Leo Tellez

Winemaker, Ackerman Family Vineyards

Winemaker Leo Tellez's path to wine started early. In fact, wine was written into his story well before he was born.

A third generation Napan, Leo’s great grandfather moved to Napa Valley from Jalisco, Mexico and bought one acre of land back in 1950. His grandfather spent his career at Charles Krug Winery while Leo’s father devoted more than 25 years at Robert Mondavi Winery until the winery sold in 2004, after which, he continued his career caring for vineyards with a local vineyard management company.

Leo remembers making several vineyard visits with his father as a child, but his personal connection to wine began in high school when he started working in fine dining at Domaine Chandon’s now shuttered Étoile restaurant. Subsequently, Leo worked at La Toque, The French Laundry and Masa’s in San Francisco. Progressing from a food runner to a barista to a captain (server) by the age of 20, he had been influenced by some prominent mentors in the world of wine and food: Chef Robert Curry and Restaurant Manager John Gretz at Domaine Chandon, Sommelier Scott Tracy and Chef Ken Frank at La Toque and Master Sommelier Alan Murray at Masa’s. These mentors and experiences were formative in his appreciation of fine wine and its role at the table.

After graduating from San Francisco State with an International Relations degree, he pursued viticulture and enology classes at Napa Valley College and applied for his first winemaking internship at Kapcsandy Family Vineyards in Napa Valley where he worked closely with winemaker, David Sotelo, who served as an important mentor. In 2012, Leo joined celebrated winemaking consultant Denis Malbec (Malbec, his father and grandfather all worked at Chateau Latour in Bordeaux) as his assistant winemaker, working with small family-owned wineries including Kapcsandy, Blankiet, Repris, Captûre, Notre Vin and Sodaro Estate walking vineyards and making wines from sites all over Napa Valley. In 2016, Leo joined Sodaro Estate in Coombsville full time as their winemaker, working with viticulture consultant Michael Wolf and the family to craft their small-production Cabernets.

With Ackerman Family Vineyards, Leo has found the perfect fit as part of a small, family operated, estate-based wine company where he can use his well-rounded expertise in winemaking, business management and hospitality. He is also deeply associated with the Coombsville AVA, home to Ackerman Family Vineyards 11-acre organic Stonehaven Vineyard, and a region he loves for the balance and minerality he finds in the wines. Leo plans to explore the nuances of their Stonehaven Vineyard estate by getting to know each block, managing single lot fermentations while evaluating the wines and tailoring his winemaking expertise and barrel selections to create beautifully balanced, elegant wines.

Leo continues as winemaker for Sodaro Estate and with the 2019 harvest, the Ackerman Family Vineyards wines will be produced at the Sodaro Estate Winery in Coombsville.

Country born: United States

Years in the wine industry: 8 years