Kris Curran, Winemaker
Winemaker Kris Curran grew up in the beautiful Santa
Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County, California. While growing up
in the “Valley” Kris had the opportunity to raise many
animals and was a member of Pony Club, 4-H and FFA. After completing
a degree in Animal Science at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Kris became
fascinated with the wine industry and pursued a winemaking degree
at Fresno State University.
Shortly after graduating, Kris became the Assistant
Winemaker at Cambria Winery in Santa Maria, where she worked directly
with Cambria's winemaker to create some award-winning Cambria wines.
This experience led to an offer to be the winemaker and general manager
for Koehler Winery, located in Los Olivos. In addition to crafting
Koehler's first vintage of both red and white wines, Kris was responsible
for overseeing the winery’s development from its inception.
In 2000, Kris was tapped by Sea Smoke Cellars
to set up their winery and head the winemaking team. At Sea
Smoke she focused solely on Pinot Noir produced from their estate
grown vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills appellation.
From there, Kris was appointed Director of
Winemaking at Foley Estates Vineyard and Winery in the Sta.
Rita Hills. Currently, Kris oversees all winemaking at Foley
Estate Vineyard and Winery, and is also instrumental in guiding
the focus of the estate vineyard, from which Kris intends to
grow and translate the best fruit possible from this emerging
appellation.
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 Winemaking
Team
Kris Curran is joined in the cellar by Assistant Winemaker and Enologist Colin Murphy. Colin is an industry veteran and brings a wealth of knowledge to the winemaking team. Kris, Colin and the rest of the production team continually strive to coax the greatest complexity out of the grapes. |
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