From Classroom to Cellar: UC Davis Alumni Return to Share Their Wines
On a warm May evening, more than 20 alumni-affiliated wineries and wine organizations filled the courtyard at the Robert Mondavi Institute for the second annual UC Davis Alumni Wine Showcase. Organized by the Department of Viticulture and Enology, the Cal Aggie Alumni Association, Aggies Uncorked, and the Robert Mondavi Institute, the sold-out event brought graduates back to the place where many of them first learned to read a fermentation curve or build a blend.
The evening was a reminder that while every wine career looks different, many begin in the same classrooms, vineyards, laboratories, and winery spaces at UC Davis.
Back Where It Began
Kelly Bria, regional sales manager for Honig Vineyard and Winery, poured something the winery has rarely shown, a 2024 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, 91% Sauvignon Blanc and 9% Sémillon from the Honig Estate Vineyard in Rutherford. Honig built its reputation on bright, crisp stainless steel Sauvignon Blanc, but this wine, made by winemaker Ashley Egelhoff, took a different route, partly fermented in new French oak and aged on lees in French puncheons for eight months, coming out softer and more floral, with vanilla, Meyer lemon, and white nectarine. The Aggies Uncorked Alumni Wine Club chose it as the club's spring featured wine.
Bria mentioned they still have the label from Honig's very first wine, a Ruby Grenache made in the basement of Wickson Hall alongside Professor Emeritus Dr. Linda Bisson, the legendary UC Davis enology professor and longtime department chair.
Honig's current production team is entirely women, consisting of Egelhoff, assistant winemaker Gabi Smith, director of winegrowing and sustainability Kristin Belair, and Annika Honig, Michael Honig's daughter, who works on the production team and is now a first-year student at Davis herself.
Holly's Hill Vineyards, a family operation in El Dorado County founded by Tom and Holly Cooper, is now run by their daughter Carrie Bendick and her husband Josh Bendick, a 1998 viticulture and enology graduate who learned winemaking on UC Davis Cabernet Sauvignon. Their daughter is now a student at UC Davis too.
Holly's Hill poured a Syrah alongside a surprising wine made with hops. It was a claret-style using Citra, Galaxy, and Cascade hops, finishing with a Gewürztraminer-like spicy quality. Three years into making beer, and the crossover is genuinely working.
The Stories Behind the Pours
Throughout the evening, conversations flowed as freely as the wine. Students asked about harvest internships, graduate school, vineyard management, winemaking, and career paths. Alumni shared lessons learned from vineyards, cellars, laboratories, and tasting rooms across California and beyond.
Among the wineries pouring were Vidi Vitis and Sheepish, two labels created by Ben Leachman, who earned a second bachelor's degree and a master's here at UC Davis. He worked his way up to associate winemaker before striking out on his own and creatively naming his labels. Vidi Vitis, meaning "I saw the vine," is a riff on Julius Caesar's famous "Veni, Vidi, Vici."
The 2023 flagship is a 100% Clone 8 Cabernet Sauvignon from the historic 1881 parcel of Tokalon Vineyard in Oakville, aged 20 months in 50% new French barrels. Cabernet Franc in his lineup was sourced from UC Davis's own Oakville Station research vineyard. Sheepish, by contrast, is fruit-forward and easy drinking, built from ripe Carneros fruit.
Crocker & Starr, founded in 1997 by Charlie Crocker and winemaker Pam Starr (who graduated from Davis in 1984 with a degree in fermentation science) on the historic Dowdell Lane property in St. Helena, poured a 2025 Sauvignon Blanc fermented across neutral French oak, an egg-shaped concrete vessel, and stainless steel. The winery is known for its estate Cabernet; the whole operation actually started with just 100 cases of Cabernet Franc in 1997.
Current winemaker Julie Robertson, who has been running the cellar since 2022, said she loves Cabernet Franc and loves tasting it directly off the vine. While pouring, Robertson described 2022 as a tough vintage to inherit. A Labor Day heat event brought five days averaging 117 degrees, landing right at the start of Robertson's first harvest at the winery. The resulting wine was well-balanced, a reflection of what Charlie Crocker's vineyard does across its different clones, rootstocks, and soil types, all of it grown in soils that wash down from the Mayacamas Mountains.
Nakamura Cellars, with its label Noria, was founded by Nori Nakamura, who grew up in Tokyo. He first encountered fine wine at his uncle's Italian restaurant, and eventually enrolled at UC Davis in viticulture and enology. He worked his way through Artesa, Jamieson Ranch, and Larson Family Winery, then launched Noria in 2010 to make California wine built around Japanese cuisine. In 2023, he opened Nakamura Cellars’ tasting room in Berkeley's Gilman District. At the showcase, he poured a Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonnay influenced by premium sake styles, seeking to combine fragrant aromatics and precision with a softer, more rounded mouthfeel.
Baker Family Wines began with two acres, a vineyard recommendation, and a lot of positive feedback. Around 2005, UC Davis viticulture and enology M.S. alumnus Chik Brenneman connected with former Major League Baseball manager Dusty Baker, who was interested in planting grapes on property he owned in Granite Bay. Brenneman steered him away from Cabernet Sauvignon and toward Syrah, a decision that proved successful enough to inspire a commercial venture. In 2013, the pair launched Baker Family Wines. Today, what started as a small backyard vineyard has grown into an urban winery in West Sacramento
Clark Ferrea is the project of four siblings, Carol, Brian, Michael, and Paul Franzia, who left a large family wine company to start fresh at Zinc House Farm in Escalon. Carol, the winemaker and the only UC Davis viticulture and enology alumna among the four, spent 30 years at a large winery before starting this very small one, working only in two-ton lots so she can experiment without relying on shortcuts.
Kale Anderson's path began at UC Davis as well. The Sonoma native earned his degree in viticulture and enology before building a consulting practice that now serves wineries across Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties. He and his wife, Ranko, a fellow UC Davis alumna, later launched Kale Wines, a label focused on Rhône varieties such as Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre, inspired in part by a Rhône-themed DEVO tasting during his time at Davis.
Across the courtyard, alumni stories continued to unfold. Andy Schweiger returned to campus representing Schweiger Vineyards, where he works alongside his father, Fred, on Spring Mountain. Amy Doherty poured an estate-grown Chenin Blanc from Grindstone Estate Grown Wines. Jeff Mangahas, now winemaker at Williams Selyem, shared wines from a career that began not in a vineyard, but in medical research before he returned to UC Davis to pursue an M.S. in viticulture and enology.
Others represented equally varied corners of the industry. Great Bear Vineyards showcased wines grown just outside Davis, while Paul Hobbs Winery was represented by winemaker Jeremiah Timm. At the Department of Viticulture and Enology table, Department Chair Ben Montpetit and his wife, Rachael, poured wines from Tapanappa, the label founded by UC Davis alumnus Brian Croser, alongside Hilgard631, the university's student-made wine label. Launched in 2025, Hilgard631 supports student scholarships and serves as a reminder that the next generation of UC Davis winemakers is already at work.
Nearby, assistant winemaker Francisco Lopez Garcia poured wines from Anarchist Wine Co., including a Sangiovese, a white blend, and an Albariño all reflecting the winery's playful approach to winemaking. Bargetto Winery, one of California's oldest family-owned wineries, rounded out the lineup, adding another chapter to an evening defined by both tradition and innovation.
The Alumni Wine Showcase is more than a tasting event. It is a chance to see what comes next for students after UC Davis. Some alumni build family wineries. Some launch boutique labels. Some become researchers, consultants, vineyard managers, or winemakers. Their careers take many different forms, but they share a common starting point.
Find a list of the alumni wineries and links to their webpages at the Alumni Wine Showcase webpage.
To learn more about future alumni events, Aggies Uncorked, Hilgeard631 and opportunities to connect with the UC Davis wine community, visit the Cal Aggie Alumni Association, Aggies Uncorked Alumni Wine Club, Hilgard631, and the Department of Viticulture and Enology.
Kaylianne Jordan is a viticulture and enology graduate at UC Davis pursuing her master's degree. She has a background in culinary arts and a passion for sustainable farming and enjoys exploring the connections between agriculture, winemaking, and community. Outside of college, she loves trying out new recipes, and discovering local food spots.