Family Winemakers of California advocates the rights and interests of its members to freely produce, market and sell their products, and is dedicated to preserving the diversity of California wine.
In fulfilling its mission, the association has sponsored legislation in the past 12 years to expand the ability of wineries, particularly small producers, to compete in the marketplace. Additionally, FWC has taken a leadership role in pushing and funding the litigation strategy to open up domestic markets for direct-to-consumer wine sales. That investment resulted in the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned discriminatory laws in Michigan and New York. FWC recently prevailed in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in its case against Massachusetts's discriminatory production cap law.
A husband and wife, David Young and Amparo L. Young, winemakers and owners.
David knew at an early age that he wanted to be involved in winemaking. He pursued his abiding passion for winemaking at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, where he earned a Bachelors Degree in Fruit Science.
Amparo, like David, has always had a fascination for plants. During her career she has studied plants at the molecular and biochemical level. She furthered her passion by earning her doctorate degree from UC Berkeley in Plant Biology.
Fate brought these two lives together, one knowing the process of wine making and the other, knowing the plant molecular and biochemical pathways. David and Amparo have a common scientific background which influences their daily lives as well as their winemaking philosophy.
“Our winemaking philosophy is to produce wines in a consistent manner, where the differences between vintages arise only from variables we cannot control such as temperature and rainfall. In addition, most wines are produced without blending fruit from multiple vineyards. This minimalist approach ensures that every vintage is representative of the terroir for each vineyard.”