Gustavo Brambila (born 1953) is a Mexican-American winemaker in the

Napa Valley Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...

Early life

He was born in

Jalisco, Mexico Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political d ...

in 1953 and moved with his family to Rutherford in the

in 1957.

Career

Brambila earned a degree in fermentation science at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

, one of the first Latinos to do so. In 1976 he was hired by

Mike Grgich Miljenko "Mike" Grgić (born April 1, 1923) is a Croatian-American winemaker in California. He was born into a winemaking family in the town of Desne on Croatia's coastal region of Dalmatia. He is notable for being the winemaker behind the 197 ...

Chateau Montelena Chateau Montelena is a Napa Valley winery most famous for winning the white wine section of the historic "Judgment of Paris" wine competition. Chateau Montelena's Chardonnay was in competition with nine other wines from France and California und ...

where he assisted in quality control. He joined just after the events covered in ''

Bottle Shock ''Bottle Shock'' is a 2008 American comedy-drama film based on the 1976 wine competition termed the "Judgment of Paris", when California wine defeated French wine in a blind taste test. It stars Alan Rickman, Chris Pine, and Bill Pullman and is ...

''. Brambila followed Grgich when Grgich Hills Cellar was created in 1977. He worked there for 23 years before leaving in 1999 to become the general manager and winemaker at Peju Province Winery. In 1996, he teamed up with Thrace Bromberger to form Gustavo Wine, which was making 3,800 cases in 2004 and 7,000 cases in 2008. They produce a mix of Merlot, Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc, Barbera, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Petite Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon. They also own the Napa Wine Merchants cooperative tasting room as well as several thousand acres in the Chiles Valley. Since 2002, he has consulted with Taylor Family Vineyards on their

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

. In 2008, he began crafting private label wines for the Wine Pod, an automated wine presser and fermenter.

''Bottle Shock''

Brambila was portrayed by Freddy Rodriguez in the 2008 indie film ''

''. In the film, the character is directly involved in the 1976 tasting although in reality, he was not. He worked in the lab on quality control. Brambila spent time with Rodriguez before filming. Since the film was released, there has been a noticeable increase in business at his winery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brambila, Gustavo 1953 births American winemakers American viticulturists Living people People from Rutherford, California Wine merchants Mexican emigrants to the United States University of California, Davis alumni People from Jalisco