Steve brings to the winery a unique history of skills and experience. A fortuitous ½ credit wine appreciation class in a college led to Steve's destiny in the wine industry. After graduation Steve headed straight to the Napa Valley where he spent twelve years as the vineyard manager for Freemark Abbey Winery and then over to the Sonoma County side where he managed all of Knight's Valley's vineyards for Beringer for another 19 years. In the meantime, Steve spent his free time making wine at home on the weekends. He recognized the importance that the quality of the grapes made the wine.
In 2012, after 30 years of amateur winemaking and with the encouragement of his wife Sher, Steve created his own boutique winery, Campana Ranch Winery, which is now producing 750 cases of ultra-premium red and white wines. Campana is the Spanish word for bell. Decades of vineyard management puts Steve in the best place from which to make decisions about crop choice.
What else makes Campana Ranch wines different from other wines is that they are all handcrafted. Steve does most everything by hand from pruning and harvesting in his own vineyard, to press, racking and bottling of the wines. He attends to each and every barrel of wine himself.
For Steve, wine-making is an art. With each vintage and varietal having it’s own personality, Steve’s eclectic sense of style that goes into each bottle is showcased in the individual personality of each of his wines.