Though Chris and I tend to be the outward face of Bedrock one cannot get a real sense of how Bedrock wines are made without a humble bow to the small group who bust their behinds for us almost every single day. Though possessing different personalities and strengths we can say that a golden thread of thoughtfulness, intrepidness and kindness runs through the group as a whole. -MTP
Cody
Assistant Winemaker Cody Rasmussen was born in Arizona and raised in Iowa, places that respectively instilled in him his lifelong loves of collecting rocks and reading (not much else to do in Iowa). He double-majored in political science and economics at Williams College in Massachusetts, where he met his first intellectual nemesis, Chemistry 201—a cruel irony a few years later when he had to self-teach about redox reactions and polar-covalent bonds in the cellar.
Read MoreLuke
Cellarmaster Luke Nio is Bedrock’s human embodiment of a Jeroboam. Born and raised in Northern California, he met the wine world via old vine Alicante Bouschet grown in his uncle’s Sonoma backyard. Wine didn’t become Luke’s career, though, until he started at UC Davis with biology and forensic sciences in mind; fortunately for us, that was derailed when he took Intro to Winemaking freshman year, and Luke is now the proud owner of a Vit & Enology degree. His harvest experience varied from natural wines at Kaz to Russian River Pinot Noirs at Balletto Vineyards, then old vine Syrah at Trinity Hill in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, where he honed his forklift skills and cannon-balled into an open-top fermenter filled with whole cluster Syrah.
Read MoreJake
Vineyard Manager Jake Neustadt grew up in the East Bay and came of age backpacking in the Sierras and annoying his neighbors with an overly loud garage band. His higher education at UC Davis began with a focus on journalism and international relations but, upon realizing the bleak realities of those career paths, quickly gravitated toward agriculture and winemaking.
Read MoreSarah
Sarah Geisse is the newest member of the Bedrock team. She started as a harvest intern in 2016, and none of us were ready to see her go so we offered her a full time job instead; she accepted. Her cellar prowess spans the gamut of tasks from steaming and sanitizing barrels to getting elbows deep in pomace digging out a tank. Sarah has a geology background, which comes particularly in handy when it comes to vineyard work. (This is where we resist making a pun about how much she rocks—oops)
Read MoreKristin
Kristin Wastell has lived in Sonoma for four decades, joining the Bedrock family in 2017 with a wealth of hospitality experience and the kind of grace and elegance that can’t be taught. Born and raised in a small town outside Erie, PA, Kristin moved to Sonoma in 1975 and started working as a bartender at a French restaurant in downtown Sonoma. Noticing that most people drank wine at lunch, she wanted to learn what all the fuss with wine was all about. She met her future husband Alan at work and was hooked (both to wine, and to him—they celebrated their 38th anniversary in 2018!).
Read MoreJackie
You’d never guess after a tasting with Jackie Sotelo that she is fairly new to the wine industry. Her knowledge and quick-study nature are matched with effortless hospitality. Jackie has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area most of her life, save for two years in New York City and a post-college internship in Paris (her French is flawless, for those interested in hearing all about Bedrock wines en française). A UC Berkeley graduate with degrees in French and Political Economy of Industrialized Societies, Jackie first got into wine during her travels throughout Europe and through work with garagiste winemakers in San Francisco during her work in urban planning. Her wine love skyrocketed, though, when she met her future husband Gustavo, the Associate Winemaker at Scribe in Sonoma, and became immersed in the wine community.
Read MoreCaritas
Morgan’s dog Caritas, a 16th century Counter-Reformationist Catholic masked as a majestic Great Pyrenees, lived a glorious 13 years before passing in June of 2019. Her days were spent engaging in her favorite activities: showcasing her divine right of dominance over “zee horrid Huguenots!” (aka Kinley and Maya), silently judging the Bedrock team for their innumerable shortcomings, and graciously forgiving said shortcomings when peace offerings of the culinary sort were extended. She was the absolute best, and the namesake for Cuvée Karatas.
Kinley and Maya
Cody’s dogs Kinley and Maya are Golden Retrievers whose primary goal in life, besides napping, is to greet every person that walks into the winery. Kinley’s favorite activity is napping under Cody’s desk; Maya’s is following the winery crew around in search of spilled wine. Their favorite foods are anything stolen from Bedrock harvest interns, whole sticks of butter and/or chunks of Parmigiano. Kinley's favorite beverage is beer, especially after a long harvest day, and Maya’s is mid-fermentation Bedrock Heritage Wine.