Jeff Mangahas grew up in Washington State, graduating from the University of Washington in 1993 with a B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology. Beginning his career as a cancer research scientist in Seattle, Jeff started to explore Washington’s wine region. Eventually, his career took him to New York City, where his interest in wine switched into high gear as he discovered the abundant restaurants and the wines of the world they offered.During this time, Jeff started visiting the wine regions of France. With his scientific background, he also discovered he had a real passion for learning about the winemaking process as well, and it soon became clear that his hobby should become his career path. Jeff put research science behind him and enrolled in the UC Davis winemaking program, earning his M.S. in Enology in 2003. After a harvest at Artesa Vineyards and Winery, he went to Dutton-Goldfield Winery to dig into Pinot Noir and cool climate winegrowing. Beginning as enologist in 2002, Jeff was promoted to assistant winemaker in 2003. In 2006 Jeff became Winemaker at Hartford Family Winery specializing in Pinot Noir from cool-climate, estate vineyards in the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast Appellations, as well as Chardonnays and Zinfandels. In 2011 Jeff was named Winemaker at Williams Selyem winery in Healdsburg. Jeff is a true student of Pinot Noir and credits the 1996 Williams Selyem Allen Vineyard Pinot Noir as an eye-opening wine that helped spark his passion for Pinot Noir. “I have been a huge fan of Williams Selyem for years and am excited to be working with the amazing team here as well as world-class vineyards like Rochioli and Allen.”Jeff lives with his wife Crystal and daughter Mia in Santa Rosa, where he spends his free time cooking, gardening, drinking wine, and enjoying the company of family and friends.