2020 Valravn Chardonnay Sonoma Coast

Valravn is a young winery established in 2014 by Baron Ziegler who is a native of Minnesota who began buying Bordeaux futures at the age of 15. Later, the sales funded the down payment for a Boston condo while in college at Boston University. By 21 he was managing three stores and purchasing wines by the container. Baron then deferred medical school to work for a James Beard award-winning wine importer, Eric Solomon. After managing most of the East Coast for five years, he took over the role of national sales director, where he ran all aspects of sales for the next five years.

The winemaker, Rob Fischer is a native of Napa, Rob had no plans to pursue the valley’s natural professional path in winemaking, but that quickly changed when he landed a job in the tasting room at Domaine Carneros. What was intended to be a summer job soon turned into a series of fortuitous opportunities that quickly jumpstarted Rob’s winemaking career. After many years of wine trainings, Rob joined Etude Wines in 2009 as associate winemaker, and for the next 9 years advanced to winemaker positions at Etude, Lyric and Beaulieu Vineyards (Treasury Estates) and Valravn.