People
Charlie Tsegeletos
Winemaker
Charlie Tsegeletos (pronounced Seg-uh-let-ose) was raised in northern
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Charlie Tsegeletos
Charlie Tsegeletos (pronounced Seg-uh-let-ose) was raised in northern California by Italian and Greek parents. Growing up, his family always had a bottle of wine on the table. He inherited his interest in wine from his great grandfather, Giuppe Guidotti, who in the 1930s grew grapes and made wine in the Guerneville area of Sonoma County, California.
In 1979, Tsegeletos earned his degree in agricultural science and management/plant science from the University of California at Davis. He launched his winemaking career in 1980 at the age of 24 as an apprentice for Pendleton Winery. In 1981 he joined Hacienda Wine Cellars as assistant winemaker in Sonoma, and in 1984 assumed the role of winemaker at D’Agostini Winery. Tsegeletos joined Glen Ellen Winery in 1987 as senior director of winemaking when it was owned by the Benzigers, and then ultimately sold to United Distillers & Vintners. There, he crafted his blending skills and the effects these skills had on wine. In 2002, Charlie joined Cline Family Cellars, and in 2007 he helped kickstart the Jacuzzi Family Vineyards winemaking program, focusing on small lot Italian varietals.
Tsegeletos often lets the grapes guide his style of winemaking. He works closely with vineyard managers to ensure that varietals are planted in locations that will provide optimal acid and sugar levels as well as express true varietal characteristics. His red wines are big and dark with lots of fruit concentration and delicate oak nuances, while his white wines are bright and fresh.
Tsegeletos is a professional wine judge as well as the president of the board of directors for the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Association. An avid snow skier and motorcyclist, he resides on an old chicken ranch in the hills of Sonoma with his wife, daughter, and a number of pets and farm animals.
Tom Gendall
Assistant Winemaker
Assistant Winemaker Tom Gendall was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. He worked for wineries there and in Germany before moving to California in 2011, and joining the Jacuzzi extended family in 2016.
Tom believes that "if you look after the vines, the vines will look after you and produce great fruit. They will tell you what they need if you know where to look and what to look for. It's our job to interpret that information and make sure the wines achieve their very best potential."
Well said, Tom. We couldn't agree more.
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Fred & Nancy Cline
Proprietors
When Fred Cline was a young boy, he spent summers visiting his grandparents, who lived on a farm in Oakley, California. It was there that he learned both the love of agricultural life and winemaking, a love that would later allow him to obtain a degree in agriculture science and management from the University of California-Davis. He started Jacuzzi as a way to honor his Italian heritage.
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Fred & Nancy Cline
When Fred Cline was a young boy, he spent summers visiting his grandparents, who lived on a farm in Oakley, California. It was there that he learned both the love of agricultural life and the mysteries of vinifying grapes into wine, a love that would later allow him to obtain a degree in agriculture science and management from the University of California-Davis.
In 1982, with an inheritance from his grandfather, Fred founded Cline Cellars near Oakley, California and in 1990, the winery was relocated to the Carneros region of Sonoma, California. In 1994 the first Jacuzzi Family Vineyards wine was produced. Cline built the 18,000-square-foot winery across the street to Cline Cellars on Arnold Drive in Sonoma-Carneros and opened its doors in 2007.
Fred's innovation and experimentation has produced distinctive and rich wines for which he has garnered enormous acclaim.
Fred and Nancy reside in the town of Sonoma with their seven children.