Winemaking has been my passion since 1971. A home winemaker since college days, I enrolled in the Graduate School at U.C. Davis in 1975. Studying Enology and Viticulture was an opportunity to work with some of the famous pioneers of California winemaking. Davis launched my career that has now lasted almost 50 years and is comprised of diverse worldwide wine related experiences. Working in wineries and vineyards has taken me from the Napa Valley to New Zealand, Healdsburg (CA), Santa Clara (CA) to Australia and back to the Napa Valley and Sonoma County. Working in all facets of production, from cellar to field work, lab tech to winemaker has led to the fulfillment of a lifelong goal to produce my own wine.Branham Estate Wines (BEW) began in 1989 with the purchase of the Branham Rockpile Vineyard and my first plantings in 1994. My ranch consists of 410 acres of wilderness located in Northwest Sonoma County. Once a part of the historic Rock Pile Ranch the land is included in one of Sonoma County's newest AVAs Rockpile. Branham Rockpile Vineyard now consists of 18 acres planted with diverse varieties, including: Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Syrah, Aglianico, Grenache Noir, Grenache Blanc, and Movedre. BEW expanded with the purchase of 10 acres in Napa Valley in 1997, planted with Cabernet Sauvignon.
I grow 100% of all fruit utilized in my wines. My first wine produced under the Branham label was the 1999 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. I am dedicated to producing high quality, hand-crafted wines, from estate grown grapes.
Fifty-one Years! Where has the time gone? In October 2026 I finished my 51st harvest. It's a little late, but I wanted to provide an update on my life now. 2015 was the year of big changes, when I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. As you can imagine, all aspects of my life came into acute focus: my spouse, my family and my career that I truly love. Fortunately, as of this writing, the Parkinson's is slow moving and manageable. I still, however, needed to slow down and make adjustments. I began to produce less wine, travel less and saved my energy to finally complete long ago scheduled vineyard and varietal plantings.
Two major decisions evolved from my new outlook. I began to sell, rather than produce, the fruit grown in both Napa and Sonoma counties, but keeping select blocks for wine production. The second, and most emotional decision I made was to sell my Napa Obsidian vineyard in 2022. I focused all of my energy on the Branham Rockpile. My 2021 Jazz will be the last Napa wine I produced. All wines that I now produce are solely labeled "Branham Rockpile." Of note, my very popular Resolution. brand has been discontinued--it was an unfortunate kerfuffle. Thus, I will still be grateful to make and bottle the same quality of Branham wines, and, look for new varietals very soon. Thank you for your continuing support and interest.
If you are interested in the current science, discoveries and breakthroughs regarding Parkinson's treatments, please visit:The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research