Present Vice President of Winemaking and Viticulture, Keith Emerson, Promoted to President and CEO
Napa Valley, CA, September 8, 2022 – After greater than twenty years main boutique Cabernet Sauvignon producer Winery 29, Chuck McMinn in the present day introduced his retirement. Vice President of Winemaking and Viticulture, Keith Emerson, who has been with the vineyard since 2005, has been promoted to President and CEO. The possession of the corporate will stay with the McMinn household.
“In 2000, I linked with Winery 29 at simply the correct time – I used to be prepared for a brand new problem, and Winery 29 wanted to develop. The earlier house owners have been able to wind down, it made sense for us to wind up,” stated Chuck McMinn. “Now, we’re able to step again and let new management develop the vineyard’s legacy much more.”
Chuck McMinn was already a profitable creator of expertise firms within the Silicon Valley when he and his spouse Anne began attending Napa Valley auctions in 1999. At one of many first, Chuck purchased a big format wine for the primary time, a six-liter of Winery 29, owned on the time by Teresa Norton and Tom Paine. It wouldn’t take lengthy earlier than the seek for a weekend house within the Napa Valley was a brand new profession altogether because the McMinns turned house owners of the Winery 29 wine model and its seven-acres of St. Helena vineyards.
In 2000, he additionally bought the historic Aida Winery which gave McMinn the high-quality property grapes he wanted to develop the portfolio. He employed Philippe Melka to make the wines and assist construct a state-of-the-art vineyard on the Winery 29 property; the 2002 classic was the primary to be made in-house.
Melka stayed on by means of 2017, bringing in a younger, up-and-coming winemaker named Keith Emerson as affiliate winemaker in 2005. In 2011, Keith Emerson was named director of winemaking and viticulture and in 2018 vice chairman of winemaking and viticulture. Having labored with Emerson over 17 years, McMinn might consider no yet one more certified to tackle the extra tasks as president and CEO of Winery 29.
“Keith is the correct particular person on the proper time and able to tackle all of the challenges of the corporate,” McMinn stated. “We’re setting up nice administration for the subsequent technology to maintain it an vital a part of our household legacy. We see the chance to develop it much more.”
At Winery 29, Emerson has not solely shepherded the Property and Aida Property collection but in addition been instrumental within the launching of the Cru portfolio wines, which signify traditional blends in each the Napa Valley and Willamette areas.
“I’m very grateful to Chuck and Anne McMinn for trusting me and permitting me to take the reins at Winery 29,” Emerson stated. “I’m assured that we’ll do nice issues and I’ll work intently and cohesively with the Winery 29 workforce to ensure we just do that. I plan to take Winery 29 to a different degree.”
Emerson plans to proceed to honor the company tradition McMinn instilled, constructed round an open-door coverage and profound humility, the place each member of the workforce is thoughtful, respectful, and prepared to get their arms soiled. A wine grower and winemaker at coronary heart, who prefers to put on shorts 12 months of the yr, Emerson’s winery and winemaking tasks won’t change for the foreseeable future and he’ll proceed to name each choose and log off on each Winery 29 mix. Emerson can be enthusiastic about two new property vineyards in St. Helena that can come on-line in 2023, the Railroad Property and Winner Property, including 12 acres of extra grapes to the portfolio.
Emerson earned an enology and viticulture diploma at U.C. Davis in 1999, spent a yr at Cakebread Cellars after which turned the enologist and affiliate winemaker at Gundlach Bundschu. In 2005 he launched his personal label, Emerson Brown. As a extremely sought-after guide, he helps make the wines at Robert Craig Vineyard, Knighton Household Vineyards, Sang-Froid Vineyards, Vinoce Vineyards, Labry Vineyards, Martin Ray Vineyard, atLarge Wine and Winery 36.
McMinn earned levels from Syracuse College and Brown College along with an MBA from Harvard Enterprise College. In his skilled life he served as chairman and founding father of Covad Communications, president and CEO of Visioneer Communications and basic companion on the enterprise capital agency, InterWest Companions. Philanthropically, McMinn has been a board member of St. Helena Hospital and the St. Helena Hospital Basis, and chairs the nonprofit Napa Valley Vine Path Coalition, Rail Arts District Napa (RAD) and NapaLearns, which merged with the Napa Valley Schooling Basis in 2021.
About Winery 29
Owned by Chuck & Anne McMinn, Winery 29 is a boutique vineyard situated in St. Helena, Napa Valley and residential to the Robert Parker rated 100pt Winery 29 Property Cabernet Sauvignon. Of distinctive location and distinctive profiles, the property vineyards are a few of the most distinguished within the Napa Valley, together with the 29 Property and Aida Property. Sitting within the shade of a tree-lined hillside, the state-of-the-art vineyard exemplifies the artisan ability of mixing winemaking method and expertise and hosts unequalled non-public visitation experiences for essentially the most discerning luxurious wine drinkers. Extra info on Winery 29 might be discovered at vineyard29.com or on Fb, Instagram @Vineyard29.
