Brooks Painter

Winemaker, Coho

Brooks Painter, partner and winemaker for Coho, has been a winemaker for 30 years. He has experience making ultra-premium varietal wines from throughout the grape-growing regions of California. He currently is director of winemaking at V. Sattui Winery and Castello di Amorosa. Other most recent positions were as winemaking operations manager at Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville, and with Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars as assistant winemaker/grower relations manager and quality control manager from 1995-1999.

Country born: United States

Education: Brooks received his Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Biology from The University of California at Santa Cruz in 1980

Years in the wine industry: 30+ years

Honors / Awards:
Brook's work has been published in The American Journal of Viticulture and Enology, Biochemistry, Practical Winery and Wines & Vines. Brooks is a member of the American Society of Enology and Viticulture and a former chair of the Microbiology Committee for C.E.R.A. (California Enological Research Association). He is a current Board Member for the Napa Valley Wine Technical Group and a technical reviewer for enology research proposals submitted to the American Vineyard Foundation, a non-profit organization funded by the wine industry to provide grant money for research areas of importance to the industry. Brooks has taught classes on wine and grape growing for the California Academy of Sciences, Adult and Family Education, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California.

Winemaking Philosophy:
Hands-on vineyard management for enhanced quality, flavor intensity and vine balance, coupled with innovative fermentation management and extraction techniques for the production of classically styled red wine