Los Olivos, Calif. – JULY 1, 2024 – Victor Gallegos today announced the founding of Cru Culture LLC, a specialized consultancy firm that will service small, family-owned luxury estate wineries worldwide. Guided by Gallegos, Cru Culture works with winery founders and principals to build strong, high-performance company cultures, impeccable organic and/or biodynamic farming systems, world-class winemaking programs, an authentic brand voice, and focused product portfolios.
Prior to establishing Cru Culture LLC, Gallegos served as vice president, general manager and director of winemaking for California’s renowned Sea Smoke winery. During his 22-year tenure at Sea Smoke, Gallegos and his team built one of the world’s most successful estate Pinot Noir houses. With a cult following and a massive DTC waitlist, Sea Smoke achieved industry-leading financial performance, without a tasting room or advertising. In addition to his time at Sea Smoke, Gallegos brings extensive industry experience to Cru Culture working with new luxury winery startups and international wine companies in both the US and Europe, and has helped guide wineries and vineyards through the M&A process. Gallegos holds a BS in viticulture from UC Davis and an MBA from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.
Cru Culture will work with a small portfolio of family-owned winery clients who are dedicated to achieving their full potential and becoming benchmarks for their regions and the varietals they work with. Prospective clients will include new high-end estate wineries that are establishing go-to-market strategies, older wineries looking to revitalize their company culture and commitment to excellence, and wineries seeking to properly position themselves for acquisition. In addition to extensive one-on-one collaboration with Gallegos, Cru Culture also provides clients access to a roster of top industry talent.
“Cru Culture is committed to servicing wineries who want to be the best of the best,” says Gallegos. “Too many new wine businesses make the mistake of trying to run before they can walk. Cru Culture provides a holistic approach that emphasizes the essential building blocks for success at the highest levels. We begin by focusing on the right people, the right structure and establishing vibrant, empowered company cultures that drive success. From there, we assist with developing the ideal brand voice and identity, and establishing world-class winemaking and viticulture programs for our clients. During a time when our industry is facing stiff headwinds, Cru Culture provides the tools, knowledge and expertise to take our clients to the next level while elevating them from the pack.”
For Gallegos, a commitment to environmentally conscious viticultural practices is a key driver of quality and success. “The results that we achieved after transitioning Sea Smoke from conventional to organic and biodynamic farming was an epiphany. As many of the world’s greatest wine estates have learned after embracing these methods, it is clear to me that these practices create vital and healthy vineyards that are more resilient to climatic stresses, while producing wines with a more profound sense of place.”
Potential clients may submit requests for collaboration via www.CruCultureLLC.com.
About Cru Culture LLC
Founded by Victor Gallegos, who spent more than two decades establishing Sea Smoke as one of the world’s most successful estate wineries, Cru Culture LLC is a consultancy servicing a small portfolio of family-owned estate wineries. Cru Culture specializes in building empowered company cultures that drive success, developing distinctive winery and brand identities, the implementation of organic and/or biodynamic farming, and establishing world-class winemaking programs.
