DUCHAMPWINERY - Key Persons
Gary Galleron is a hands-on artisan and one of Napa Valley's most respected wine makers and native sons. A graduate of California State University, Fresno with a degree in viticulture and enology, he worked with Mike Grgich at Chateau Montelena. He then went on to produce award-winning wines for some of the most prestigious names in the Napa Valley including Grace Family, Whitehall Lane, Hartwell, Vineyard 29, Del Sotto, Seavy and S. Anderson. His relationship with Peter and Pat Lenz began on Long Island where Gary was the winemaker for Lenz Vineyard during its formative years. His passion for creating classic, beautifully balanced wines is evident in the Syrah he has produced for Duchamp Estate Winery.
For the past ten years, José V. Gomez has been responsible single-handedly for the care and maintenance of the vineyards at Duchamp Winery. Our high-density, low production system requires him to manage each vine over ten times per growing season. He removes unwanted shoots, cluster thins by dropping half the fruit before ripening, hedges to create good air drainage, and prunes the vineyard after harvest. Because of our close spacing and low vines, the majority of the work is done by hand. He is tireless and meticulous.
Art is Pat's passion and she brings originality and creativity to all her work. Born in New York City and a graduate of Sarah Lawrence where she majored in sculpture, Pat taught art and had studios in Soho and the Hamptons before opening A Moveable Feast where she earned four stars from The New York Times. Her interest in wine led to the founding of Lenz Vineyards with her husband Peter. When the couple moved to California, Pat resumed sculpting and is currently working on multimedia installations as well as curating shows in the gallery at SlaughterhouseSpace.
A native of Stuttgart Germany, trained by Mercedes Benz, Peter Brings European Style and devotion to detail to everything he does. Together with his wife Pat, he ran the four-star Moveable Feast restaurant whose wine list was one of the first to highlight California wine. Next, he managed their winery, Lenz Vineyards, one of the first and finest wineries on Long Island. He now runs the couples' boutique hotel, Duchamp, voted one of the world's top 25 new hotels by Conde Nast Traveller. His passion for wine and viticulture has created the Duchamp Estate Winery where he oversees every aspect of the vineyard, the winery and the business. Never one to settle for anything but the best, Peter uses all of his experience and knowledge to make the wines of Duchamp exemplary.
Phil Freese is one of the early leaders of contemporary viticulture, first during 13 years as Vice President of Winegrowing at Robert Mondavi Winery, and since 1993, with his business WineGrow. He holds a B.S. from Purdue University and a PH.D from U.C. Davis. Phil planned the vineyard for Duchamp to be "different by design" and to create something very special. According to Phil, Duchamp vineyard has two discrete soils in a very small parcel and it's this diversity which achieves complexity. Uniform ripening will assist in getting great concentration and clarity of expression into the wines. Phil designed the high-density vineyard with this end in mind.