TASTING ROOM REOPENING - FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH (NOON - 4PM)
Susy Vasquez
Director of Winemaking
Hailing from Bolivia, Susy’s winemaking career began with an interest in plant physiology – earning a degree from Universidad Mayor de San Simon. An impressive career began in California shortly after, rising to overseeing entire wine programs.
Susy’s favorite challenge is working with the natural product and understanding that the vineyards can deliver something different each year. To Susy, the perfect wine doesn’t exist. Each wine presents its own unique challenge from vintage to vintage. Ultimately, the most important goal is to craft a wine that leaves the customer desiring a second glass.
David Akiyoshi
Emeritus, Director of Winemaking
A second-generation winemaker, David is a 35-year industry veteran who graduated from the University of California, Davis. As Director of Winemaking at Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, he led a team of enologists in creating and evolving their wine style to improve the quality of Woodbridge wines.
He helped pioneer winegrower lot processing for direct wine quality
feedback, supported barrel aging of premium wines for enhanced quality, and drove stylistic winemaking in hundreds of different wines. David’s winemaking philosophy stems directly from Robert Mondavi himself, driving continuous improvements while nurturing a respect for both winegrape and wine. Today, his belief in true varietal expression and wine’s natural marriage with food makes him a pivotal member of the LangeTwins team.
Aaron Bader
Winemaker
Aaron Bader was born and raised in the Napa Valley and grew up among the vines at his family’s vineyard in the Oak Knoll District. Aaron spent his junior high and high school summers working in the vineyard and helping his parents make wine in their old barn on the vineyard property. Old vine Zinfandel and Charbono from high up on Mount Veeder were some of the first grapes he got his hands into, along with Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir from Yountville.
At the age of 15, Aaron decided he wanted to pursue winemaking as a career. From that point on he set his sights on attending UC Davis to learn everything he could. He took almost every science course his High School offered. He graduated from UC Davis in 1992 with his Bachelor’s Degree in Fermentation Science. That same fall his family completed the process to start their bonded winery in the old barn. For the next 10 years Aaron was winemaker at the small Phoenix Vineyards while doing some small consulting winemaker projects on the side.
Aaron’s life path and career took him away from Phoenix to pursue greater opportunities in the years that followed. He continued to support the family project as a consultant but made wine throughout California: with stints in the Central Coast (Monterey and Paso Robles) as well as Sonoma County and, most recently, back to Napa. The Napa facility he was working at as Head Winemaker was sourcing grapes from several California AVA’s, including
Lodi. With the fantastic diversity and the rich history in the area he was drawn to the potential. When the opportunity came to join LangeTwins, he jumped at the chance. Already familiar with the wines as a consumer from years previously travelling on his own to the tasting room, he knew about the dedication to quality.
Aaron now makes his home in Acampo with his fiancé and their pets. He enjoys travelling, entertaining with friends on the back patio with the grill and smoker, or wildland hiking or mountain biking.
David Brown
Winemaker
David is a magna cum laude graduate of the viticulture and enology program at UC Davis. He began his winemaking journey in the Sierra Foothills and Amador County making boutique and small lot wines. He left the foothills in 2014 to become the winemaker for Gnekow Winery, where he ultimately donned the role of general manager in addition to his winemaking duties.
Gnekow Winery is where David developed his love for Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel, and the Lodi region as a whole. After parting ways with Gnekow Winery, he began making wine for the Kautz family at Bear Creek and Ironstone Vineyards. After nearly 4 years as a winemaker there, the opportunity to join the LangeTwins team presented itself, and it was too good to pass up!
David's winemaking philosophy is that wine is made in the vineyard, and great wines should only require gentle care from the winemakers as they move along their journey from grape to bottle. David enjoys cooking, fishing, playing guitar and being outdoors.
David's favorite LangeTwins wines would have to be the Gruener Veltliner and the Nero D'Avola. Both are absolutely fantastic, unique wines that you can't get just anywhere. LangeTwins does such a meticulous job with the farming of both varieties, and it definitely shows in the finished
product.
