Jody Harris – Founder & General Manager
Jody’s love of the land started early on, and he developed a passion for how things worked, how things grew, from farming to the stock market to the real estate market. He learned how to maintain the Jeep and the Ford tractor before he even learned how to operate them.
Jody went to Town School, then to Tabor Academy where he pursued his love of sailing, and graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1997 with a BA in Economics. In 2008, after successful careers in commercial contracting and development with Hadley Construction, Fisher Development and Richie Commercial Real Estate.
As general manager of Cultivar Jody balances his time keeping an eye on the long term goals, the finances and ensuring all the day to day systems functioning: making improvements on everything as needed. This passion for how things work also translates to being an early adopter of technology and new farming practices to be ever more sustainable and earth friendly.
Today, both Caspar Estate and Cultivar are thriving with a total production of over 10,000 cases in 16 states, the Cultivar SF restaurant and Cultivar Sausalito restaurant in the works.
When he isn’t at Cultivar San Francisco, or out in the vineyard or at Cultivar Sausalito job site, one may find Jody out on the San Francisco Bay. An avid boatmen, Jody is a volunteer for the Coast Guard Auxilary and often takes groups out to the Farallon Islands. Jody currently resides in the Marina district near Cultivar San Francisco with his wife Michelle and their three children.
Gingy Harris Gable – Founder & Sales and Marketing
Growing up, Gingy loved spending weekends in the Napa Valley, with her grandparents, Virginia and Caspar Escher, learning how to appreciate and tend to the land. To this day, both Gingy and her brother are passionate about their property and continue the tradition of teaching the next generations of the family to be stewards of the land.
Gingy overlooks all details, from package design for their products, winning a packaging award for their olive oil in 2004, to overseeing sales and marketing for Caspar Estate and Cultivar Wine.
Gingy brings her design eye, sales experience, and years of running her own business to Cultivar.
Prior to taking the helm at Cultivar along side her brother, Gingy worked at Barbara Scavullo Design. She then founded and ran her own interior design business, Virginia Harris Design for over 19 years. She worked on many projects along the West Coast from Santa Barbara to Belvedere, and is responsible for the interiors of the house at Caspar Estate. She and her work have been featured in a variety of publications (The Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle, Design Times, Northern California Home and Design, and Gentry). She received a degree in Art History from Colby College in Maine.
Participating in cooking classes in Florence, Paris and San Francisco influenced what she wanted to plant in the culinary garden. An avid cook, she enjoys pairing ingredients fresh from the land with Cultivar and Caspar Estate wines. Gingy currently resides in San Francisco with her husband John and their son.
Julien Fayard – Consulting Winemaker
Julien Fayard gained his knowledge and defined his core winemaking style from working at grand Chate aux in France such as Lafite Rothschild and Smith Haut Laffite. In Napa Valley, he’s worked alongside renowned winemaker Philippe Melka. He has come to be a Napa Valley veteran after many years of working with some of the most highly acclaimed and sought after wines from the Napa Valley. His philosophy is to produce wines that express pure, terroir-driven specificities and characteristics. He believes that as a winemaker, one doesn’t control the wine but rather wine style is the result of a combination of soil, climate and vineyard management. Wine style is an elegant combined expression of the fruit, soil, vines and climate.
“As a winemaker, my job is to bring out the best qualities that the vines have provided. I don’t seek to make a style of wine but more so to make wine that sings of it’s place, it’s history and it’s uniqueness. That’s my goal as a winemaker, to make wines that are pure expressions of their environment and not mask it. Wines with an identity. “
Julien is an entrepreneur with an acute business savvy of the wine industry. He is completing his MBA from top ranking Davis University in Entrepreneurship and Marketing. He brings a dynamic background of quality wine production, business management, winery development and infrastructure.
Chuck Sorensen – Sales Director
Deborah Evans – Hospitality & Sales
Deborah has been working for Caspar Estate & Cultivar since 2012. Before that she was in the hospitality industry for over 15 years and opened 6 hotels providing quality service for customers, associates and ownership. As a former Director of Sales and Marketing she was responsible for $23 million in annual revenues. She and her husband have lived in the Napa Valley for over 10 years after living on the East Coast, South & Midwest.
Deborah’s knowledge of hospitality and her love of food & wine allow her to share Cultivar Wine with the world while hosting events and dinner parties. She volunteers and serves on fund-raising committees for the Queen of the Valley Hospital (Day of the Queen), and is Vice President of a Napa Philanthropic Educational Organization to support education for women.
Dianne Jones – Advisor & Customer Service
Dianne joined our team in October 2013 and before that she worked as an Office Manager and Executive Administrative Assistant to a Pastor of a mega-church in the suburbs of Chicago for seven years. She implemented a new database, scheduler and phone tree for the church. She has lived all across the country and makes friends quickly. She became very involved in this community and received “Volunteer of the Year” award from the Yountville Chamber of Commerce, where she still serves as Chamber Ambassador.
Dianne’s love of the Napa Valley rubs off on everyone she encounters. She is a die hard Steelers fan. She loves hearing from Cultivar Wine Club members, and is a great resource and customer service representative.
Dianne will be retiring in December 2024 and transitioning to an advisor.
Jeff Rankin – Manager Cultivar San Francisco
Jeff Rankin grew up in the clear waters of Jupiter, FL. Living in a fishing community, it was ingrained in him how important sustainability, fresh food and nature are intertwined. Growing up in a family of 6, food was always a high priority. “What’s for dinner?” was always the the most discussed topic. Although he graduated with Honors in Air Traffic Control, his affinity for hospitality, food and service could not be ignored.
Jeff moved to San Francisco in 2017 and followed his passion. For the next 5 years, he worked for James Beard and Iron Chef winning Gabriela Camara at Cala restaurant in Hayes Valley as Assistant General Manager and Director of Service. While there, he helped guide them to numerous awards, national recognition and a Netflix documentary. In 2022 Jeff joined the team at Cultivar San Francisco and is now excited to move into the General Manager role.
David Neri – Chef Cultivar San Francisco
David Neri grew up in beautiful Mexico City. At the age of eleven, he became familiar with food through his sisters’ catering business.
At age twenty, his passion for food was developed and refined by Chef Tim Cass. Seeing David’s talent, vision, and drive, Chef Cass hired him as a head chef for UC Berkley’s athletic department. While working along with sports nutritionists, David became fascinated with healthy food. During this time, he received the opportunity to work at different restaurants across the Bay Area, including the Waterfront Restaurant in San Francisco, which helped him develop his cooking style. Eventually, he became a partner at a restaurant in Hercules, California and started consulting Bay Area small businesses.
David Neri’s love, passion, and experience for food make him one of a kind chef.
Jen Burch – Brand Advisor
Jen has more than 20 years of marketing experience with 10+ years dedicated to hospitality marketing. Jen oversees branding for the Cultivar businesses. Prior to joining Cultivar, Jen worked in marketing and branding roles for PlumpJack Hospitality Group.
Tia Simon – Marketing & Wine Club Manager
Growing up in California’s Salinas Valley and Monterey Bay area, Tia developed a passion for fresh, farm-to-table cuisine that fueled my lifelong love of culinary exploration. While earning a double bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology at UC Davis, she discovered a passion for wine while working in restaurants and bartending.
With over 15 years of experience in Napa’s wine industry, she has held roles ranging from compliance to marketing management across various wineries. She enjoys connecting with people, guiding them through sensory wine experiences, and creating moments that resonate deeply.
Baci, Brodie and Dixie – Caspar Estate Dogs
As long as we can recall we have had labrador retrievers. As children our grandparents had black labs. They are part of our life. All of our dogs love to chase balls, squirrels and rabbits.
Chuck’s journey in the wine industry began in the early 2000s when he started as a buyer at Whole Foods. Transitioning to a local distributor of wine and spirits, he initially handled “C” and “D” accounts, swiftly proving his readiness for a full territory in San Francisco within six months. Over the years, Chuck has thrived with several top distributors and brokers, expanding his territory to cover the entire Bay Area and he has earned several wine trips to France, Italy and Spain.
For the past five years, Chuck has been based in the North Bay, where he has called on restaurant and retail accounts amidst the picturesque wine country.
With over two decades of experience in the industry, Chuck’s enthusiasm for wine remains unwavering. He particularly indulges in his passion for White Burgundy and Champagne, always eager to explore new varietals and vintages.
Prior to his illustrious career in wine, Chuck spent fifteen years on the AMA professional motorcycle racing circuit, clinching the 250cc Grand Prix Road Racing Championship three times. On weekends, you can find Chuck exploring wine country with his wife Barbi and their dog Maya or hitting the road on his motorcycle with friends.