Julie Johnson is the winemaker and owner at Tres Sabores, founded in 1999 and located in the Rutherford area of Napa Valley. She began her professional life as a public health nurse. At present, she is the mother of six children and step-children, an optimistic and engaged winemaker and marketer, and married to winemaker Jon Engelskirger.

Julie graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine and from Columbia University in New York. Along with her first husband, John Williams, and partner Larry Turley, she founded Frog’s Leap Winery in 1981. In 1990, in partnership with Michaela Rodeno, past CEO at St. Supéry Winery, she established Women for WineSense, an ongoing national organization whose vision is to support the appreciation for and responsible consumption of wine.

At Tres Sabores, Julie is producing Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfindel as estate wines from dry-farmed wines and is sourcing fruit for making Picpoul Blanc and Saint Laurent for red blends and a Rosé. Most of her estate vines are more than 50 years old. She is deeply caring about her vineyards, saying, “I’ve had the opportunity to steward this land and to grow into it, and a lot of empathy, really, for this merging of farming with nature we’re surrounded by.”

Outside of her winemaking duties, Julie has been an active member of Zinfandel Advocates Producers (ZAP), having served on the Board for many years and as President in 2005. She is also active in several other organizations in the wine industry, among which is CCOF (California Certified Organic Farms).

Julie is a passionate gardener and cook. She moved to her Rutherford property in 1987. Diverse and integrated, it is organically certified (CCOF) for grapes, olives, pomegranates, olives, lamb, and guinea fowl. At the end of the day, she sleeps best if she feels that she has been a thoughtful steward of the land and has capped off the day with a very good glass of wine.