Heidi Peterson Barrett is an American

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to deter ...

and entrepreneur who has been responsible for some of California's most notable

cult wine Cult wines are wines for which dedicated groups of committed enthusiasts will pay large sums of money. Cult wines are often seen as trophy wines to be collected or as investment wine to be held rather than consumed. Because price is often seen ...

s. Her career has included stints at Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle Vineyards, Paradigm Winery, Grace Family Vineyards, Amuse Bouche, Lamborn Family, Showket Vineyards, Revana Family Vineyards, Vineyard 29 and Fantesca. Barrett is a consultant for Elizabeth Spencer and has her own wine label, La Sirena.

Early Years and Education

Barrett was born in Berkeley, California to parents Richard and Diane Peterson. Her father was an influential winemaker who worked for several wineries including

E & J Gallo Winery E & J Gallo Winery is a winery and distributor headquartered in Modesto, California. It was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo, and is the largest exporter of California wines. E & J Gallo Winery is the largest family-owned wine ...

Modesto, California Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

and

Beaulieu Vineyards Beaulieu Vineyard (BV for labelling purposes) is a vineyard near Rutherford, California, belonging to the appellation Rutherford AVA. It was established by Georges de Latour and his wife Fernande in 1900. History Initially a purchase of of la ...

St. Helena, California St. Helena ( ; Wappo: ''Anakotanoma'') is a city in Napa County, in the Wine Country of California. Located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the population was 5,814 at the 2010 census. St. Helena is a popular tourist d ...

where he worked under Andre Tchelistcheff. Barrett attended grade school in

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

before her family moved to the Napa Valley. and graduated from

UC 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 ...

in 1980 with a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Fermentation Science.amusebouchewine.co
Heidi Barrett bio
/ref> She was one of only four women in her graduating class of 30.

Career

Following internships in both the German and Australian wine industries, Barrett became head winemaker for Buehler Vineyards in 1983 at age 25. In 1988, at age 30, Barrett left Buehler and struck out on her own as a winemaker consultant. Her first consulting client was Dalla Valle, and she worked with her proprietor Gustav Dalla Valle to earn her first two 100-point scores from '' Wine Advocate's'' Robert Parker. After achieving success with Dalla Valle, Barrett began working with Jean Phillips of Screaming Eagle in Napa Valley. Phillips was the realtor for her first client Gustav Dalla Valle, and began working with Barrett on a casual, hourly basis. This brand took off in the early 1990s, and following the 1992 vintage of Screaming Eagle, Barrett became a "winemaking star". Barrett then began working as winemaker for Ren Harris of Paradigm Winery, and continued to grow her career from there. As Barrett's children grew up, she was able to devote more time to her winemaking career. Wine critic Robert Parker has awarded her wines 100 points five times and called her ''"The First Lady of Wine"'' as well as "the Queen of Cult Cabernet."

Personal life

Barrett is married to

Bo Barrett Bo Barrett (born James P. Barrett) is the current winemaker of Chateau Montelena. He is the son of Jim Barrett, under whose ownership the 1973 vintage Chardonnay won first place among white wines at the 1976 Judgment of Paris wine tasting. Barr ...

, the winemaker at

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 ...

She has two daughters; Remi and Chelsea. She is an avid

scuba Scuba may refer to: * Scuba diving ** Scuba set, the equipment used for scuba (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) diving * Scuba, an in-memory database developed by Facebook * Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array, either of two in ...

diver, painter, and helicopter pilot.

References

External links

La Sirena official site

Paradigm Winery official site

Au Sommet Winery official site

Barrett & Barrett Winery official site

Heidi Barrett bio
lasirenawine.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Heidi American winemakers American female winemakers Living people American viticulturists Wine merchants University of California, Davis alumni People from Napa County, California Year of birth missing (living people)

Early Years and Education

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links