Victoria Coleman, a Seattle native, moved to Napa Valley in 1998 and began working in the wine business as a temporary receptionist at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. Later she was promoted to production assistant to Michael Silacci, who oversaw viticulture and winemaking at Stag’s Leap, and she learned to make harvest decisions based on tasting grapes. On the winemaking side, she learned how to evaluate fining and blending trials. The exposure and encouragement fueled her passion for winemaking. With significant intuition and experience, she wanted to understand the science behind the art.

Victoria and a friend enrolled in a winemaking class at Napa Valley College. They crushed a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon in a drum with their feet. She raced from work during her lunch break to punch down her lot, but the experience of hands-on winemaking fueled her desire to learn everything she could about it.

Victoria began working with Mario Bazán in 2004 and was the winery’s founding winemaker. Bazán had always dreamed of going beyond grape growing and had a vision of seeing the wine from the fruit of his vineyard bottled. He recognized that Victoria was the person with whom he could accomplish this goal. From harvest decisions to bottling, Victoria took a hands-on approach to winemaking.

To further her formal education, she enrolled at the University of California, Davis, in Fall 2006, already having had her first vintage under her belt, the 2005 Mario Bazán Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, graduating in June 2008. Victoria was exposed to classic, Old World winemaking immediately thereafter while working alongside Erick Tourbier at Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux. Starting in January 2010, she furthered her international experience as winemaker at Jade Valley Winery near Xian, China. Returning to Napa Valley in 2015, she is now the winemaker focusing on producing Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir at Lobo Wines.

With her Chesapeake Bay Retriever/Shepherd, Oliver, at her side in the vineyard or waiting outside the cellar door in the shade, Victoria is in her element.