and Terry Casteel, their wives Pat Dudley and Marilyn Webb, and Pat's sister Barbara Dudley, the vineyard was one of the earliest plantings in the Eola-Amity Hills region. A winery soon followed, with the first estate wines produced in 1984. Bethel Heights specializes in Pinot noir, offering several individual block and vineyard designated bottlings, but also produces wines made from Chardonnay, Pinot gris, Pinot blanc, Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, and Gewürztraminer.

Colgin Cellars is a winery in Napa Valley, California founded in 1992.

Carol Shelton is an American winemaker and entrepreneur. She has been called the most awarded winemaker in America and was the San Francisco Chronicle's Winemaker of the Year in 2005.

Cathy Corison is an American winemaker, entrepreneur and consultant. She specializes in Cabernet Sauvignon. Corison was the San Francisco Chronicle Winemaker of the Year in 2011.

Mia Klein is a Californian winemaker and entrepreneur, founder of Selene Wines in Napa, California. Her career has spanned decades in the food and wine industry in both Northern and Southern California.

Lane Tanner is an American winemaker and consultant. She was the second woman winemaker in Santa Barbara County when she started working in the industry in 1981. She goes by the nickname "Pinot Czarina."

Nicole Abiouness is an American female entrepreneur and winemaker. She owns and operates Abiouness Wines, in Mendocino County, Napa Valley, California where she makes Pinot Noir and Sangiovese wine.


Christine Barbe is a French winemaker based in Napa Valley, California. She is known for producing wine from Sauvignon blanc grapes in the Pessac-Léognan style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twomey Cellars</span>

Twomey Cellars is a California winery. It was established in 1999 by the Duncan Family, who have operated the successful Silver Oak Cellars in California since 1972. The Duncan Family started Twomey Cellars to pursue varietals other than Cabernet Sauvignon. Twomey has three wineries: one in Calistoga in the Napa Valley; one in Healdsburg in the Russian River Valley; one in Philo in Anderson Valley, and produces mainly Pinot noir and Sauvignon blanc. Twomey’s Sauvignon blanc is a blend of Sauvignon blanc grapes from their estate vineyards at their wineries in Napa Valley, Anderson Valley, and Russian River Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Baron</span> American winemaker

Daniel Baron is an American winemaker. He is best known for his work with the Duncan family-owned Silver Oak Cellars and Twomey Cellars, and was Director of Winemaking for both. After his retirement in 2017, he launched Complant Wine with his son, Sam Baron, to produce small production, artisanal, single vineyard wines. Originally a field worker for John Rolleri at Chateau Montelena, he gained experience in the Bordeaux region of France and was mentored by the likes of grape geneticist Professor Harold Olmo, and winemakers Jean-Claude Berrouet and Justin Meyer. He became general manager of Christian Moueix's Dominus Estate in the 1980s. He became winemaker for Silver Oak, an exclusive Cabernet Sauvignon producer, in 1994, and was trained by Justin Meyer to follow in his footsteps as Silver Oak's winemaker before Meyer’s retirement in 2001. In 1999, Baron was instrumental in persuading the Duncans to establish Twomey to pursue Merlot, Pinot noir, and Sauvignon blanc after discovering high quality Merlot grapes on Silver Oak’s Soda Canyon Ranch Vineyard. He has served on boards such as the American Society of Enology and Viticulture and the Napa Valley Wine Technical Group.

Zelma R. Long is an American enologist and vintner. She is considered to be one of the female pioneers in California wine, and was the first woman to assume senior management of a Californian winery, Simi Winery, of which she was president from 1989 to 1996. Long founded and was the first president of the American Vineyard Foundation to help finance research in enology and viticulture and also founded the American Viticulture and Enology Research Network (AVERN). She is the co-owner of Long Vineyards in St. Helena, California, and the Vilafonte Wine Estate in South Africa. Long has particularly been active in research into viticulture in Washington state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Cane</span> Australian winemaker

Benjamin Cane is an Australian winemaker who currently owns Duke's Vineyard in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominio del Plata Winery</span>

Dominio del Plata is a medium-sized winery located in the Lujan de Cuyo region of Mendoza Argentina. It was founded in 1999 by enologist and entrepreneur Susana Balbo.

Kathy Joseph is a Californian winemaker and entrepreneur, founder of Fiddlehead Cellars in Santa Maria, California. She is one of the first female winemakers to open her own winery in Santa Barbara County and her Fiddlehead Cellars is featured in the movie Sideways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Ponzi</span> American winemaker

Dick Ponzi is an American winemaker, a pioneer of the Oregon wine industry and the Oregon brewing industry, and the founder of Ponzi Vineyards, one of the Willamette Valley's founding wineries. He also had a successful career as a structural engineer. Ponzi is regarded as an enological and viticultural innovator. He was a founding member and the first president of the Oregon Winegrowers Association and a founding director of the Oregon Wine Board. He and his wife also established Oregon's first craft brewery, Bridgeport Brewing Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Ponzi</span> American vineyard owner and winemaker

Nancy Ponzi is a pioneer of the Oregon wine industry and the Oregon brewing industry, and the founder of Ponzi Vineyards, one of the Willamette Valley's founding wineries. She and her husband Dick Ponzi also established Oregon's first craft brewery, Bridgeport Brewing Company.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Kristen Barnhisel". Winemakers A-Z. Women Winemakers of California. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Boone, Virginia (15 February 2012). "Alsace legacy" (PDF). Press Democrat. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  3. "Wineglass leads winners at wine judging -- List of 1998 Central Washington State Fair Medal Winners". Yakima Herald-Republic. 17 June 1998. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2012.(subscription required)
  4. Marshall, Wes (30 March 2012). "Handley Cellars: 30 Years of Great Wines". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  5. "J. Lohr | Kristen Barnhisel". J. Lohr. Retrieved 2023-04-01.
  6. "Dr. Sara Spayd Assumes Role of ASEV President for 2011-2012". Wine Business. Retrieved 23 December 2012.