Fetzer Vineyards

As Director of Winemaking for Fetzer Vineyards, Dennis Martin cannot imagine a better working environment. "It's perfect," he says, "because we work as a team in a relaxed atmosphere, thereby enabling us to produce consistently high quality wine and have a great time doing it." And, with a smirk, he adds, "And, we get to work in our tennis shoes."

Dennis has been with Fetzer since 1985 and was part of the winemaking team (under head winemaker at the time, Paul Dolan) that Dan Berger proclaimed "the winemaking team of the year" in the Los Angeles Times in 1991.

A master at blending grapes from vineyards all over the state, one of Dennis' greatest
abilities is to produce a consistent style vintage after vintage. He has all the tools - French and American oak barrels for barrel fermentation, sur lie aging (to encourage flavors by allowing the yeast cells to flavor the wine before removing) and barrel-to-barrel racking to soften harsh tannins in young, red wines.

Dennis Martin - winemaker extraordinaire!