Niki Williams has a love of the land that was fostered through growing up on a farm near Princeville, Illinois. Nonetheless, it is surprising that a career in the wine industry awaited her, given the college degrees that she earned. Niki first completed a B.A. at Illinois Wesleyan University in 1998, with a major in English, followed by an M.A. in Theater, which she finished a year later.

After graduating, Niki’s passion for travel made it natural for her to a embark on a ten-year stint working in the travel industry. This led to visits to small wineries throughout France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and South Africa, visits that sparked her interest in the wine industry and prompted her enrolling in Viticulture & Enology program at the University of California, Davis.

She earned her B.S. in 2011 and immediately completed internships with Turkovich Family Wines in Winters, CA, and Franciscan Estates in the Napa Valley. These were followed by an internship with L’Avenir Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and, upon her return to the U.S., a two-year stint as winemaker for the Forward Kidd label of the Merryvale Family of Wines in Napa. Niki was appointed as senior winemaker for The Prisoner Wine Company/Mount Veeder Winery in mid-2015, a position she held until early 2022. She then moved to Chateau St. Jean in Sonoma as its winemaker before joining Napa Valley’s Cakebread Cellars in 2023 as its winemaker.

Niki’s goal in winemaking is crafting blends that are approachable when young, but are capable of aging graceful and balance power with elegance. As she says, her priority is “letting the fruit shine . . . and trying “not to leave my fingerprints all over the grapes.”

Niki volunteers in a myriad of social activities, including serving as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate; board member of League of Women Voters Napa Valley; and Napa Climate NOW!

When not working in the winery or volunteering, Niki enjoys gardening, reading, and, not surprisingly, travel. She and her husband live in Napa.