Born in Lodi, CA on a dairy farm, Keith Meitz grew up surrounded by agriculture, farming, and grapes.  After serving in Vietnam, Keith enrolled in UC Berkley to study chemistry and mi. In 1974, Keith became interested in the process of making wine.  His chemistry background helped him understand the process, and he was able to purchase a vineyard in Healdsburg in 1978. After studying the soil, climate, and structure of his land, Keith replaced the existing zinfandel grapes with merlot grapes, and began selling his fruit to some of the most prestigious wineries in the 1980s. He began producing wine under his own label (Meitz Cellars) in 1989, and has won numerous awards since.

As a grower, Keith describes the vineyard as being “like a child”-needing attention and thriving when it gets the attention it needs.  As a winemaker, Keith’s philosophy is minimal interference.  He prefers to allow the fruit to become exquisite wine with as little interference as possible.  Maximal care for the fruit and minimal interference in wine production has helped Keith become one of Sonoma County’s foremost wine makers.

John Clendenen is widely recognized as one of Sonoma County’s most gifted and knowledgeable grape growers. Responsible and effective farming have been a part of his roots and education since childhood. He grew up working the land on his family’s apple farm in Humboldt County before earning a B.S. in Natural Resources from Humboldt State University.  After a stint in the U.S. Forest Service, John moved to the Dry Creek Valley where he joined the Preston Vineyards team in 1977. He worked as Preston’s vineyard manager for almost two decades before establishing Clendenen Vineyard Management with his wife, Kathy.  At the core of their philosophy is balancing a sense of the agricultural past with modern innovative vineyard practices.

John is past president and a longtime board member of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Association. He also served as the president of the Sonoma County Vineyard Technical Group and helped to found the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission. John and his wife, Kathy, live on their own four-acre vineyard in the northern Dry Creek Valley.

Robert Green’s fondness for the Sonoma wine region started nearly two decades ago during frequent visits. As the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Robert Green Company, a commercial real estate development firm founded more than 15 years ago, his experience includes the design, construction and development of large-scale mixed-use, luxury hospitality projects. Robert has primarily developed world-renowned hotels and resorts, such as the Park Hyatt Resort Aviara, the Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole, the Four Seasons Hotel Palo Alto, Pendry San Diego, and Montage Healdsburg.

On a quest for the next great luxury hotel site, he began visiting the wine country and quickly understood the uniqueness of the area of Sonoma County. He selected 258 acres of beautiful oak woodlands in the Alexander Valley with an existing 12 acres of  Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to become the Montage Healdsburg.  Robert states, “We were attracted the site for two reasons; it is situated in the appellation wine region of Alexander Valley and the site offered the land necessary to build a luxury hotel. ” Closing the purchase of the property in 2005, Robert spent the next several years recruiting a world-class team of winemakers to begin a custom crush operation. While selling the majority of the grapes to renowned wineries, Robert held aside select grapes for his own label. In 2007, he began planting and cultivating four different Bordeaux varietals which reached maturity in 2012.