So the new year is starting off with a big change here at the winery.
In the event that you didn’t see the notice on our website, or catch wind of it some other way, Linda Trotta, our winemaker and friend for over 20 years has left Gundlach Bundschu to pursue other interests. (Keith Emerson has been appointed winemaker, details to come in part two, or see the official press release here.)
In early 2008, Linda approached me expressing her desire to transition out of her role at GB, and out of the company. Nothing personal or negative, just a desire to move on and try her hand with some different fruit. We worked together to plan the transition and agreed that she would leave after harvest, which she did in mid November.
We hear about pioneering women in winemaking, and Linda certainly qualifies. When I came back to work with the family full time in the early nineties, Linda had recently transitioned to winemaker. She was the only woman winemaker in Sonoma at the time, and there were few others anywhere else.
She was young, enthusiastic and swimming in all sorts of chaos, none of which was her own doing. We were making wine from seven vineyards beyond our own estate, our previous winemaker was acting as GM but not exactly letting go of the reins in the cellar, and she had a crew full of men, most of which were well older than she was. Despite her youth (late 20s at the time), she brought order and a mature approach to our winemaking, and a nuanced, balance-driven wine style that will be an ongoing legacy here.
About ten years ago,we committed to focusing exclusively on our estate vineyards, and set the lofty goal of becoming the best estate winery in Sonoma County. Linda set to work, driving vineyard and winery operations to that end, and today we have a cellar full of exceptional wines to show for it. She leaves us a with a strong vineyard and winery operation and a legacy of intense site driven premium winemaking. She also leaves us a better organization.
Not only can I say I grew up with Linda, I can also say that I grew as a person because of her, and my guess is that many people here would echo the same thing.
