Born and raised in the Beaujolais region of France, owner and head Winemaker Philippe Coquard comes from a family of winemakers with more than 400 years of viticulture and enology. Philippe was immersed in winemaking and viticulture from a young age, growing up helping on his family’s farms and tasting wine with his father and uncles. He later went on to earn degrees in winemaking, viticulture, and wine marketing. Philippe has been our winemaker since 1985.

Sauk City native Vicki Orr has been an integral part of the team since 1994 and is Assistant Winemaker. Vicki’s main responsibilities include yeast selection, inoculation, and filtration. She also manages the inventory, purchasing, and rotation of 400 wine barrels. Vicki has pumped millions of gallons of wine over her 24 years and is very dedicated and passionate about her work.

Céline Coquard Lenerz, daughter of winemaker Philippe, joined the team (officially) in 2012. Céline grew up at the family’s winery, graduated with a Master of Wine Science from Cornell University, and is responsible for the lab work, quality control, and tasting. Céline’s knowledge and skills are allowing the winery to do in-house experimentation and research to move the winery into the future and continue the commitment to quality improvement.

Anthony Meyer is our winery Production & Operations Coordinator and oversees all winemaking and bottling supplies. Anthony is tasked with keeping everyone on schedule and for all the pieces to come together at the right time. He began at the winery as a teenager and has also worked in many other facets, including vineyard, bottling, and tours.

Romain Coquard, son of winemaker Philippe, is a member of our wine cellar staff that takes care of our aging barrels and has a degree in Food Science from UW-Madison. Among his many duties, he also works extensively in the vineyard and with grape harvest, including grape crushing and wine pump-overs.

Tommy Meyer is the newest member of our winemaking team. He works in the fermentation room, in the wine cellar with our oak barrels, and helps with trucking wine. He is very skilled in maintaining our bottling line and other equipment.