The People
John Fetzer and Patty Rock
Owners
John Fetzer's career in the wine industry spans nearly a half century, from his early childhood working in the vineyards at the 1000-acre Fetzer home ranch in Redwood Valley, California, to his ascendancy to the position of CEO of Fetzer Vineyards in 1981 at the age 35. Under his leadership, Fetzer Vineyards' production grew by double digits each year, from 200,000 cases in 1981 to over 2.5 million cases in 1992. In the 1980s, he was recognized as an early industry leader in the promotion of organic farming, the marketing of U.S. wines in Europe, and the education of sommeliers and hoteliers in the healthy pairing of food and wine. During this time, Fetzer Vineyards received the Wine & Spirits "Winery of the Year" award for five consecutive years.
After he sold Fetzer Vineyards to Brown-Forman in 1992, John focused on his vineyards and land-development projects and, in 2001, joined forces with his wife, Patty Rock, to make Saracina wines. Only half jokingly, John admits that, "you have to sell a big winery to build a small winery today."
After earning her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Michigan, Patty Rock moved to California to begin a career in business management. She spent 25 years in senior-level management positions in large Bay Area law firms, where she oversaw the finance, human resources, information technology, marketing and operations departments. In 2003, she left an executive position with a large Silicon Valley law firm to devote her energies to marketing the Saracina and Atrea brands and overseeing the administration of the growing winery.
Patty and John's shared passion for food, wine, Asian and modern art and architecture have been fully realized at Saracina Ranch.
Alex MacGregor
Winemaker
Alex caught the winemaking bug at the age of 18 when he was put in charge of the family wine cellar by his father, a Toronto member of a group of oenophiles who banded together to direct-import wines that the Canadian government monopoly was unwilling to import. After completing a degree in Business Administration at McGill University, Alex traveled the wine regions of France and Spain, received a diploma from the only accredited sommelier program available in Canada in 1988 and, sensing the need to "get his hands dirty," eventually emigrated to the United States to enroll in the enology program at Fresno State University. He also studied viticulture in Sonoma County before accepting positions as winemaker at Everett Ridge Vineyards and later Collier Falls, both in the Dry Creek Valley, where he first made his name with award-winning old vine Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc.
In 2002, Alex accepted the opportunity to work with winemaking consultant, David Ramey, who has become his mentor, and industry icon, John Fetzer, to build a boutique winery which would set new standards for viticulture and vinification in Mendocino County. Alex and his wife, Kathleen, live in Ukiah with their two sons, Ian and Duncan.
