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.