In film, food, music, and tech—in everything, really—California is constantly in flux, with new people continually drawn to its limitless sense of adventure and possibilities. This is also true with wine—a more staid endeavor than most— with new generations always moving in and taking over to put their own stamp on what we are drinking. All of these next-generation California winemakers should be on your radar.

Adam Casto

Ehlers Estate

Napa Valley

Casto started working at this storied St. Helena estate in 2023. Before that, he’d spent 11 years working with Philippe Melka at Gandona, DANA Estates, and other wineries in California, Chile, and New Zealand before taking on this coveted head winemaker role. At Ehlers he’s honoring the winery’s long history (the stone winery dates back to 1886) while bringing it into the future—in true next-generation style—with a large-scale replanting, and rethinking how to best maintain the 42-acre vineyard using organic farming practices. 

Bottles to Know: The 1886 Cabernet Sauvignon ($160) evokes old-school Napa in all the best ways, the 2021 vintage in particular offering structure and style without undue heft. The 2021 St. Helena Merlot ($80) will change many a Merlot-naysayer’s mind—so soft, sumptuous, and earthy they’ll think it came from the Old World.

Britt Richards

Alta Nova, Band of Vintners, Head High Wines

Napa Valley, Sonoma

Richards worked at Chappellet, Jordan, Keller Estate and Peter Michael before launching her own consulting business, where she has most recently partnered with Napa Valley-based Master Sommelier Desmond Echavarrie in Alta Nova Cellars to make an outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon priced under $100. To that end, the two have also partnered to make Band of Vintners, which probably offers the best quality-to-price ratio of any Napa Valley Cabernet known to man and woman right now.

Bottles to Know: Go for the 2021 Alta Nova Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($70), a high-toned expression of dark briary berries, black tea, tobacco, and clove. Then try her 2023 Head High Skin-Contact White ($28) for something tangy with a touch of bitter.

Duncan Harmon

Terre et Sang

Santa Barbara

Self-taught winemaker Duncan Harmon, who works with his mom, Dalita Harmon, launched this winery in 2019. He and his mom source single-vineyard Syrah and Grenache grapes from some of the finest names in Santa Barbara County including Kimsey, Larner, Peake Ranch, and Bien Nacido. Harmon, who graduated from Penn State and zeroed in on wine, found inspiration on California’s Central Coast drinking the wines of Sine Qua Non, Saxum, and L’Aventure. Harmon’s wines are fierce and feral, intensely inky and structured, and named for things that matter to him and his mom.

Bottles to Know: The 2021 X Block Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah ($75) is outstanding and a favorite since they started, rich and complex at lower alcohol levels, able to capture this vineyard’s coolness in every way. Another from Bien Nacido to try is the 2021 Kissing Vipers Grenache ($75), a more robust representation of the site.

Evyn Cameron

Une Femme Wines

California

Une Femme is dedicated entirely to sparkling wines made from grapes grown in a wide array of places, and the brainchild of Jen Pelka, who formerly ran The Riddler Champagne bars in San Francisco and New York. For Une Femme, she tapped skilled winemaker Evyn Cameron, who had honed her chops at Napa Valley’s Crocker & Starr, Cliff Lede, and Seavey; her first winemaking job was at the iconic White Rock. She also puts her formidable winemaking skills to work making the Buzzkill California-grown, low-sugar, single-serve non-alcoholic canned wines, sourced from a single vineyard farmed by one family in Lodi since the 1870s.

Bottles to Know: Both The Betty California Sparkling Brut ($29) and The Callie Sparkling Brut Rosé ($29) overdeliver on their price points—crisp, fruit-forward, and balanced sparklers that are juicy, fruity, and luxurious.

Katy Wilson

LaRue Wines

Sonoma

Wilson has been a highly sought-after consultant in Napa Valley and Sonoma County for many years, where she worked with the likes of Flowers and Kamen. With LaRue—which she named after her great-grandmother Veona LaRue—she makes delicate, site-specific Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from a range of extremely cool vineyards within the Sonoma Coast and West Sonoma Coast AVAs. Earlier this year she and her sommelier husband David Meneses released their first Cabernet Sauvignons named after their daughter, Charlie. Wilson also makes the wines for Anaba, BloodRoot Cellars, Reeve Wines, and Smith Story Wine Cellars.

Bottles to Know: The newly released Charlie LaRue Bedrock Vineyard Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($65) and Charlie LaRue Monte Rosso Moon Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon ($85) from the 2021 vintage must not be missed: spectacular bottlings that show how refined and sophisticated Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon can be in the right hands. But also don’t miss the 2021 LaRue Charles Heintz Vineyard Sonoma Coast Chardonnay ($65), which always tastes of white peach and wild vanilla.

Lane Harper and Bill Cassata

William Lane Wine Co.

Mendocino, Temecula Valley

Harper (who previously worked for Gallo) and Cassata (a planetary research scientist who'd previously worked at a winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains) started their winery in late 2020. They’re devoted to making Mediterranean island wines in California, drawing inspiration from Sicily’s Mount Etna and  Vittoria regions, as well as Greece’s Santorini. The duo source grapes from as far north as Lake County’s High Valley and as far south as Temecula. They love these wines for their freshness, purity, and energy and how versatile they can be year-round. From their production facility on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay, they also hope to show the potential of such varieties as Nero d’Avola, Frappato, Catarratto, Carignan, and Vermentino in California. In 2024 they began working with Assyrtiko for the first time. Their stylistic preference is to craft wines that are moderate in alcohol, slightly higher in acidity, and structured, trying to capture the energy and sunshine of the Mediterranean at affordable price points.

Bottles to Know: The 2023 Alder Springs Vineyard Mendocino County Vermentino ($26) is a must, from one of California's great rugged mountain sites that gets plenty of coastal influence, retaining oodles of acidity amidst a panorama of citrus and salt. The 2022 Temecula Valley Catarratto ($26) is crisp and textured.

Marie-Laure Ammons

Nid Tissé

Carneros, Russian River Valley, Sta. Rita Hills

A native of the Limousin, Ammons studied wine and viticulture in Burgundy and Bordeaux before coming to California. She spent 18 years working with  Philippe Melka, after early jobs at Stonestreet and Hartford Court. Now she’s on her own with Nid Tissé. She produces non-interventionist Chardonnay and Pinot Noir using indigenous fermentations, and working with the best of the best vineyards, from Hyde Vineyard in Carneros and Russian River Valley’s famous Bacigalupi all the way down to Radian Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills.

Bottles to Know: Start with the 2022 Hyde Vineyard Carneros Chardonnay ($97) for a full exploration of her craftsmanship; you won’t be sorry.

Matt Naumann

Newfound Wines

Amador, Mendocino, Napa Valley, Sierra Foothills, Sonoma Coast

In addition to making Newfound Wines and running a tasting room in St. Helena, Matt and his wife Audra have a 40-acre ranch, vineyard, and winery in the Sierra Foothills, which they call High View Vineyard. There they are fulfilling their dream of becoming first-generation grapegrowers and independent wine producers. Before Newfound, Matt spent a decade at Failla and built a partnership with NBA star Dwayne Wade to create Wade Cellars, while Audra worked in sales at Hourglass. They also work with the vaunted Shake Ridge Ranch grapes in Amador County, and recently took over Boz Scaggs’ former vineyard on Mount Veeder. In addition to Newfound’s exceptional Rhône-inspired wines, you’ll find delightful bottlings of Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and Semillon.

Bottles to Know: The 2021 Placida Vineyard Sonoma Coast Chardonnay ($62) is full of tension and salinity; as outstanding a version of coastal Chardonnay as you may ever find.

Shalini Sekhar

Neely Wine, Ottavino Wines, Waits-Mast, Xander Soren Wines

Anderson Valley, Mendocino, Mendocino Ridge, Russian River Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Lucia Highlands, Santa Maria Valley, Sonoma Coast

Born to Indian parents and raised in New Jersey, Sekhar always thought of herself as an “other” in the wine world. For her own label Ottavino, she likes to go off the beaten track for varieties—like St. Laurent and Grüner Veltliner, both of which are exceedingly rare in California. While she is also the winemaker for Anderson Valley’s Waits-Mast and Neely Wine near the Santa Cruz Mountains, among her newest projects is Xander Soren, which recently made its debut in the United States. Soren spent 20 years helping develop Apple products like GarageBand and iTunes and is obsessed with Japanese culture. When he decided to make California Pinot Noir, he wanted it to pair with Japanese cuisine. Working closely with Sekhar, who has a gentle touch using minimal intervention winemaking protocols, it does.

Bottles to Know: Sekhar’s own 2023 Ottavino Santa Cruz Mountains Grüner Veltliner ($35) is the best place to start to understand her style (crisp, clean, focused, and steely), followed by one of her long standing client wines, the 2019 Waits-Mast Mariah Vineyard Mendocino Ridge Pinot Noir ($47), a high-elevation coastal red that’s singing in baking spice and black tea.