In Vino Felicitas (Winemaker & Owner)

Piña Napa Valley (Winemaker)

Anna Monticelli earned her degree in Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis. During her undergraduate years, she spent a year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris and took summer courses in Rome, Italy and Cracow, Poland.

Her first harvest after graduation was at Château Cheval Blanc in Bordeaux, France, in 2000. Upon her return to California, she was the assistant winemaker at Seavey Vineyard in Napa Valley for two years and then the assistant winemaker at Bryant Family Vineyard for four and half years before becoming winemaker at Piña Napa Valley in 2007. At Piña, she crafts the single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon for which the winery is known, along with other varietals and blends. She also produces her own wines under the Ilaria label there.

Anna’s focus is to make wines that respect and showcase their terroir and growing season. She accomplishes this while leaving a light fingerprint of her winemaking style. In short, she enjoys making big and bold Napa Valley Cabernets that are also elegant and approachable.

Anna met her husband, Mario, while they were students at UC Davis studying viticulture and enology. Mario, whose father was a winemaker for Gallo for many years, most recently was the winemaker for Trinchero Napa Reserve. Under the In Vino Felicitas name, she and Mario have Italian and French winemaking projects in the regions of Piedmont, Tuscany, Abruzzo, Friuli, Champagne and the Rhone Valley in addition to labels in California. They travel to Italy and France with their three children to work on their wines there.