Winemaker

Jeffrey Fontanella

In September of 2005, Jeff Fontanella came on board as a winemaker at Partridge Cellars. Jeff is a graduate of the University of California at Davis and holds a degree in Viticulture and Enology. Jeff began his winemaking career working in the cellars of Opus One and ZD and soon after took a position at one of Napa’s great cult wineries, Saddleback Cellars. At Saddleback, Jeff sharpened his winemaking skills under the tutelage of Nils Venge whom Robert Parker named as one of the 20 most influential winemakers in the world. During his tenure at Saddleback, Jeff was able to hone in on his stylistic approach to winemaking while reinforcing his technical training in the art.  While challenged with the task of producing wines from 13 different varietals, Jeff was able to display his versatility as a winemaker and learned how important the marriage of proper vineyard selection and appropriate winemaking technique are in producing great wines.

It is this philosophy that Jeff brought with him when he joined Partridge Cellars and one that serves as a cornerstone to his winemaking style.  Prioritizing the selection and monitoring of vineyards used in the production of Partridge wines, Jeff is intimately involved with the viticulture practices used in the vineyards he has selected for us. It is from this point that Jeff is able to extract the true potential of each vineyard through the delicate and strategic process of shepherding the grapes from crush to bottle.

Jeff and his wife Karen just finished building a state of the art winemaking facility at their property located on Mt. Veeder in Napa Valley.  In addition to the excitement of building a new winery, Jeff and Karen welcomed into the world a baby boy by the name of John Henry Fontanella in July of 2006, and another baby boy named Andrew Kruse Fontanella in September of 2007. I think we can all agree that Jeff is a busy guy!

Partridge barrels at Fontanella Family Winery