Kirk Venge has been making our wines since the launch of HUNNICUTT. Kirk was a perfect fit for HUNNICUTT because aside from his stellar winemaking skills, he has been a close friend since our early years of growing up together in St. Helena.

Kirk is a Napa Valley native who grew up around grapes and winemaking by shadowing his father, Nils Venge, throughout his tenures at Villa Mt. Eden, Groth and eventually Saddleback Cellars, which Nils started in 1984. After graduating from high school, Kirk ventured off to University of California at Davis to pursue a degree in viticulture and oenology, the study of vineyard management and winemaking. Throughout college, Kirk worked as experimental winemaker for Mumm Napa Valley. After graduation, he moved to New Zealand to work for Rapaura Vintners. Kirk returned to the Napa Valley in 2000 where he designed and built Saddleback’s new Venge winery. Today Kirk is the winemaker for Venge and consulting winemaker for several private labels in addition to HUNNICUTT.

I graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in 1998. Soon after I began work for a commercial real estate firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. After two years of spending almost every weekend with friends in the Napa Valley, helping out at their wineries, I realized my true passion was the wine business rather than real estate. Not one to waste time daydreaming, I made the decision to take the next logical step.

I moved to the Napa Valley and began learning the trade from the ground up. My first job was working as a ‘cellar rat’ during the 2001 harvest at Miner Family Winery. After Miner, I continued my wine business education taking viticulture and oenology classes and working for several other wineries — including Saddleback Cellars and Seavey Vineyards — in various capacities of production, sales, and management. In addition to my dedication to HUNNICUTT I am also general manager of D. R. Stephens Estate, our family’s label.