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Jeff Ritchey

Winemaker/Owner - Sensorium

 

Jeff Ritchey was born and raised in Silicon Valley but somehow knew that technology wouldn’t be his chosen profession. He attended UCSB where he earned a BS in Geology while participating on the diving team. After a brief stint in the environmental geology field, he decided he needed a change. After a trip through Sonoma Valley and Calistoga, he realized that winemaking could be just what he needed. He decided to take classes so he could get into UC Davis to earn a MS in Enology to jump start his new career.

 

His first job at Gundlach Bundschu in Sonoma taught him the spirit of the wine industry. In 1997 he had a chance to return to Silicon Valley and work with Clos LaChance in Saratoga. What was supposed to be a short stint during harvest turned into almost six years of fun work. He took over as winemaker at Clos LaChance during the harvest of 1997 and helped grow it from 6000 cases to 30,000 cases in 2002. Along the way, he helped design and build their beautiful winery on the CordeValle golf resort in San Martin, CA.

In 2002, he decided to start Sensorium with his dad, Lee and their friend John Zasio. In the spring of 2003, soon after starting Sensorium, Jeff had a chance to consult for another local winery and that allowed him to focus more on Sensorium and its operations. So he quit his job at Clos LaChance and made a career of consulting and making wine for Sensorium. Currently, he consults for Picchetti Winery, San Saba Vineyards, Los Gatos Wine Company and Fleming-Jenkins and is also a partner in another winery that he helped start, Blue Cellars.

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World of Wine Event, LLC
10128 Crestview Hts.
La Mesa, CA 91941

619-342-7337