Indulge in the Finest Selection of Wines from Around the World

Michael Green, Wine Director

Palm Springs Food and Wine Festival

Bibiana González Rave

Born and raised in Colombia, Bibiana had little exposure to wine culture. At the time, wine was not part of everyday life in her native country. Rather, it was considered a luxury item to enjoy only on special occasions. She would sip from her father’s glass and became fascinated by the nuances of wine, its deep-rooted traditions, and its history. By the age of 14, she knew she would become a winemaker. The only question was how to get there.

In Colombia, she studied chemical engineering and business. She later moved to the birthplace of modern winemaking, France, to study viticulture and oenology in Cognac. After obtaining her BTS degree, she then went on to earn a bachelor’s degree at the University of Bordeaux, graduating with honors.

Bibiana’s constant pursuit of excellence brought her to work with some of the best wineries in France, including Château Haut-Brion, La Mission Haut-Brion in Bordeaux, Domainer Stephane Ogier and Domaine Clusel-Roch in Côte-Rôtie, among other small family-owned wineries in Burgundy, Alsace and Cognac.

She labored around the clock doing every task from planting vines in the ground to bottling. The lessons she learned during her years in France still resonate with her today:

“What you give to the land and your day-to-day dedication will always be present in the wines you craft,” says Bibiana.

Bibiana’s first vintage in California was 2004. Since then, she hit the ground running. She worked six harvests in three years, traveling to South Africa to work harvests at Saronsberg Cellars in the Tulbagh region. Back in California, she worked at La Crema, Peay Vineyards, Au Bon Climat and Qupé before Lynmar Estate, where she was the winemaker from 2009 through early 2012. In 2012, Bibiana started her own label, Cattleya Wines, as well as the Shared Notes joint venture with her husband Jeff Pisoni and became a Consulting Winemaker.  Bibiana started the Wayfarer project for Jayson Pahlmeyer for almost six years, culminating on taking over winemaking at his eponymous winery in Napa Valley. In 2014, she added the Alma de Cattleya label to her growing portfolio.

Some of her notable accolades include being named one of Wine Enthusiast’s first “40 Under 40: America’s Tastemakers” in 2014 and “Winemaker of the Year” by the San Francisco Chronicle in 2015. She has earned multiple “perfect” 100 point scores during her career and, most recently, her 2019 Alma de Cattleya Pinot Noir was listed in the 2021 Top 100 wines (#41) by recognized wine critic Jeb Dunnuck and in 2022, her Alma de Cattleya Sauvignon Blanc was #28 on the Top 100 Wine Spectator list.

Jeff Runquist Wines

For the adventurous wine drinker looking to explore the diversity of the wine world, Jeff Runquist Wines offers unique varietals from California’s premier appellations inspired by the curiosity and passions of our growers and winemakers.

Jeff Runquist produces balanced wines that can be enjoyed in their youth, but will also age and become more complex with time. His wines share a theme of fresh fruit reflective of the varietal flavors inherent in the grape.

Jeff selects grapes from vineyards that provide rich full flavors without loads of astringent tannins. Personally, Jeff prefers his wines to have zest and vibrant flavors. “Once I release a new vintage I rarely return to the previous year’s wine. My father likes that; it means more of the older wines for him.”

Jeff produces wines from grapes grown throughout California. At last count he was planning to crush over twenty different varieties from nine different appellations for the 2013 vintage. Most of these wines are produced in very small limited quantities. However, there are four principle wines that the winery strives to have available throughout the year and they are: Petite Syrah, Zinfandel, Barbera, and Petit Verdot.

Jeff started his adventure in the wine industry in 1977 when he interned with Seagram’s at their Paul Masson Sherry Cellars in Madera while studying enology at UC Davis. Upon graduating in 1980, he worked in the cellar at Montevina in Amador County’s Shenandoah Valley and was promoted to winemaker in 1982. After a three-year stint at the Napa Valley Cooperative Winery from 1987 through 1990, Jeff became the winemaker for the J. Lohr winery in San Jose. It was during his tenure at J. Lohr that it became clear that he was going to have to make wine for himself.

In 1995, Jeff crushed ten tons of zinfandel from the Massoni Ranch in Amador’s Shenandoah Valley and on April First 1997 he released 700 cases of that Zinfandel under his own label. In 1996 and 1997 Jeff made his wine at the Sycamore Creek Winery in Morgan Hill and then from 1998 through the 2010 vintage at the McManis Family Vineyard Winery in Ripon. In 2006 he finally returned to Amador County having purchased a small five-acre walnut orchard on Shenandoah Road. In the spring of 2008 Jeff and Margie opened their tasting room. Production facilities followed and Jeff was able to crush the majority of their production in Amador in 2011.