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Eric Cinnamon, Winemaker For Sonoma County's Rancho Zabaco Wines
In his mid 30s, Eric Cinnamon is already one of California’s most successful and talented young winemakers. He has imprinted his personal style on the Zinfandel grape and the result is the big bold wines of Rancho Zabaco--a line of vibrant and accessible wines that are a hit with Zin fans everywhere.
Eric works mainly with grapes from the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma, California’s top Zinfandel producing region. With both the creative freedom and the technical expertise to push and stretch the capabilities of the fruit, he has created a complete line of award-winning Zinfandels. The wines range from small case, vineyard-designated wines such as Monte Rosso and Stefani Vineyards to the highly regarded regional Sonoma County Zinfandels.
Eric was born in Sacramento and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Fermentation Science at the University of California. He lives in Sonoma County with his wife, Kari, and their two young sons, Ryan and Matt.
When you spend a lifetime as a farmer, rancher, horseman, and father, you learn to love things that grow. As the man in charge of the Frei Brothers Reserve coastal California vineyards, Jim Collins has the perfect job.
Jim spent much of his career in Texas, and still owns a home in Menard, TX. He is a former director of the Texas Winegrowers Association, and his son is now looking forward to his first year at Texas A&M.
Jim’s current position is Director of Coastal Winegrowing for GVI, one of the Gallo wine family’s vineyard management companies. “I was raised in a family where farming and ranching were in our blood, going back through the generations in Ireland. I grew up with reverence for land being part of our family values. When I met the Gallo family, I realized they shared those values, and I wanted to be part of that again.” Frei Brothers Reserve wines are a clear expression of the land where their grapes were grown, and Jim Collins works hand in hand with Frei Brothers Reserve winemakers to get the best from the vineyard into the bottle.
Bart O’Brien grew up in Florida, then moved to San Francisco after graduating from the University of Florida and Carnegie Mellon business school. His passion was for starting companies; his chosen field was that of software companies. He was on the founding team of RSA Data Security and Calico Commerce, both of which become public companies, and involved in the startup of several other firms.
Barb O’Brien grew up in Southern California, then moved to San Francisco after attending UCLA and graduating from Montana State University. Her career was in marine container leasing where she managed the contracts department.
Barb and Bart met one evening after a charity event in San Francisco. From the moment they met, they knew that they had a shared destiny. On their third date wine tasting in Napa Valley, Barb said that “she dreamed of owning a vineyard in Napa Valley someday”.
That dream was the start of O’Brien Estate, which they purchased in 2000. Thirty three acres of vineyards, a bonded winery, as well as their home are co-located on forty acres.
Because their winery was founded as a romantic dream, their wines reflect the intertwining of romance and wine. Many of their wines have romantic names, such as Flirtation, Seduction, Romance of the Heart, and Reflection. These wines also have romantic poetry on the back, addressing the emotions of the heart rather than the experience of the palate.
Best of all, these wines pair well with romance. What could be better?
Robert M.S. Bower 7thGenerationPortwine shipper
from the Fladgate Partnership
Robert Maurice Syndercombe Bower was born on the 3rd of June, 1975, in Oporto, Portugal. Raised in Portugal until he was 8 years old, he was then sent to England to continue his education. After Eton College he went on to Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, in London. At Imperial he graduated in Biology and, a year later, obtained a Masters in Molecular Biology and Virology.
After leaving university he worked for 3 years in Cambridge for the pharmaceutical company, Novartis, thereafter he decided to return to his true passion for Porto. Before returning to Portugal, he continued his education with marketing, languages and wine tasting courses, both in the United Kingdom and France.
Robert Bower joined the Port wine industry in the Spring of 2001. He is now the 8th generation of the Yeatman line, through his grandmother, to be involved in Porto. His responsibilities encompass the management of the Fladgate Partnership portfolio in the United States working for the importer of Fine Wines, Kobrand Corporation Inc. He is now based in New York where he hopes to remain for a few years before returning to Portugal.
The Fladgate Partnership is made up of three of the most historic and highly regarded Porto houses: Taylor Fladgate, Fonseca, and Croft. Their portos are produced with the attention to quality that is the standard to which all other Port wine houses aspire. It is a family-run company with the present members representing the 8th generation of the Yeatman family, originally from the Port house of Taylor Fladgate & Yeatman, now with over 315 years of history.
“Any time not spent drinking port, is a waste of time.” Percy Croft
In his mid 30s, Eric Cinnamon is already one of California’s most successful and talented young winemakers. He has imprinted his personal style on the Zinfandel grape and the result is the big bold wines of Rancho Zabaco--a line of vibrant and accessible wines that are a hit with Zin fans everywhere. 
When you spend a lifetime as a farmer, rancher, horseman, and father, you learn to love things that grow. As the man in charge of the Frei Brothers Reserve coastal California vineyards, Jim Collins has the perfect job.
Bart O’Brien grew up in Florida, then moved to San Francisco after graduating from the University of Florida and Carnegie Mellon business school. His passion was for starting companies; his chosen field was that of software companies. He was on the founding team of RSA Data Security and Calico Commerce, both of which become public companies, and involved in the startup of several other firms.
Robert Maurice Syndercombe Bower was born on the 3rd of June, 1975, in Oporto, Portugal. Raised in Portugal until he was 8 years old, he was then sent to England to continue his education. After Eton College he went on to Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, in London. At Imperial he graduated in Biology and, a year later, obtained a Masters in Molecular Biology and Virology. 
