10/26-Michael Jordan talks to Lisa Broman Augustine & Ray Signorello

Lisa Broman Augustine - Director of Sales & Marketing, Broman Cellars

Bob Broman has been a winemaker all his adult life. He jokingly tells how he began his winemaking career as a painter after graduating from the University of California at Davis. He says he learned to brush, roll and spray paint as a cellar worker at Martini.

He then moved on to Concannon Winery in Livermore where he was given the opportunity to cut his winemaking teeth, first as assistant winemaker, and later as winemaker. Stags Leap Wine Cellars was his next winemaking position where he stayed for over five years before moving on to Guenoc and then to St. Supery Vineyards and Winery. Additionally, he has practiced his winemaking and management skills by consulting in France, Republic of Georgia, Italy and Chile. Each move, he says, helped heighten, improve and hone his winemaking skills.

It was during his eight plus years at St. Supery that he met Deborah Russell, a Wine Country Realtor. She had hired her mother to do telemarketing for her real estate profession and Bob just happened to be one of her prospecting calls.

Bob didn’t buy from her, but they had a lot in common and immediately clicked. So when he offered to repay her for her work by taking her on a twilight picnic in the vineyards, the rest became history.

Today, Broman Cellars is a family passion, with daughter Lisa also working side by side with Bob at the winery.  Production is a whopping 1,000 cases consisting of small, ultra premium, hand-crafted lots of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. The goal of Broman Cellars is to grow slowly but remain small enough that Bob can continue to pay individual attention to the wines.

Bob and Deborah, have received their winery permit and are drawing plans for the winery which will be located on the property shared with their home on 11 ½ acres on Deer Park Road in St. Helena.  In the interim, they are remodeling the house and caring for their two acre cabernet vineyard.

Ray Signorello - Proprietor, Signorello Estate Vineyards 

Ray Signorello Jr. began his journey as winemaker and vineyard owner in the Napa Valley during the mid 1980's. Ray, born in San Francisco, California, moved to Vancouver, Canada where the Signorello family continues to maintain a home. Ray divides his time between Napa, San Francisco, Vancouver and business related travel.

Ray's father, Ray Sr., initiated the vineyard project during the mid 1970's by purchasing the 100-acre estate located on the Silverado Trail in the beautiful Napa Valley. Ray Sr. worked side by side with Ray Jr., establishing the winery's reputation for excellence until his passing in the fall of 1998.