Robert Nenow Winery

Owner:

Robert Nenow

Founded:

2003

Location:

Napa, CA

A member of the Behrens Family of fine winemakers

My wife, Lori, and I have had a love of fine wines for years, and we are fortunate to have two excellent Napa Valley winemakers in the family: Lori's sister, Lisa Drinkward of Drinkward Peschon, and brother-in-law Les Behrens of Behrens Family Winery (formerly Behrens & Hitchcock). For many years I have helped Lisa and Les with crush at their beautiful Napa Valley winery at the top of Spring Mountain. Spending much of my vacation time each year, I gained hands-on knowledge of how these fine wines are made. In 2003 Les suggested that we take some of the wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from the Kenefick Ranch near Calistoga and try making our own wine. Using the skills I had learned from these highly praised winemakers, we crafted our first vintage of Nenow wines. This connection has helped us foster relationships with wonderful vineyard owners, allowing us to choose the fruit for our wine based on quality and sustainable farming practices.
 
From that first bottling of 224 cases of Nenow Napa Valley Kenefick Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon we have grown and added a second label called El Camino Real, inspired by the historical trail that spanned California from San Diego to the town of Sonoma. Each year I return to the Napa Valley along a similar route to harvest, crush, monitor fermentation, do punch downs by hand several time a day, press the wine off the skins and put it into French oak barrels for aging. For much of the year I rely on Lisa and Les to care for the wines as they do their own, with care and expertise, returning return as often as I can until the wine is bottled.