Plata Wine Partners (Vice President Winemaking & Partner)

Alison Crowe is a native Californian, a University of California, Davis enology graduate, a professional winemaker, a published author, and a resident of Napa Valley. She credits her decision to become a winemaker to growing up on the Santa Barbara coast, next door to wine country. Her farm family taught her a love of cooking and celebrating with food and wine. After graduating from high school, Alison entered UC Davis, majoring in enology, having proclaimed to her parents at age 17 that this was her intention. She finished her B.S. in Fermentation Science with a double major in Spanish in 1998. Alison completed her formal education by earning an MBA from UC Davis in 2010.

Her first harvest was at Chalone Vineyard in Monterey County, where she developed a passion for estate-grown Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Another harvest at Curtis Winery in the Santa Ynez Valley and a year researching Cabernet Sauvignon viticulture taught her that great wines begin in great vineyards. Alison has also made wine at Byington Vineyards & Winery, Bonny Doon Vineyards, and Bodegas Salentein in Mendoza, Argentina.

In mid-2005, Alison joined Plata Wine Partners, LLC, a crush pad that provides custom winemaking services and consulting to nationally distributed as well as small start-up brands. As Vice President of Winemaking at Plata since then, she oversees crafting of wines from fruit grown in premiere appellations, among which are Russian River, Napa Valley, and Santa Barbara County.

Alison is the author of The Winemaker’s Answer Book, published by Storey Publishing. Accessible to the professional winemaker, the hobbyist “micro vintner”, and even the curious connoisseur, this comprehensive and well-organized collection of questions and answers explains the mysteries of turning grape juice into wine. She is also a technical wine writer and is a frequent contributor to Wine Business Monthly magazine, and also pens the popular "Wine Wizard" column in WineMaker Magazine. Alison’s blog, found at GirlandtheGrape.com, won "Best New Wine Blog" in the 2014 Wine Blog Awards.

She lives in a vintage 1898 house in Napa with her husband and family, where they enjoy gardening, cooking for friends, and participating in Napa's vibrant downtown scene.