Event speakers include

Juliet Ponte

The Ponte family purchased 800 acres of land in the Temecula Valley in Southern California in the 80s. Since then, the land has been developed into a thriving wine growing region. The Ponte Family still owns 300 acres and operates two wineries; Ponte Winery established in 2003 and Bottaia Winery established in 2018.

Juliet grew up in the tasting room, greeting guests and stocking bottles at 8 years old. Despite working every Summer from 15 years old, she formally joined the company after graduating college, as the Tasting Room supervisor for Bottaia Winery. After cutting her teeth in the hospitality side of the industry, she decided to make the move to Oregon to work with Hawks View's Winemaker Don Crank, who has been working in the Willamette Valley for over 2 decades.

 

Don Crank

This upcoming harvest will mark Don's 23rd harvest in the Willamette Valley. Don studied Food science at Purdue University while secretly making wine in his dorm room as a hobby. His love for fermentation led him to brewing at Golden Valley brewing before making his move into the wine industry. He spent many years at Willamette Valley Vineyards learning from Oregon wine industry legends, and then moved onto red winemaking at A-to-Z wineworks. As his team grew larger and he found himself spending more time in an office than a production floor, he decided to make the move to a smaller winery where he could have his hands in every step of the winemaking process, from vineyard decisions all the way to the moment the wine gets bottled. Don has been with Hawks View for 7 years, and as watched the company, the Tasting Room, and wine production grow significantly.