Category: Judges

A 35-year veteran of the wine industry, and has handled all aspects of the business including, winemaking, sales & marketing, distribution strategies and brand-building. He is the winemaker for R&B Cellars (with his wife Barbara), and has been a frequent educator and lecturer on winemaking and brand strategies in the industry. His latest venture has been the opening of a new production and tasting room facility – Riggers Loft Wine Company – in Point Richmond, California, which serves as the production facility for several local wineries in the Bay Area. Likewise, the tasting room is home to R&B’s award-winning wines as well as some of the other resident wineries, creating an artist colony of fine wineries.

R&B Cellars

For the last 12 years, Barbara has been assistant winemaker for R&B Cellars, along with her husband and head winemaker, Kevin Brown. R&B Cellars dates back to 1997 with its first vintage of the acclaimed Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. However, 2004 is the year Barbara and Kevin began collaborating with the idea to expand the breadth and scope of the winery. Since that time the two have added many new wines and varietals, all garnering great press and accolades. Today they produce 17 wines across 15 varietals, as well as private label wines that are exported to China. Their winery and tasting room – Riggers Loft Wine Company -sits right on the San Francisco Bay in Point Richmond, California capturing a majestic and panoramic view of the entire bay.

R&B Cellars

Fabian Bravo joined Brander in 2007. He graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a BS in Electrical Engineering. Fabian worked in aerospace for a few years and enjoyed life as an engineer but had a growing interest in winemaking. With the help a good friend, Fabian found himself working harvest at Siduri in Santa Rosa. While working at Brander, Fabian is involved with production, cellar crew management, bottling and assisting with our private label marketing.

Brander Vineyard

C. Frederic “Fred” Brander, owner and general manager, was born and raised in Buenos Aires, and later emigrated with his family to the US, settling in Santa Barbara.  After graduating from Harvey Mudd College with a degree in Chemistry, he went on to pursue studies in Enology at UC Davis.  Fred started his career in the wine business by working for a Santa Barbara wine merchant, and later went to work in the wholesale business. While attending college, he started his own small wine import company, bringing in wines from France and his native Argentina.

Wishing to make his own wines, and with a fondness for Santa Barbara, Fred and his family established The Brander Vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley in 1975, where he quickly developed a reputation for making outstanding Sauvignon Blanc. Fred’s passion for this varietal has committed him to be California’s top producer of Sauvignon. With over 30 vintages “in the bottle,” he is a pioneer of the Santa Barbara wine country.

In July 2001, Robert Hall welcomed Winemaker Don Brady to Robert Hall Winery. Don graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock Texas in 1984 with a degree in horticulture, during which time he worked in the Pheasant Ridge Vineyard and the University of Texas experimental wine and grape program. After college, Don went to work for Llano Estacado Winery and helped put the Texas wine industry on the map. In 1991 Don was awarded the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association’s highest honor – the “Louis F. Qualia” Award for outstanding contributions and leadership in the Texas wine industry. During his time working in Texas, Don’s wines were served at several White House functions for Presidents Reagan and President Bush, in addition to English royalty – Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.In 2001, after moving to California, Don Brady earned worldwide acclaim as the recipient of the International Wine and Spirits “Wine of America” Award, and was recognized by the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance in partnership with the Independent Grape Growers of Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo Vintners Association as the “Winemaker of the Year” in 2006.

Don says his “goal is to capture the essence of the vineyard as well as enhance the quality of wine by getting the best product possible out of each vine.”

In 1993, after leaving the cold winters of Chicago behind, Tondi Bolkan enrolled at the University of California, Davis to study neurobiology. Hoping to join her family’s legacy of medical professionals, she studied and received a B.S. degree in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior.

During an internship at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, Tondi fainted while watching her first operation. She subsequently attended a career fair at UC Davis and made a fateful inquiry about vinology; this became her passion. From there, she didn’t look back, even though her family was disappointed that she had chosen not to pursue her medical school studies. A case of her own wine helped turn around the family’s attitude. Tondi has turned her love for science toward winegrowing, a profession that combines art, agriculture, organic chemistry, and biology.

She began her career producing Cabernet Sauvignon at Pine Ridge Winery in Napa Valley. In 2001, she joined Niebaum-Coppola, now Rubicon Estate, also located in the Napa Valley. At Rubicon, she devoted seven vintages to the winery’s portfolio and demonstrated a talent for balancing the technical side of the laboratory with the creative and artistic processes of winegrowing and winemaking.

In January 2008, Tondi started a new chapter with the company and moved to the Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Geyserville. As winemaker, Tondi attends to the Sophia brand, special projects, and custom winemaking clients.

Bob Blue is a pioneer in the organic wine arena and the founding winemaker for Bonterra, with deep roots in Mendocino’s vineyards. Ironic, given that he grew up in a family of tee‐totalers in Lake County, California. His first taste of wine, in fact, happened on another continent. Bob joined the Army after high school and his world was opened when traveling through Germany as a GI. After graduating from UC-Davis, Bob joined Mendocino County’s McDowell Valley Vineyards and progressed through the lab and cellar.

In 1988 Bob joined what he now calls “Fetzer University,” where he apprenticed and was mentored by legendary California winemakers Paul Dolan and Dennis Martin. He traveled to Bordeaux, Burgundy and on to Australia and the Rhone, broadening his knowledge and sense of style. As General Manager of Fetzer’s Hopland Winery, he continued to influence winemaking and was made Red Varietal Winemaker before being named Winemaker for Bonterra.

Beyond Bonterra, Bob is a passionate table tennis player. He even has a table tennis robot, which has trained him to play ambidextrously!

Since the early 1990s, Kirby Anderson has risen to become one of California’s most respected winemakers. An alumnus in Viticulture and Enology of the University of California at Davis, Kirby polished his skills and natural talent with distinguished wineries from Lake County to the Russian River Valley to Monterey.

In the late 1990s, a position in Santa Ynez drew his interest to the AVAs of Santa Barbara and particularly of Happy Canyon, where he has significantly contributed to elevating the appellation’s profile. Kirby focuses on the vineyard and achieves character, depth, and balance in his wines through the fruit’s best expression of microclimate and a conservative hand with oak.

Kirby is a member of the American Society of Enology and Viticulture and serves on the curriculum advisory committee for the viticulture and enology department at Hancock College in Santa Maria. He lives in San Luis Obispo with his wife and twins.

Brent Amos holds a degree in Oenology and Viticulture from Fresno State University. He has previously worked at Ferrari-Carano, Fritz, and for 7 years he produced award-winning wines at Fenestra winery in Livermore, CA. Year 2000 was Brent’s first vintage. Las Positas Vineyards is fortunate to have Brent as our Winemaker!