St. Helena, Napa Valley, January 2019 — The Spring Mountain District Association has named Gretchen Brakesman Executive Director. In this role, Brakesman’s central focus will be to generate awareness and respect of the Spring Mountain District growing region. She will act as the central source of communication to members and will oversee all aspects of event management.
Established in 1993, Napa Valley’s Spring Mountain District lies above St. Helena on the eastern slopes of the Mayacama Mountains. With only 1,000 acres of vineyards, the appellation is home to roughly 30 small and mostly family-owned vineyards and wineries.
“Gretchen brings the Spring Mountain District Association a wealth of experience in the wine industry in a number of capacities, not to mention her own historical ties to the community,” said Sheldon Richards, President of the Spring Mountain District Association and proprietor, Paloma Vineyard.
Brakesman’s more than 15 years of wine industry experience as a top-performing business operations manager and sales and marketing director casts a wide net across the industry, from custom crush facilities to wine barrel financing and product development. She’s also currently the co-owner and operator of boutique winery Red Thread Wines.
“I am honored to join the Spring Mountain District Association. My goal is to elevate the association and bring it to the forefront of consumers,” said Brakesman.
Members of the Association are: Andesite Vineyard, Atchley Vineyard, Bale’s Creek Estate, Barnett Vineyard, Behrens Family Winery, Cain Vineyards & Winery, Castellucci Napa Valley, Crowley Vineyard, Eeden Vineyard, Fantesca Estate Winery, Frias Family Vineyard, Juslyn Vineyards, Keenan Winery, Lokoya, Luscher-Ballard, Marston Family Vineyard, Paloma Vineyard, Peacock Vineyard, Pride Mountain Vineyards, Ritchie Creek Vineyard, Sarocka Estate, Schoolhouse Vineyard, Schweiger Vineyards, Sherwin Winery, Smith-Madrone Vineyards & Winery, Spring Mountain Vineyard, Stony Hill Vineyard, Terra Valentine and Vineyard 7 & 8.
Most recently, the Association conducted a consumer tasting in November in San Francisco at The Golden Gate Club. A downloadable map for visiting the AVA and more can be found here.
