Trevor Durling

Winemaker, Provenance Vineyards

Trevor grew up in nearby Sonoma County, one of the wine hubs of Northern California, where wine was a staple at his family dinner table. Following high school, Trevor’s intention was to join the R.O.T.C. program at the University of California, Davis and eventually become an officer in the US Air Force, just as his grandfather had done many years before. After a short time as an undergraduate at Davis, however, he enrolled in an introduction to winemaking class; he was immediately hooked. Trevor quickly realized that winemaking pulled together his love of agriculture, science and food, and transferred to the University’s renowned Viticulture and Enology program. After a harvest internship at Russian River Valley’s Sonoma-Cutrer winery in 2003, Trevor spent two consecutive harvests at Gloria Ferrer where he worked on their sparkling wine portfolio. In late 2005, Trevor joined Moon Mountain Vineyard, a small, well-regarded organic vineyard in Sonoma Valley. “Moon Mountain was a great place to start my career,” he says. “I got to work on exceptional, small-lot wines made primarily from Bordeaux-style grapes grown in mountain terroir.”

In March of 2010, Trevor joined Provenance Vineyards and Hewitt Vineyard as assistant winemaker and was an integral part of the success of Wine Spectator’s 2013 #4 Wine of the Year – the 2010 Hewitt Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. In early 2015, Trevor was named lead winemaker, following in the footsteps of Founding Winemaker Tom Rinaldi and Chris Cooney. Trevor worked hand in hand with Tom and Chris crafting such highly regarded wines and today continues that rich winemaking legacy. “We have access to some of the best fruit in Napa Valley – not just from our estate in Rutherford, but also from Carneros in the south all the way up to Calistoga in the north,” Trevor says. “Our job is to make sure that each wine is balanced, complex, exciting and representative of its terroir.”

Trevor still lives in Sonoma County and makes the scenic drive over the hill into Rutherford on a daily basis. He never gets tired of the 40-minute commute to work along the Oakville grade over the Mayacamas Mountains, which divide Napa and Sonoma. In the morning he drives toward the sunrise and in the evening toward the sunset, and each day he enjoys experiencing first-hand the region’s wildlife, redwoods, oak groves, rolling pastures, hairpin turns and post card views. Trevor is an avid golfer, snowboarder and San Francisco Giants fan, and he loves to barbeque, cook and explore wines of the world in his spare time.

Country born: United States

Education: Viticulture and Enology, UC Davis

Years in the wine industry: 10-15 years

Honors / Awards:
Wine Spectator’s 2013 #4 Wine of the Year

Winemaking Philosophy:
Our job is to make sure that each wine is balanced, complex, exciting and representative of its terroir.