Darice Spinelli, winemaker
Darice Spinelli joined Nickel & Nickel as winemaker in
1998 with the ambition to produce superior single-vineyard wines. After a
decade focused on shaping the winery's single-vineyard bottlings, Spinelli
added the responsibilities of winery president to her duties.
Biology graduate of the University of California at Santa
Barbara, Spinelli began her career in the wine industry at Inglenook and
Beaulieu Vineyard. In 1990, she joined Franciscan Vineyards, and with her first
vintage as winemaker, attracted great acclaim from the wine industry’s toughest
critics. Her tenure with Franciscan and eventual promotion to production
winemaker afforded Spinelli the opportunity to produce wines from many growing
areas, including the mountainous region of Mount Veeder; the flat, warm
Cabernet country in Oakville; Rutherford, with its famed "Rutherford
Dust" character; and regions further south to the coastal climes in
Monterey. She even produced wines for Franciscan’s venture in Chile.