Penelope Gadd-Coster
The expert behind the most famous sparkling in America
If it's famous and fizzy, chances are – Penelope's the talent behind it. As Director of Winemaking for the top sparkling production company in CA, she’s made hundreds of iconic bubbles over the years!
Discretion is key here – when you work with prestigious sparkling houses like she does, you keep the name dropping to a minimum. But it's fair to say her talent has influenced the famous sparkling you know and love.
With 30+ years of winemaking under her belt, Penelope is an expert at making those wines to spec. But thanks to you and her friends at Breathless (a female-led Healdsburg winery) she’s making exclusive sparkling of her very own. For the very first time!
Nicholas & Marshall Miller
USA
The 5th generation to tend to California's biggest name vineyards
2,523 Ratings
2,580 Followers
Brothers Nicholas and Marshall Miller are 5th generation farmers, and they’ve tended to the most famous vineyards along the California coast – Bien Nacido and French Camp – practically since birth.
Seriously, put those vineyards’ names in an internet browser. Hundreds of famous and pricey wines pop up – but none have the Miller name on the bottle. Why? When you have famous fruit like theirs, it’s promised to other winemakers years in advance…
With your funding, they signed a new contract – with themselves. Now, these grape growers-turned-producers are making their own wines from the coastal land they love so dearly – including Santa Barbara and Paso Robles. This is what Angel support is all about!
- Stephen is no stranger to gold medals, but usually his prestigious employers are the only ones in the limelight.
- We offered Stephen some Angel funding to set aside some of his favorites wines and vineyards to make a special range with his name on the label just for us, and he jumped at the opportunity.
- If you like underdogs, Stephen's your man. He will find the over-looked and under-appreciated and he will take precious care to make sure they grow into big, beautiful wines that deserve more attention.
- "Best of California" in 2012, David was Director of Winemaking for Robert Mondavi's Woodbridge for 25 years.
- He was at the helm of Lodi's largest winery and is a fastidious and dedicated winemaker, the kind you expect to find in the world's most competitive and prestigious wine regions.
- David is a master in a undiscovered region. If you like to taste the next big thing while it's still totally underground, he is your winemaker.
Scott Peterson
USA
Defining Californian winemaking. Rich, generous, and take-no-prisoner.
162,745 Ratings
18,874 Followers
- Scott was an integral part of the Kendall-Jackson winemaking team when KJ was defining California Chardonnay in the 90's. That Cali Chardonnay style is known all over the world as unctuous, ripe, full-throttled.
- He loves working with Angel funding because you let him make the wines he wants to in the way he wants to make them -- He's old school, and he doesn't want to make a new style of wine just because it's fashionable.
- If you like gloriously rich Californian wine that takes no prisoners, go and buy everything Scott makes. You will not regret it.
- With more top ratings than any other Nakedwines.com Winemaker, our UK Angels selected Stephen as Winemaker of the Year, 2009.
- Growing his grapes in the stunningly beautiful Robertson Valley, Stephen De Wet is the 15th generation to be making wines on his farm.
- And the critics agree. He has won Double Gold not once but twice! Double Gold Veritas Wine Awards 2003 and Michelangelo Double Gold 2007. He also won Best Value Wine Award for 6 years running, Wine Magazine, 2006 to 2011.
Karen Birmingham
USA
Your highest-rated female winemaker of 2018 - crafting you fruit-forward wines with elegance and finesse
131,120 Ratings
17,370 Followers
- Karen Birmingham proved her incredible talent working for years at sustainable winery LangeTwins (with David Akiyoshi).
- And Angel funding is helping her start her own project that features breathtaking grape varietals many Lodi wineries are afraid of playing with
- But Karen's delicate touch always brings out the best in the fruit and really makes these grapes shine in the warm, sandy soils she calls home.
Benjamin Darnault
France
Magician of the Minervois, French winemaker extraordinaire
107,640 Ratings
18,202 Followers
- Consultant oenologist Benjamin Darnault has clients all over the South of France. Which means he gets to cherry-pick the very best grapes the region has to offer.
- When you gave Benjamin the money he needed to set up on his own, you made his dream come true. Your reward is these superb wines at astonishingly reasonable prices.
- Voted 'Winemaker of the Year 2011' by our UK Angels-- we're sure you'll love him too. (click 'read more' to view video)
Jacqueline Bahue
USA
An incredible Napa talent - you discovered her first!
104,509 Ratings
14,389 Followers
Jacqueline landed a prestigious winemaking gig in her early twenties - and has spent a decade’s worth of harvests in wine capitals including Umbria, Ribera del Duero, Hawke’s Bay, Sonoma and Napa, collaborating with hundreds of Angel-funded winemakers along the way. To say she’s a brilliant talent is putting it lightly!
You put her in charge of the winemaking team at your Angel-funded winery, where she built a state-of-the-art facility from scratch. In the 4 years she spent working as your Director of Winemaking, she nurtured thousands of your exclusive wines from barrel to bottle – including her own decadent Pinot and Cabernet Franc with sky-rocketing ratings.
Now, Jacqueline’s set on her next adventure, and she's defining California wines for a new generation. Keep your eye on her - we’re prepared for this woman to take over the world.
Macario Montoya
USA
Spanish-variety specialist makes high-end Californian wine
90,952 Ratings
11,893 Followers
- Macario’s been a cellar rat doing all the grunt work at super premium wineries in Napa and Sonoma. But it's always Cab Cab Cab.
- He's gotten a lot of attention for using Mediterranean grapes in California. But he keeps hearing that his wines are "too edgy for the market to handle".
- He's just edgy enough for the Angels, and we are stunned at what Mediterranean grapes can do in Californian soil with the guidance of an experienced winemaker.
