Full Name
John Hamel
Job Title
Director of Winegrowing
Company
Hamel Family Wines
Speaker Bio
John Hamel, II, is the Managing Director of Winegrowing at Hamel Family Wines, overseeing all winegrowing and winemaking operations. While he holds the official title of winemaker, John views his role more as a winegrower, leading his team in crafting terroir-specific wines from estate vineyards, emphasizing biodynamic and organic farming practices and minimal-intervention winemaking techniques.
John’s path to wine was not a direct one. After receiving his B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with academic distinction and Phi Beta Kappa honors, John took a job at an organic farm in Napa Valley, driven by an intellectual curiosity in the Slow Food movement. The job sparked his interest in wine, leading him to a accept a position at a wine-centric public relations firm, further fueling his growing passion for wine. When John’s parents, George Hamel, Jr. and Pamela Hamel, bought a vacation home with a small vineyard in Sonoma Valley, John decided it was an opportunity to try his hand at winemaking, and went on to earn his Winemaking Certificate from the University of California-Davis.
From 2011 to 2016, John immersed himself in the study and practice of winegrowing and winemaking with input from notable consultants, adding to his growing expertise and knowledge. After spending several years honing his techniques and absorbing everything he could about the specific terroir of his family’s estate vineyards, John officially took over Hamel Family Wines winegrowing and winemaking in 2017.
His continued evolution as a winemaker is progressively evident in each vintage of Hamel Family Wines, which John attributes to his increasing familiarity with the vineyards and the best techniques to cultivate and produce the highest quality of wines for each vintage. John is committed to biodynamic and organic farming practices and is working to implement dry farming across all of his family’s vineyards. “Our goal is to produce wines that connect people with the terroir of each unique vineyard site,” John says. “Practices like biodynamics and dry-farming allow the vines to have a deep and natural connection to where they are growing, and ultimately we strive to have this connection expressed in the wine.”
When he is not at the winery or in the vineyards, John spends as much time as he can with his wife, their twin girls and son. He also enjoys cooking, running, music, and spending time with their chocolate lab.
John’s path to wine was not a direct one. After receiving his B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with academic distinction and Phi Beta Kappa honors, John took a job at an organic farm in Napa Valley, driven by an intellectual curiosity in the Slow Food movement. The job sparked his interest in wine, leading him to a accept a position at a wine-centric public relations firm, further fueling his growing passion for wine. When John’s parents, George Hamel, Jr. and Pamela Hamel, bought a vacation home with a small vineyard in Sonoma Valley, John decided it was an opportunity to try his hand at winemaking, and went on to earn his Winemaking Certificate from the University of California-Davis.
From 2011 to 2016, John immersed himself in the study and practice of winegrowing and winemaking with input from notable consultants, adding to his growing expertise and knowledge. After spending several years honing his techniques and absorbing everything he could about the specific terroir of his family’s estate vineyards, John officially took over Hamel Family Wines winegrowing and winemaking in 2017.
His continued evolution as a winemaker is progressively evident in each vintage of Hamel Family Wines, which John attributes to his increasing familiarity with the vineyards and the best techniques to cultivate and produce the highest quality of wines for each vintage. John is committed to biodynamic and organic farming practices and is working to implement dry farming across all of his family’s vineyards. “Our goal is to produce wines that connect people with the terroir of each unique vineyard site,” John says. “Practices like biodynamics and dry-farming allow the vines to have a deep and natural connection to where they are growing, and ultimately we strive to have this connection expressed in the wine.”
When he is not at the winery or in the vineyards, John spends as much time as he can with his wife, their twin girls and son. He also enjoys cooking, running, music, and spending time with their chocolate lab.
Speaking At
