Loving wine, wanting to live in the countryside, and possessing a college degree in biochemistry made me a perfect candidate for my first winery job at Simi Winery in Healdsburg. It wasn’t a job that I really wanted because I was bored to death doing routine lab work. But the lab or the tasting room were the only choices for women. It was extremely rare in 1980 that Simi’s wine maker, and later winery president, was a woman (Zelma Long). But my brief, two-month experience during the 1980 harvest encouraged me to formally study the science of wine making. A year later I was enrolled as an enology graduate student at the University of California in Davis and was awarded a Master of Science degree in 1985.

My fascination with wine yeast led to my first job as a sparkling wine maker at Wente Bros. in the Livermore Valley in 1983. But my goal was always to return to Western Sonoma County, which I did in 1987 to assume winemaking duties at Clos du Bois. There I focused on crafting small lots of single vineyard wines from the Alexander Valley: Marlstone and Briarcrest, from Bordeaux varietals, and Calcaire Chardonnay.

In 2003, I took my career in a new direction by starting my own business, Davenport and Company. Under this label I have been making Russian River Pinot Noir since 2003. Zinfandel from my Rockpile vineyard was made for the first time in 2009. The young wine is currently residing in 5 French oak barrels, undergoing malo-lactic fermentation. It will be available in late 2010. In addition, Davenport & Company also provides consultation services for winemakers and winery owners (see “Consult the Winemaker”).