Contributors:  Laura Larson, Fran Miller, Paul Franson, Janna Waldinger, Colin McPhail,
Colleen Harmon & Hunter Boon

 

Kaelin Ulrich Trilling

Intriguing Local Chef

Chef Kaelin Ulrich Trilling’s rise to Chef de Cuisine at Thomas Keller’s La Calenda in Yountville is the stuff of which dreams are made. At just 27 years old, Trilling’s culinary background proved to be just what Keller was seeking in filling the coveted position. Trilling’s mother, Susana Trilling, a celebrated cookbook author and Oaxaca-based cooking school proprietor, recommended her son for the position when Keller sought her counsel in filling the role. Brought up in his mother’s kitchen, wherefrom a tender age he witnessed countless cooking lessons and learned to appreciate the soul-satisfying impact of traditional cuisine, the Oaxaca raised Trilling sealed his vocational fate at age 18, when he moved to San Antonio, TX to serve as line cook for Chef John Brand at Hotel Omni La Mansión del Rio. Over the next nine years, Trilling packed his resume with stints at eateries in Tennessee, Mexico, London, and New York, perfecting his unique style of Mexican cuisine. “Growing up in a food-oriented household was a beautiful and unique experience,” said Trilling, who admits that his much younger self had no idea that the kitchen would become a career. He acknowledges a steep learning curve, one he expertly navigated thanks to his cadre of mentors. He recently celebrated one year working and living in the Napa Valley, where he finds many similarities to his home town in which he grew up, including the rural, agricultural lifestyle, and just as his mother taught him, he makes everything at La Calenda from scratch. “She’s the reason I can make a proper mole,” laughs Trilling. “I’m lucky to have her in my life.”

 

Kelly Carter

Intriguing Optimist

On Kelly Carter’s wall hangs an art piece that reads ‘She believed she could so she did.’ It’s her motto of sorts. “One of my sorority sisters always introduces me to others as the one person she knows who does everything she says she’s going to do,” says Carter, director of communications for Alpha Omega winery. Goal-oriented since youth, Carter decided at age 11 to become a sportswriter. Despite the discouragement of a USC journalism professor, she became the first female beat writer to cover the Lakers. When Carter decided to move to Europe, she ended up living in Positano and Florence for more than two years. When she decided to write a book, she moved to New York City and landed a contract to co-author a book with Venus Williams. Later, she was asked by National Geographic Books to write its first dog travel guide. More recently, while editor at Haute Living San Francisco, Carter opted to move to Napa to pursue a communications consulting business and was quickly recruited to Alpha Omega by owners Robin and Michelle Baggett. “I used to drive by Alpha Omega, envying the people on the terrace, wanting to be there myself,” said Carter. “It looked so fun! And now I do sit down with Wine Club members, media, friends, etc., and taste wine as part of my profession. People tell me I’m lucky to have lived in the places that I have and to have done what I’ve done. But it’s not luck. It’s creating a plan, visualizing and not just telling yourself that you can do it but believing it.”

 

Dave Phinney

Intriguing Innovator

Napa Valley vintner Dave Phinney is no ordinary winemaker. And now he’s no ordinary distiller. Prolific in creation of new and extraordinarily popular wine brands and labels, the original founder of The Prisoner and Orin Swift wines has set his sights on the spirits world, and he’s selected Vallejo’ Island as his muse. Working within three historic remodeled buildings on the former Naval base, Phinney produces whiskey, rye, and bourbon at his Savage & Cooke distillery – a moniker he selected in honor of the two surnames he continued to encounter while perusing Mare Island’s archives. He attributes his innovative nature to his parents, who, when Phinney was young, insisted on touring him through some of the world’s greatest museums. Fittingly, his Prisoner wine label featured a Goya etching. “During vacations, my mom and dad made me and my brother trek through museums in the morning before catering to our more youthful interests in the afternoons,” said Phinney, whose yuppie style belies his edgy and intense creativity. “At the time, we didn’t like it much, but now I do associate that early art exposure with my active imagination and desire to create.” Phinney would one day like to own Mare Island outright; he’s got a team actively studying the possibility. His dream is to turn it into a desirable destination – a grittier and edgier Yountville if you will, with restaurants, a winery, and wine tasting rooms, a coffee roastery, retail, and artisan studios that reflect the area’s historic/cutting- edge duality. The bones are there; it’s innovation and inspiration that are required – and both are Phinney specialties.

 

Sara Fowler

Intriguing Winemaker

Named ‘Best Local Winemaker’ by Napa Valley Life Magazine readers in 2016, 2017, and 2018, Sara Fowler has led Peju’s winemaking team and efforts for the past 13 years, while also serving as winemaker and director of vineyard operations for Peju’s sister winery Calmere Estate located in Carneros.

During her Peju tenure, she has supervised the farming of the winery’s 204 acres across six estate vineyards within four appellations while also increasing the brand’s number of wines. She appreciates the creative license she’s provided to fine-tune vineyard practices as well as develop new approaches to blends. Said the Kelseyville native and mother of two grown sons, “My goal is to constantly improve the quality and focus of what we’re doing at Peju.” Within her first year, she successfully transitioned the estate vineyard to become an organic property, and today, in conjunction with the efforts of Ariana Peju, Fowler supports green initiatives within both the vineyards and the winery. Raised on a 400-acre organic ranch where farm-to-table food was part of the everyday lifestyle and not a social movement, she well understood the principles of farming and at age 12 was driving the family tractor.

A talented creator of mixed media art, at one time Sara believed she might become a professional artist. But after working harvests and summers at Kendall-Jackson, she pivoted to viticulture. Fowler often travels and speaks as a representative of the Napa Valley winery community on behalf of the Rutherford appellation for which she serves on the board of the Rutherford Dust Society. When not at the winery, she loves salsa and swing dancing, drinking bubbles, reading, and cooking.

 

Monica & David Stevens

Intriguing Couple

As proprietors of St. Helena’s 750 Wines since 2009, Monica and David Stevens have been immersed in running their very distinctive retail wine salon that specializes in both private, curated tastings as well as high-end, limited production boutique wines, sourced from their vintner and winemaker friends in wine country. But that didn’t stop the philanthropic duo from establishing in 2014 the nonprofit Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch (JARR), a no-kill rescue and sanctuary based in Carneros, Napa Valley. Named in honor of Monica and David’s beloved Great Pyrenees, JARR is a sustainable education and solutions center for animal advocacy and rescue, providing programming that serves all domestic animals and their humans. Last year, more than 150 volunteers dedicated 12,344 hours to JARR, helping save animals’ lives, and Monica’s tenure within the luxury life- style public relations and hospitality sector has elevated the organization’s annual fundraiser – WineaPAWlooza – as one of the Valley’s most anticipated and spirited wine auctions. Monica and David met in 2006 shortly after she moved to the valley from Chicago; at the time, David owned another wine shop and played bass for Napa Valley’s beloved rock ‘n roll band WRISTROCKET, with whom he continues to perform. The couples’ bond – based on their shared love of wine and animals – was immediate. In tandem, they have steadily grown the stellar reputations of both 750 Wines and JARR, and in spite of busy schedules and long hours, the pair practices what they preach, having adopted four of their own rescue pups: Betsy, Homer, Schnook, and Gunner.

 

Sean O’Malley

Intriguing Entrepreneur

One may wonder how a tall man of Irish ancestry who doesn’t speak Italian and has never been to Venice ended up singing “Santa Lucia” while rowing an authentic gondola on the Napa River. Sean O’Malley probably does, too, but he’s having a ball doing just that.

O’Malley has always been around water, and his father was in the Navy. Sean went to school in Saratoga, but spent a lot of time in Santa Cruz, where he developed his love for all things aquatic. His parents moved to Jupiter Beach, Florida when he was eight, but returned to the west during the summer and Sean ended up at Santa Clara University studying business and marketing; his roommate was future Gov. Gavin Newsom. He crewed there-good preparation for his present work.

Unfortunately, his father died and he ended up completing his degree in Phoenix far from the water. He joined IBM and technical financing companies, and returned to Santa Cruz to found a company he eventually sold. By then, he had married and they moved to Napa 12 years ago, living downtown and then buying a house with a dock in River Park. “I bought a boat and learned the Napa River,” he said.

He led wine tours, then an- swered an ad for gondoliers. After training in Oakland, he started here and eventually bought the local franchise.

A Venetian taught him to sing Italian folk songs, and he wears a striped shirt as he works.

O’Malley admits that rowing the large boat, particularly against the wind, is demanding, but it obviously keeps the former college athlete healthy. When he’s not rowing, he coaches his son’s baseball team, golfs and caddies for Pro Am events.

And, yes, he plans to visit Venice this winter to check out the original gondola scene.

 

Helen & Scott Lyall

Intriguing Local Family Business

Mother and son bring glamour to Napa

Though many locals and visitors treasure Napa Valley for its casual ambience, others like fashion and glamour when they attend benefits and events. For those people, Helen Lyall and her son Scott are treasured resources.

Premier clothiers and mother and son, Helen and Scott Lyall have adjoining retail store front spaces in the River Front complex in downtown Napa.

Helen has been in the fashion business for 43 years. A native of Arizona, she attended the University of Arizona, then Wood Tobe-Coburn School for fashion careers in New York and worked for eight years at Abraham Strauss in Brooklyn before moving west to The City of Paris in San Francisco and James Sears in Vallejo. She also lectured about fashion and beauty on cruise ships then opened her store 35 years ago, moving to Napa eight years ago.

In addition to selling elegance hard to find elsewhere in Napa, she produces fashion shows that support charitable organizations like Queen of the Valley. Helen shops in Europe and the U.S. to bring her devoted clientele current trends, but her personal service – like glasses of Champagne as they shop – are the extra touches that endear her clientele.

Scott Lyall was inspired by his mother to get into fashion. He opened a store in Benecia in 1981 but moved to San Francisco in 1986. In 1992, he closed that store and went into women’s wholesale goods where he negotiated private labels that were produced in San Francisco long before high tech ruled. He followed his mother’s lead and features premier fashion attire, specializing in sportswear.

Both find business challenging, especially with the popularity of online shopping, but also recent fires. Much of their business is from tourists, however, and the future looks bright.

 

Kevin Reid

Intriguing Community Health Activist 

“We want the cure for Multiple Sclerosis to come out of Napa Valley,” stated Kevin Reid, on 99.3 the Vine, promoting the 6th Annual Crush MS Summer Celebration. Kevin is the Co-Founder of the non-profit group Crush MS, an organization dedicated to bringing wineries together to eliminate MS.

Crush MS is hosted annually at his family’s vineyard property, Reid Family Vineyards, where 30+ wineries come together to sponsor the cause. Over the past six years, through Crush MS, the Napa native has worked diligently to raise over $400,000 to support research for a cure and programs helping those living with the disease.

Stricken with MS at age 22, Kevin’s advocacy for a cure comes from the heart. He tirelessly donates time and effort to bring the community together to offer encouragement and assistance. He created a monthly support group for people with MS in Napa and has worked with Genentech to designate March 28th as Progressive MS Day, an annual day which offers people affected by MS -patient advocates, healthcare providers, governments and industry- an opportunity to share stories online and show their support for people living with progressive forms of the disease. In 2018 he participated in the approval of state resolution (SR-86) recognizing Progressive MS Day in California.

Kevin’s dedication to support and find a cure for MS has been recognized at the highest levels. For the past two years Congressman Mike Thompson awarded Certificates of Congressional Recognition to Crush MS for leader- ship and bringing the community together for such a worthy cause, and The National MS Society recently honored Kevin at the Silicon Valley Dinner of Champions by featuring his story at their fundraising event.

When he’s not working for his family business, Reid Family Vineyards, the fifth generation Californian and former public-school teacher enjoys supporting the community. He serves on the Board of the Napa Valley Education Foundation, which provides resources for students and faculty of the Napa Valley Unified School District.

Not one to miss a step, Kevin is already at work organizing the 7th Annual Crush MS Summer Celebration, which will be held on July 28, 2020. www.CrushMS.org

 

Cara Mae Wooledge, MPH

Intriguing Community Wellness Advocate

“Running a farmer’s market is like running a small city,” Cara Mae states as she bustles through the Napa Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning.

Her leadership and dedication to keeping the Farmers Market alive and vibrant for the people of Napa reflect her background and training in public health and provide the foundation that supports her passion for promoting health and wellness, a cause she has advocated for over ten years. Her charter goes beyond the Market offerings. She also manages the operations, which is no small feat. The market runs non-stop, which is unique to Napa since local vegetables and fruit are available year-round.

Cara Mae is actively involved in giving back to the less fortunate members of the community. She was instrumental in the success of building a partnership with Kaiser and acquiring a grant to fund a matching program that allocates double redemption on food stamps so recipients can optimize their purchases of fresh fruit and vegetables at the Market. The grant also provides local shelters with leftover food or cash to buy fresh produce to make healthy salads for its residents.

Cara Mae’s devotion to the health and wellness of the people of Napa Valley provides inspiration and benefits, which assure a bright and vital future for all members of the community.

 

Juan Pablo Torres-Padilla

Intriguing Visionary

At the helm of Sullivan Rutherford Estate since early 2018, Juan Pablo Torres-Padilla has a vision – to establish the most professional and wine-passionate team in pursuit of crafting the next ‘first growth’ wine from Napa Valley. Building on the 40-plus year foundation established by the original founder of the Estate he now owns, Torres-Padilla is determined to meld Sullivan’s rich history with both incremental and broad updates to the property to make it one of Napa Valley’s next iconic estates featuring state-of-the-art winemaking and world- class hospitality experiences. Born and raised in Mexico City, Torres-Padilla was introduced as a teen to the Burgundies and Bordeaux wines beloved by his maternal grandfather. His passion for wine flourished further during the 15 years he lived and studied in Paris where he earned a master’s degree in engineering and economics at France’s École Polytechnique, during which time he also made hundreds of visits to Burgundy, Champagne and Bordeaux, occasionally working harvests in the vineyard or cellar.

After earning a master’s degree in the fields of policy, business, and technology from MIT, Boston, he returned to Paris to work in telecommunications, but the wine bug had bitten. He and his Mexico-based uncle began to search for a vineyard to purchase in Burgundy or Bordeaux until their attention turned to the Napa Valley. Said Torres-Padilla, “Not only did I fall in love with Napa as I started visiting more frequently, but also I’m convinced that no other place in the world can match Napa Valley’s combination of history, world-class winemaking technology and infrastructure, pioneering spirit and leadership, and of course the American fervor for entrepreneurship, disruptive innovation, and ambition.

 

Rick Walker 

Intriguing Philanthropist

Rick Walker tends to shy away from the spotlight, but as co-founder of Festival Napa Valley, Napa’s marquee summer event, the humble entertainment lawyer is increasingly recognized as one of wine country’s most philanthropic citizens. It was 2006 when Walker introduced to Napa what was then known as Festival del Sole, a summer event that brought together top music, culinary, and winery talent in support of the arts. “Margrit Mondavi once told me, ‘if you don’t have a great museum in your town, you probably don’t have a great town’ – and the same applies to a great music festival,” said Walker. “The Festival was a natural step in Napa Valley’s evolution from a center of wine and food, to a cultural destination.” Today, the ten-day music and lifestyle festival, held in July, includes more than 200 participating artists, wineries, resorts, theaters, restaurants, chefs, and vintners, each dedicated to making the arts accessible to all. To date, the Festival’s annual Arts for All Gala has raised more than $13 million for Napa County public school arts education, and programs such as the Festival’s tuition-free Blackburn Music Academy, and summer camps for Boys & Girls Club students. “I think the community and the Festival are very proud of creating a bit of magic every summer,” said Walker. “We bring together fantastic artists who perform in beautiful settings – Napa Valley is our stage – creating special experiences. The result is an outpouring of interest and support for the programs we’ve developed with the schools, reaching every student in Napa County. We’ve seen firsthand how beneficial an introduction to the arts can be for young people.”

 

Leslie Silver L.AC.

Intriguing Wellness Practitioner

Leslie Silver brings the Napa community a current application of a classic paradigm of health. This understanding, which is the result of extensive study of Han Dynasty acupuncture, dates back to 206 BC. Her craft comes to life in her acupuncture practice, which blends ancient wisdom based medicine with practical insights, effectively treating a wide range of health challenges.

Leslie believes hidden in the rhythm of her patient’s pulse is a signature of their well-being. Taking her patient’s pulse with the multiple levels of information it yields is one of the most illuminating aspects of her acupuncture therapy.   Leslie considers over 27 pulse positions giving information on different aspects of the body’s major organs and their inter-relationships.

This includes critical life experiences that yield valuable information for treatment and diagnosis. She then establishes an assessment based on what she hears, feels and observes focusing on vital forces, which express themselves in one’s pulse, reflecting the way they move through the challenges of their lives. She reviews the images of the pulse readings with each patient, giving them an understanding of how to use that unique information to support their healing and wellbeing.

With a wide range of tools and a gift for connecting with her patients, Leslie creates a plan to empower each patient. Her generous approach in sharing time, as well as knowledge, creates an experience that includes prescribing supplements and formulas to take her patients closer to their health goals. When she is not in her acupuncture clinic she can be found offering personal growth services, personal coaching, tarot readings and teaching folks how to deepen their intuition to learn to read their own Tarot. Leslie’s intriguing approach to healing is uniquely equipped to understand individual, personalized experiences to customize health goals. www.silver-schedule.genbook.com

 

T Beller

Intriguing Virtuoso of Wine Country Experiences

T left the South to go to college, but the South has never left her. Her graceful hospitality (and pithy Southern colloquialisms) are the stuff of legends. Guests of her curated luxury tour business, Verve Napa Valley, leave wine country as old friends who can’t wait for their next visit.

Like her mother, a trailblazing civil rights attorney who loved metal sculpting, T blends artistic flair with serious brains and a formidable work ethic. She completed B.A.s in Psychology and Art from Stanford University, with advanced degrees in the fields of Counseling, Education, and Design.

Long before there was Festival Napa Valley, BottleRock, and rotating art exhibitions all over downtown, T was leading the crusade to nurture the arts in Napa Valley. She co-founded Napa Valley Arts and Lectures as well as the Napa Valley Film Society, and served as an appointed member of the Napa County Commission for Arts and Culture.

Her career path to Verve has been as colorful as her personality, with stints as a marketing and outreach consultant, interior and graphic designer, event planner, art concierge, and co-founder of River School, Napa County’s first charter school — to name a few

Verve is far more than a wine tour company. T shows her guests facets of wine country only long-time locals get to see — secret gardens, lesser-known hiking trails, cheese & beer tastings, private art collections and garden-to- glass mixology classes, to name a few.

Since starting Verve in 2012, T’s grown a cult following for her sabrage lessons. She says she’s probably sliced open almost 1,000 bottles of bubbly over the years, and has trained several thousands of people how to do it safely at home.

Verve’s success centers around tailoring every itinerary to the guest, ensuring every tour fits as perfectly as a red suede saber glove.

 

Kisha & Jason Itkin

Intriguing Vintners

When Kisha and Jason Itkin first visited the Diamond Mountain property they would come to own as Theorem Vineyards, it was love at first sight. The Houston based couple recognized the property’s potential and understood that the site’s unique location – with its minimal fog, abundant sunlight, and volcanic soils – would yield greatness in the vineyard and in their finished wines. “It may sound clichéd, but something about that spectacular property called to us,” says Kisha, whose scientific background lends itself well to her role as Theorem’s president. “We could not necessarily articulate the feeling, but Jason and I both knew that we were meant to do something together on this special site.” Their efforts included the rescue and restoration of several historically significant buildings (including a one-room schoolhouse) dating to the mid- 1800s, the construction of a new cellar and tasting salon, and the preservation and replanting of the vineyard which had suffered from neglect. With the help of consulting winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown and Vineyard Manager Josh Clark, they slowly coaxed the vineyard back to greatness. Their flagship Voir Dire (a wink to Jason’s legal profession) and Hawk’s Prey Diamond Mountain Estate Cabernets are delicious testimonies to their efforts.

“We are not interested in trying to conform to any wine industry norm,” said Kisha. “We strive to showcase the best characteristics of what we can grow and produce, yet our motivation in founding Theorem goes beyond a love of wine. Over time we hope our daughter Alia will become imbued with our same sense of wonder and that she finds as strong a connection to the property as we have.”

 

Ira Yeager

Intriguing Local Artist

From the verdant valleys of Napa to the eighteenth century courtly French painters he often emulates, Ira Yeager derives inspiration from the many places he has at one time called home: Florence, Corfu, Tangiers, Santa Fe, New York City, San Francisco, and, since 1978, Calistoga. Born in 1938 in Bellingham, Washington, Yeager began drawing at the age of eight. His innate talent eventually led him to the California College of Arts and Crafts in San Francisco where he studied with Richard Diebenkorn, and then to the San Francisco Art Institute under the tutelage of Elmer Bischoff. Though he traveled and painted throughout the world, even the most exotic locales held no candle to the California Wine Country way of life to which he aspired to the role of ‘noble farmer,’ in the same way that the French nobility once escaped Paris for Versailles. A romantic nostalgia for this particular era permeates his artworks; members of the trades and guilds and humble peasants are frequent subjects, each whimsically portrayed with broad and bold brush strokes. Equally important within his portfolio is his series of Indian paintings, a theme to which he has returned again and again. Other subjects include Venetian masks, portraits, still life’s, and even eighteenth-century chaussures. Yeager loves the weather, the escapism, and the creative energy of wine country; much of his artistic output takes place in his Napa Valley Studio on the plateau of the Petrified Forest region above Calistoga. Yeager’s work has been showcased for many years in Laura Rombauer’s Napa Valley Vintage Home in St. Helena, and now as well at the new YEAGER GALLERY in Calistoga.

 

Ray Hanson

Intriguing Jack of Many Trades

Ray Hanson doesn’t retire well. The firefighter tried in 2009, but he soon was busy again.

Fortunately, he had 650 Cabernet Sauvignon vines growing in his acre lot in Coombsville that had been sold to Caymus Vineyards, so he started making about 3,500 bottles of wine under the Destiny Family brand.He also started offering wine tours, buying a limousine and both driving and hiring a driver, often retired or off-duty police officers. Operating as Destiny Wine Tours, he gets business mostly by word of mouth from previous customers, some of the best customers for Destiny wine, too. Otherwise it’s only sold online.

He became the private driver for Michael and Isabel Mondavi yet found time to build a wine cellar containing an old tasting bar from Robert Mondavi Winery and a 100-year-old fire pole, plus 12,600 pennies he and his daughter embedded in a resin floor.

Hanson’s most inspired venture, however, is an homage to both him and his father, a former fire captain in Oakland: He bought a 1929 La France fire truck in Shelbyville, Indiana, brought it back and converted it into a wine and beer wagon. He added refrigeration and four taps and now offers drinks at parties, weddings and company events. He even scored the license plate “Eng 29”.

Hanson is now building out a 28-ft. trailer and has a new Land Rover for tours. He’s not likely to retire again any time soon.

 

Marcus Marquez

Intriguing Change Agent

Marcus fell in love with the food and wine scene of Napa Valley in the late 1990s when working at The Kitchen in Sacramento. As the manager and one of the wine buyers, he was very proud of the Wine Spectator award they received for the wine list he had curated. While building The Kitchen, he simultaneously worked for Paul Bullard as a Wine Rep and handled 36 different wineries in the Napa Valley representing legendary winemakers such as Philippe Melka, Heidi Barrett, Helen Turley, and Celia Welch, to name a few. In 2005, Marcus branched out on his own and he and his wife opened a restaurant called L Wine Lounge and Urban Kitchen, a wine bar, retail space and cocktail lounge with farm-to-table food.

Marcus has been pivotal in the transformation of St. Helena’s food and wine scene. He was one of the original partners and GM of Goose & Gander, which introduced the mixology concept to Napa Valley. In 2015, he accepted a position to develop one of the most exciting and promising properties in Napa Valley, Brasswood Estate. Over the past several years, he has turned this property into a lifestyle destination with a world-class restaurant, premium winemaking facility, tasting rooms, and an art gallery.

Most recently, he was brought on board by winemaker Joe Wagner to help develop and launch downtown Napa’s new neighborhood restaurant, AVOW.

Marcus’s two decade tenure consulting people and businesses all over Northern California has made him realize that it is all about relationship building and creating the right team for the right projects. If he learns about something one wishes to do or create, he will do what it takes to help make it happen.

He says with a smile, “Be careful of what you say because someone could be listening.”

Even with his busy schedule running Brasswood, Marcus is always looking for somewhere else he can make an impact in the community. When he is not putting in time as the Chair of the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce or as Board member of the Boys & Girls Club of St.Helena/Calistoga, he is working on the second edition of his book “100 Things to Do in Napa Before You Die”.

 

Kerrin Laz

Intriguing Wine Aficionado

When Kerrin Laz joined Dean & DeLuca in 2003 as wine buyer for the Washington DC store, she had little experience in the field of wine. Today, Laz oversees two eponymous Napa Valley tasting rooms – in Yountville and at CIA Copia in Downtown Napa – and is one of the most trusted consultants in the wine business. Considered a California wine authority, Laz is courted by every new winery hoping to make an impact in the industry, and her clients include many of the country’s top CEOs, celebrities, athletes, and other influencers who place their trust in her. Each of her tasting rooms offers customized, by-appointment-only, private wine tastings for the most discriminating palates and enthusiastic wine lovers who look to Laz and her team for invaluable insider perspectives on the people, places, and trends within California’s wine industry. “We ask guests on which winery mailing lists they are active, and what wineries they’ll be visiting to give us insight into their style preferences,” said Laz. “We’ve hosted more than 500 tastings and haven’t offered the same tasting twice.” In 2016, Laz added ‘vintner’ to her title when she released the inaugural vintage of her private wine label, LAZ Wine, produced in partnership with famed winemaker Celia Welch and served at some of Napa’s most revered restaurants.

But despite her varied wine industry successes, Laz is most proud of her work with the Alzheimer’s Association. In honor of her mother, she founded ‘Inspire Napa Valley,’ utilizing her vast network to raise more than $2 million to date.

 

Paul Lange

Intriguing Storyteller

Napa Valley is filled with performers, broadcasters, showmen, hucksters, and barkers. Some have even mastered the fine art of storytelling. A few of those have honed the most compelling skill a storyteller can acquire; the ability to know when not to speak and when to listen.

This is what makes Paul Lange so intriguing – he has that ability. Originally from Tallahassee in Florida, Paul joined the Navy, then discovered he loved performing and spent twelve years in the acting profession in New York. After getting married, he and his wife Danielle decided to head out west and in time they landed in Napa Valley. He is Assistant Tasting Room Manager at ZD Wines.

Earlier this year he decided to launch a project called ‘People of Wine Country.’ He puts his performer hat to one side and becomes a compassionate listener. Soft-spoken and intent, he draws out his subject’s most intimate stories with casual precision. His project participants reflect the diversity of Napa Valley and come from all walks of life. Paul’s stories are honest but forgiving. He intends to use this project to publish a book of the same name in 2020. Paul also takes very creative and professional photographs after the interviews. This helps him “see” his story subjects in a more complete way. In return for their participation, Paul gifts these photos to his subjects to use as they wish.

To be a powerful storyteller you don’t need to acquire outlandish experiences like traveling to a foreign land or climbing an inaccessible mountain peak. Like Paul, all you have to do is look at your world a little closer and listen a little harder. He discovered his stories all around him, because as he has said, “The heart of every region is the people.”

 

Bettina Rouas of Angele

Intriguing Restauranteur

Being born into her family, Bettina Rouas was almost predestined to own a restaurant like Angèle. She was born and raised in San Francisco, where her father Claude Rouas owned famed L’Etoile, and her uncle owned equally renowned Fleur de Lys. Her father went on to launch Auberge du Soliel in 1981, where Bettina spent a lot of time in the kitchen. Her tenure includes working at Piatti with Giovanni and Donna Scala before joining them when they opened Bistro Don Giovanni and spent four years working in Yountville’s Michelin Star corridor, including four years at the French Laundry.

In the early 2000s, Bettina presented a proposal to her Father to open Angèle. Named after her mother, who died in World War II, it opened in the newly restored Napa Mill in December 2002. “It’s very French, an ode to my family,” she states, especially after a return to her roots four years ago. As in France, they use local organic produce.

Angèle’s casual vibe and delicious French fare have remained a mainstay on Napa’s list of dining options for locals and visitors alike for the past 17 years. Her success is attributable to her dedication to sourcing organic, local foods and treating all of her customers well – and they keep returning.

 

Scott Goldie

Intriguing Investor in the Community

Scott Goldie, the president of the Napa Valley Wine Train, has so much happening at work that it’s a challenge to learn more about him personally. The train is a natural for Goldie, whose grandfather was a railroad engineer, but he was born in Montana and grew up in Washington.

He studied international finance at George Washington University and got his MBA at Kellogg at Northwestern. His company is called Brooks Street and has evolved from a broker to an owner and operator of major projects. Its investments from San Diego to Napa include a plant nursery and cannabis farm in Santa Cruz, a hemp farm in Monterey and Santa Cruz and the new Angels stadium in Anaheim.

Goldie heads the Napa Valley Wine Train, which has been expanding dramatically under his leadership since they bought the train with Noble House Hotels & Resorts in 2015. The train came with 17 parcels in the valley not needed for train operations. Brooks Street has proposed a hotel with a grand train station to replace the existing station. It wants to build 55 employee housing units on the present Greenburg Motors lot. Noble House also owns the River Terrace Inn.Brooks Street owns Food City, the 1942 shopping center at Jefferson and Old Sonoma Road, and has proposed turning that space into a modern marketplace. It bought the First and Franklin tourist center and is transforming it into another marketplace and deli and also owns the Gelow, Borrenson building on the River at Soscol, where it plans a brewery, a distillery and apartments on the river. It’s a major supporter of the Rail Arts District displaying art along the tracks through Napa.

That all keeps Goldie busy, but when he’s not working, he loves to travel. He has three motorcycles and a 55 ft. Hatteras yacht in Emeryville for fun, but he’s too busy to fully enjoy them.

 

Paul Fields

Intriguing Executive Chef Who Gives Back

Paul Fields has a colorful history during his past 25 years living in Napa Valley. Trained as an ironworker, he helped build Oracle Park and the International Terminal at SFO. He also spent time as a correctional officer at San Quentin. While living in wine country, Paul developed a deep appreciation for quality food and wine and eventually pivoted his sights to embark on a culinary career. Over the years he developed a broad and comprehensive skill set working for Silverado Country Club, Mandarin Oriental Hotel in San Francisco, the Pebble Beach Company, and Oenotri, one of the Bay Areas’ Top 100 rated restaurants. When he was offered the opportunity to become Executive Chef at Napa’s award-winning Inn on Randolph, he found his niche creating interesting dishes using fresh, local ingredients.

In 2016 he decided to start his own business, Twenty-Below, a catering concept focused on creating multi-course food and wine menus served in intimate settings for twenty people or less. While in the throes of recognized success, Paul was approached to become the Executive Chef/Instructor to run the Napa Valley Salvation Army Culinary Training Academy, a program designed to help adults coming out of hardship, homelessness, and substance abuse by offering them a second-chance to re-enter the workforce. Inspired by the opportunity he would have to help make a difference, he didn’t think twice.

Paul trains the culinary students through a 15-week course teaching them everything from safe knife skills, sautéing, and planning menus. Graduates are offered jobs through partner- ships in the hospitality industry. The program is changing lives. Since its launch, 87% of the program graduates have entered the workforce in the culinary field. In 2019, Paul expanded the program with the opening of Provisions café in the Napa Commons Business Park to serve as both a training location and a source of funding for the Culinary Training Academy.

Paul’s busy career took another exciting turn this year when he was asked to become chef to Grammy award-winning artist Zach Williams during his 22 concert tour throughout the United States. The eight-week tour has Paul serving up delicious dinners for groups of 50 or more VIP’s for Zach’s “Meat and Greet” events before each show.

Paul’s passion for helping others, his focus on making food a foundational part of what life is all about, and the unwavering support from his wife Julie, inspire him to keep up the pace. Paul says “The work we put in is worth its rewards. Cooking and food are means to community, and a way to instantly make someone’s day.”

 

Lowell Downey & Janna Waldinger

Intriguing Photographers

Art & Clarity Celebrates 25 years of creating the extraordinary in Napa

“Most of us pick up a camera, click the shutter, and have a snapshot. Lowell Downey and Janna Waldinger, click the shutter, and weave magic”, wrote Jim Brumm, local journalist and business consultant in Napa Valley.

Art & Clarity, a photography and multimedia company, is celebrating twenty-five years in Napa. Owners Janna Waldinger and Lowell Downey are considered dependable experts in their field, having survived recessions, a digital revolution, and a couple of earthquakes. The artistic duo’s innovation, professionalism, and resiliency enabled them to quickly establish themselves as a leading photography company in the Bay Area. From creating winery brand imagery, portraits to wedding, event and architectural photography, the long-lasting value of their work consistently exceeds their client’s expectations.

Over the years they have photographed Napa Valley icons, local heroes, and intriguing people and have been instrumental contributors to Napa Valley Life Magazine, producing a majority of their covers. Janna and Lowell have a robust portfolio of individual clients and are honored to photograph weddings and important family events. “Frequently clients come to us for a family or professional portrait, yet feel very uncomfortable in front of a camera,” says Lowell. “Sharing the images as we go helps to put them at ease. We have fun, and our clients walk away happy.”

Their photography and video assignments and commissions have taken them around the globe. Their art has been exhibited all around Napa Valley, including the Napa Valley Museum and in galleries and exhibitions on the west coast and beyond. This year they were honored to have their work on display at the Lincoln Theater, throughout the new Ole Health Facility, and at Peju Winery in the Rutherford Room where visitors can see their poetic vision of the Napa Valley. Several years ago they launched their Art of Seeing Adventures, which was published in the New York Times as one of the top ten photography adventures in the world. During this adventure, they teach their audience how to see differently, with or without the camera, and experience the natural world.

Art & Clarity’s clients include leading Napa Valley and Sonoma wineries, Queen of Valley Hospital, Napa Valley College, Doctors Company, and businesses throughout the Bay Area. “Lowell is the consummate professional photographer – highly detailed and passionately committed to getting just the ‘right’ images that will tell the story instantaneously,” said Karen MacNeil, wine consultant and author of The Wine Bible. Lowell’s poetic eye has its roots in training he received at New York University where he earned a Master’s of Fine Arts Degree in Dramatic Writing. He is currently an adjunct professor teaching photography at Napa Valley College.

Janna has touched the lives of many in Napa through her camera and her community commitment. “Janna is an incredibly talented photographer and trust I her implicitly with my important events” shares Jan Sabo.

“I’m an out-of-the-box artist,” Janna says, “My father was a building contractor and professional photographer. He gave me a toolbox and a camera at the age of five. He taught me to see the world through the artist’s perspective. My mother served on the faculty of the School of Social Welfare at UCLA and instilled in me the qualities of community service. Having studied psychology and personality systems, I blend creative insights with the commitment to serve those in need throughout all my work.”

Janna and Lowell have influenced the lives of many in Napa Valley by volunteering to support community nonprofits. Following the birth of their son, Forest, Janna took an active role in education and has served on the Napa Board of Education for the past 22 years. She was active in supporting Stone Bridge School and the founding of the Waldorf-inspired Credo High School. Bringing together all these skills, she now holds a position as mentor for the vulnerable yet resilient students being served by the not for profit foundation, If Given a Chance. “I come from a creative mindset, “says Janna, “having spent a lifetime gathering tools to foster wellbeing. I passionate about supporting people to show up well, have skills to achieve a mindset for success.”

Janna and Lowell built Art & Clarity with a contagious and never-ending source of creativity. As artists, they are dedicated to bringing Art & Clarity into the world. www.ArtClarity.com