story…

Dan O’Brien found his way to the winemaking world through restaurants. A Rhode Island native, he started bussing tables in Providence at an early age before making his way to Boston where he worked as a sommelier for about half a decade, most notably at Bar 23, a highly regarded restaurant in the city. Quickly becoming one of the most respected sommelier’s in Boston, all by the time he was 27. He then made his way to California when he was recruited to help build out the cellar for Cavallo Point in the Bay Area of San Francisco, which at the time had just been awarded a Michelin Star after only being open for just 3 months. Here surrounded by the wine industry and in constant contact with winemakers from Napa & Sonoma his passion and enthusiasm for wine continued to grow, ultimately leading him to work his first harvest at L’Aventure in Paso Robles.

After that first harvest stint he was hooked on being in the wine industry, specifically in the production and farming side. He worked with several wine projects while continuing to be the wine director at Cavallo Point until 2012, when he joined the team at Long Meadow Ranch as Estate Director. From there he made his way over to Larkmead in 2015, after having worked there for a short stint in 2013. Here he got to work with his good friend Dan Petroski, Massican, he and Petroski had met in 09’ while Dan was working at Cavallo Point. The first official bottling of Gail was in 2013, when Dan along with his brother Patrick, no longer part of the label, bootstrapped some cash together to purchase a small lot of Cabernet Franc to be bottled under the Gail label. In just a short five years Dan was able to make the transition from working on a few projects as well as his own to being solely focused on Gail as of 2018.

Gail is named after his mother, who sadly passed away far too young at the age of 51, just before Dan was about to leave for California. Gail Wines has a strong family influence. There is also a second tier of wines under their Gail project, labeled “Doris” , the wines are a nod to the classic table wines of Europe. Meant to be easily accessible and great with all sorts of meals and gatherings. Doris was their great aunt and another important family matriarch that had also passed away far too young, Dan refers to her as his families Italian-American version of Julia Child, who imparted on Dan the joys of travel, gardening, cooking, eating and of course drinking wine.

philosophy…

Inspired by the wines he loves to drink and the producers behind those wines, from traditional regions in Europe to the up and coming in California and beyond. The aim is to produce balanced wines that not only express the place they come from but the variety or varieties the wine is crafted with. The varietal focus is on grapes that reflect the complex and long winemaking history in Sonoma Valley. This has lead Dan to work with more traditional grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel, to more off the beaten path grapes like Barbera, Friulano and Chenin Blanc.

All fermentations take place on ambient, native yeasts and he employs a mix of stainless steel barrels and neutral oak barrels for both fermentations and aging. All of the wines are aged on the lees, with minimal agitation/battonage. The whites are typically aged 10-12 months and the reds typically see 18 months of aging; the wines are then bottled all unfined and almost always unfiltered except in rare cases where some of the whites see a gentle filtration. These variations in decisions are based on singular cases from vintage to vintage. All of the wines are normally racked just once before bottling.

Vineyards…

All of the wines under both the Gail and Doris labels come from sourced fruit with a focus on the Sonoma Valley. The vineyards sites are found in the “true” Sonoma Valley, meaning the AVA’s recognized as traditional parts of the greater Sonoma Valley prior to its mass expansion in 1987 that in many ways diluted the quality and greatness of the region by allowing areas of lesser quality terroir to be labeled as Sonoma. A few of the sites are in areas that were well established prior to the 1987 expansion, Chalk Hill being one example, but also happened to be part of that revised expansion in 1987. This focus often takes Dan off the beaten path on his hunt for vineyard sites that are farmed with intent and are planted to varieties that have historical roots in the region.

• Morning Sun Ranch - Sonoma Mountain

  located on the western slopes of the mountside | this vineyard was once planted entirely to Italian varieties, however over the years much of the vineyard has been grafted over to more popular varieties such as Chardonnay & Pinot Noir | the lonely remaining Italian varieties include Pinot Grigio & Barbera found in a small, terraced parcel | Dan works with all of these varieties from this vineyard, for both mono varietal wines and for some of the blends under the Doris label

• Two Creeks Farm - Sonoma Valley

  located in the northern end of Sonoma Valley between the Mayacamas and Sonoma Mountain ranges | this organically farmed site is hidden from view behind two stacked stone pillars and a rod iron gate, that once led to a monastery, and is planted to Albariño, Cinsault and Chenin Blanc | Gail produces a single vineyard, single varietal Chenin from this vineyard

• Deering Vineyard - Moon Mountain

  found in the more recently named Moon Mountain AVA, this vineyard is planted to a whole host of varieties but the majority is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel | historically this site has been one of the sources for Kenwood’s Artist Series wine, along with most of the vineyards located in this pocket near the village of Kenwood | Gail produces a single vineyard, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from this site

• Pickberry - Sonoma Mountain

  a 30 acre vineyard on the northeast slope of Sonoma Mountain near the town of Glen Ellen | the Merlot parcel that Gail sources from was originally planted to Chardonnay in 1982 but was grafted to Pickberry massal selection Merlot in 1996

• Windsor Oaks Vineyard - Chalk Hill

  located in the Chalk Hill AVA, near where the Russian River meats the Mayacamas Mountain range | planted to a host of the usual suspect varieties of the Sonoma Valley as well as some more obscure and lesser used varieties | The Gail Cabernet Franc bottling comes entirely from this site

• Madhavan Vineyard - Moon Mountain

  located on the lower slopes of Nuns Canyon at the Northern end of the Moon Mountain AVA | the vineyard consists of just over 3.5 acres of vines split into two parcels | set on a steep slope of loamy soils with large deep deposits of volcanic rock | Dan has been assisting the grower in convertering the vineyard over to organics

• Monte Rosso Vineyard - Moon Mountain

  this site has long been owned by the E & J Gallo family & the fruit primarily goes to wines by Louis M Martini & Orin Swift | some previous producers to work with fruit off this site include: Bedrock Wine Co. , Carlisle, & Ravenswood | it is planted mostly to Cabernet Sauvignon & Zinfandel but there is a small section of the vineyard that has long been planted to Sangiovese | the vineyard is sustainably farmed & is the process of being converted to organics

Producer website - gail wines

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