Bruce Ahnfeldt

Winemaker, Ahnfeldt Wines

Country born: United States

Years in the wine industry: 1 years

Winemaking Philosophy:
I was told, a long time ago, that the key to good winemaking is paying attention. I started paying attention at an early age. Specifically, the day my dad brought home a bottle of 1962 Château d’Yquem and poured it into paper cups around the family dinner table. The bouquet, the flavor, and the experience made an impression on me. I became passionate about wine and the vineyards that produce the wine. I convinced my father to uproot a section of our apple orchard and replant it with wine grapes, and he put me in charge of the endeavor. My botany professor at the university of Notre Dame, a former winemaker at Christian Brothers Winery in California, encouraged me to attend his wine-tasting seminars. I had enrolled at Notre Dame with the intention of becoming a doctor. These seminars shifted that focus, igniting what has become a lifelong career in winemaking.

I enrolled in the Department of Enology at the University of California, Davis. My thesis on oak extraction led to a job at Robert Mondavi Winery as a research technician. Valuable hands-on production experience resulted in a promotion to enologist. Among other responsibilities I was assigned to the Opus One team, and in 1981 was appointed head enologist.

After several vintages with Opus One, I joined Simi Winery in February 1985 as assistant winemaker. I was appointed vice president/winemaker in 1989. While at Simi, my interest in new and emerging growing regions, particularly the wine-growing regions of Chile and Argentina, intensified. While exploring these areas I met Nicolas Catena, who invited me to return to Mendoza in 1989 to take charge of a new project making Argentina’s first world-class Chardonnay. I accepted his offer.