Mendocino County, Calif. — February 8, 2017 — Fetzer Vineyards, a leader in sustainable and organic winegrowing committed to restoring, revitalizing and regenerating ecosystems and communities while producing premium wines, has hired Sebastian Donoso as winemaker focused on wines crafted from organic and biodynamic grapes. Donoso joins Fetzer Vineyards from Campovida, a family-owned winery in Hopland, California where he established an acclaimed winemaking program based on small-lot, vineyard-designated wines from organic and biodynamic Mendocino vineyards. Prior to his tenure at Campovida, Donoso was Assistant Winemaker at Saracina, a California Certified Organic winery with 250 acres of organically farmed vines just outside of Hopland.
While at Campovida, Donoso’s wines were recognized with numerous accolades, including Best of Class, Double Gold, and Gold medals from the San Francisco Chronical Wine Competition and the North Coast Wine Challenge. Additionally, a number of his wines scored 90+ points from leading wine scoring publications.
In this newly created position with Fetzer Vineyards, Donoso will support day-to-day winemaking operations while helping shape the long-term vision for the company’s organic and biodynamic winemaking program. The program encompasses numerous brands including the nation’s #1 wine from organically farmed grapes, Bonterra Organic Vineyards (“Bonterra”). Named an IMPACT Hot Brand and also recognized by Wine Enthusiast magazine as American Winery of the Year in 2016, Bonterra recently posted annual growth of more than 20%.[1]
Donoso graduated from California State University, Fresno with a BS in Enology and a minor in Chemistry. In addition, he has completed coursework towards a Certificate in Biodynamic Agriculture from Biodynamic Agricultural College in the United Kingdom. A native of Chile, Donoso is bilingual in English and Spanish.
“Sebastian brings a terrific skillset to our growing organic and biodynamic initiatives, previously having built a biodynamic farming program from the ground up and crafted a variety of wines from some of Mendocino’s most celebrated organic vineyards,” said Jeff Cichocki, Director of Winemaking, Organic & Biodynamic Wines for Fetzer Vineyards. “We are thrilled to add his invaluable experience and perspective to our team, and look forward to the opportunity it presents to expand our capabilities and leadership in organics.”
About Fetzer Vineyards
A pioneer in regenerative winemaking, Fetzer Vineyards continues its legacy of hard work, rebellious thinking and crafting wines that make a difference. Since its founding in 1968, Fetzer Vineyards has consistently developed and implemented practices that are environmentally friendly, socially responsible and ultimately regenerative, becoming the world’s largest winery to receive B Corporation certification, in 2015. B Corp certification standards, developed by the non-profit B Lab, are widely recognized as the highest standards for social and environmental responsibility in business. Fetzer Vineyards strives for the perfect relationship between land, climate and vine to regenerate communities and bring wines of remarkable quality and character to the table. In addition to Fetzer wines, the company also crafts Anthony’s Hill, Bonterra, Jekel, Sanctuary and 1000 Stories, a Bourbon barrel-aged Zinfandel from California. www.fetzer.com
[1] SOURCE: Nielsen data TTL US XAOC 9L EQ % Chg 52 weeks ending 12/31/16: 20.03%.
