Anthony Beckman
Balletto Vineyards & Winery
Russian River Valley
Beckman gave up a job as a news journalist in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia for a job in San Francisco with a biotech website. That led to his exploration of Sonoma wine and yet another career change: winemaking. He earned an enology degree at UC Davis and worked his way up to become Balletto’s winemaker in early 2009. His talent put two wines on our Top 100: a lovely 2014 Rosé of Pinot Noir and a silky red Pinot Noir.

Ana Keller
Keller Estate
Petaluma Gap
Trained in biochemistry, Ana Keller’s move to winemaking was a natural. A passion for plants didn’t hurt. Keller (seen in photo with her husband, Diego Tomda) works with her winemaking mate, Alex Holman, to produce brisk, focused Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from Keller’s Petaluma Gap estate vineyard east of Petaluma, where wind and fog from the Pacific Ocean preserve the fresh acidity inherent in the grapes. The Keller 2012 La Cruz Vineyard Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, a Top 100 selection, reflects how fruit grown in a chilly climate can be transformed into elegant, food-friendly wines.

Steve Law
MacLaren Wine Co.
Sonoma
Born in Scotland, a resident of France for 10 years, and well-versed in French wine, Law brought a European sensibility to MacLaren, a small winery in Sonoma founded in 2007 by him and his wife, Heather.
Their focus is on cool-climate Syrah, although his 2014 Sauvignon Blanc from Dry Creek Valley knocked our socks off to earn a Top 100 spot.

Brian & Janice Schmidt
Estate 1856
Dry Creek Valley
“Who are these guys?” 2015 North Coast Wine Challenge judges asked when they learned they had awarded 97 points to the Estate 1856 Tzabaco Rancho Vineyard Duvall’s Prospect Cabernet Sauvignon from
Dry Creek Valley. The “guys” are the husband and wife team of Brian and Janice Schmidt; his family has farmed a portion of the former Tzabaco Rancho property in Dry Creek Valley for six generations, with Brian
helping his family transition to vineyards. Janice cut her winemaking teeth for 20 years at Jordan Vineyard & Winery, where she worked with its winemaker, Rob Davis, and legendary consultant Andre Tchelistcheff.

Steven Urberg
Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards
Carneros
Behind every executive winemaker — Bob Iantosca in this case — is a hands-on, day-to-day winemaker who doesn’t always get the credit deserved. Urberg is that guy, taking over most of the winemaking decisions at this sparkling- and still-wine producer. After 20 years with Gloria Ferrer, Iantosca has taken on more marketing responsibilities, but not before becoming the most-awarded sparkling wine maker in the U.S. Urberg, a Detroit native with a chemistry background, has filled Iantosca’s shoes admirably, as evidenced by his two bubblies that cracked the Top 100.

No Wine Country is too far for Nick Goldschmidt. The winemaker’s home base is Healdsburg, and his Cabernet Sauvignons and Merlots from Alexander and Dry Creek valleys are typically terrific
(two made our Top 100).

Once the Sonoma Crush is over, Goldschmidt hops on an airplane for New Zealand, Chile, Argentina or some other far-flung country, as a
consulting winemaker for 26 wineries. It’s a brutal life of travel, winemaking and sales calls across two hemispheres, but his five kids are
mostly grown, and Goldschmidt seems to thrive under the pressure. He was once asked, “How do you get it all done?” “I don’t do any of it very well,” he replied with a laugh.

He lied.

A New Zealand native, Goldschmidt moved to Sonoma full time in 1989 and was hired as associate winemaker at Simi Winery under Zelma Long and Paul Hobbs a year later. He became Simi’s chief winemaker in 1991, and later rose to vice-president positions at Allied Domecq Wines USA and Beam Estates.

Convinced that Alexander and Dry Creek valleys are ideal for growing Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Goldschmidt’s own Goldschmidt Vineyards brand focuses on those varietals (there’s also a rogue Napa
Cab). Under his Forefathers label comes an Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Other Goldschmidt brands include Trig Point (Sonoma Coast), Fidelity (Alexander Valley), Chelsea Goldschmidt (Alexander and Dry Creek valleys), Katherine
Goldschmidt (Alexander Valley), Boulder Bank (New Zealand) and Chacras (Argentina).

This doesn’t count the wineries for which he
consults. Whew.

Open for a little more than a year, Hamel Family Wines is one of Sonoma’s most stylish — and ambitious — wineries. Evidence of that ambition? Owners George and Pam Hamel brought in Martha McClellan, one of Napa Valley’s most accomplished winemakers, to work with their winemaker son, John B. Hamel II, and their estate-grown grapes.

McClellan and her husband, longtime Harlan Estate winemaker Bob Levy, have their own Napa Valley label, Levy & McClellan, a tiny-production, Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine that is being offered by a Napa Valley fine-wine shop for $600 a bottle. Her winemaking
skills are also behind the success of the Checkerboard Vineyard and Vineyard 7 & 8 Napa brands.

While living in Germany, McClellan graduated from Geisenheim University, the only American woman to complete a degree in enology and viticulture there. She worked six vintages (1995-2000) at Harlan Estate in Napa Valley, which led to similarly prestigious positions and consulting work throughout Napa Valley. At Hamel, she produces Sauvignon Blanc, rosé, Isthmus (a Bordeaux-style red blend) and our Top 100 pick, an estate Zinfandel.

They all show the finesse of an experienced winemaking hand. That Hamel looked to a Napa winemaker doesn’t mean its wines will automatically be outstanding, or better than anything else produced in Sonoma. It means that the winery found the right fit.

Cinsault , Lagrein, Mourvedre, Tannat, Teroldego … not your everyday grape varieties in Sonoma, but they’re a big part of Joe Benziger’s life.

As winemaker at Imagery Estate Winery, Benziger never met a wine grape he didn’t like. Sure, he produces more recognizable wines, too, such as Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, yet it’s the oddballs he embraces, from grapes he says are too good to get swallowed up in blends. They deserve to stand on their own.

Take Barbera. The workhorse grape in the Northern Italy region of Piedmont, it produces wines with high acidity and crunchy tannins. Imagery’s version is a bit softer and fruitier, with full body and deep, rich flavors, yet retains the expected refreshing acidity. Sodelicious is the 2012 Imagery Sonoma Valley Barbera that it won the Best of Show Red award at the 2015 North Coast Wine Challenge. Benziger’s 2012 Pine
Mountain-Cloverdale Peak Teroldego, another obscure (for here) variety, won a gold medal.

Case production of his wines is typically limited, and most are sold in the Glen Ellen tasting room. They come adorned with labels bearing contemporary art commissioned by Imagery art curator Bob Nugent.

In June 2015, Benziger’s family sold Imagery and the flagship Benziger Family Winery, also in Glen Ellen, to San Francisco-based The Wine Group. Joe is expected to continue making the Imagery wines, and keep the Sonoma diversity drive going.