Kenneth Juhasz (YOU haas) began his winemaking career dragging hoses in a cold cellar in Oregon. His interest in enology had grown as he worked his way through school in fine restaurants and the local wine shop in his native North Carolina. After college, Kenneth eagerly pursued his passion for Pinot Noir west to the Willamette Valley, where he began working with winemaker Ken Bernards. Over the next few years, Bernards became Kenneth’s mentor. When Juhasz came to Carneros in 2002, Bernards helped him create a fresh identity for the Robert Stemmler label. Kenneth was appointed winemaker in 2005.

Committed to working tirelessly through each harvest and to obtaining maximum quality in the vineyards with wine grower Anne Moller-Racke, Kenneth has succeeded in creating wines of power and elegance that are true expressions of site.

While enhancing his knowledge with forays to Oregon and the South Island of New Zealand, where he spearheaded a start-up Pinot Noir operation at Hinton Estate, Kenneth remains dedicated to producing outstanding wines from Robert Stemmler’s estate vineyards in the Carneros and Russian River Valley appellations.

A native of Oberwesel, Germany, Anne Moller-Racke came to California in 1981 and became vineyard manager for Buena Vista Carneros Winery in 1983. She was named director of vineyard operations in 1988 and was promoted to vice president of vineyard operations in 1997.  During that time, Anne worked intensively with some of the industry’s foremost authorities, including Andre Tchelistcheff, Dr. Phil Freese and Dr. Paul Skinner.  She helped establish what is now the Carneros Wine Alliance and brought recognition to Carneros as an American Viticultural Area (AVA).

Anne was instrumental in developing Buena Vista’s Carneros Estate, now the appellation’s largest vineyard, expanding the planted acreage from 540 in 1981 to 935 a decade later, and supplying fruit to premier producers like Acacia, Etude and Sterling. In the 1990s, she also replanted over 500 acres, carefully innovating viticultural practices and selecting rootstocks, clones, trellising and irrigation techniques for each vineyard block. When Allied Domecq purchased Buena Vista in 2001, the Racke family retained Tula Vista Ranch, now The Donum Estate. Today, Anne farms 70 acres of Donum Estate vines, 20 acres of the venerable Ferguson Block in Carneros, and the Nugent Vineyard, an 11-acre Russian River Valley estate which she planted in the mid-1990s.

The caretaker of vineyards she has farmed for decades, Anne brings a vast knowledge of both viticulture and site to her role as wine grower for Robert Stemmler and its sister label, Donum. As president of The Donum Estate, Anne’s management style inspires a committed team to work with the utmost pride and care.

Nabor was born in Jalisco, Mexico, in the small town of Arroyo Seco, into a family of farmers who grew mostly corn. A hard-working student, Nabor graduated high school in 1984, but had no money for university. So he chose to follow an older brother who had gone north to Napa Valley in the 1970s. 

Nabor began as a laborer, working for acclaimed grape grower Larry Hyde in Carneros. He soon became a skilled worker, then a foreman, spending 16 years at Hyde Vineyard before joining Anne Moller-Racke, vice president of vineyard operations at Buena Vista Winery, in 2000.

When Moller-Racke started an “ultimate Pinot Noir” project at The Donum Estate/Robert Stemmler Winery, Nabor seemed a perfect fit, and she brought him aboard in 2001. She cites his work ethic, sensitivity to the vines and ability to balance them, and dedication to excellence as ideal qualities for a vineyard manager. At their small Pinot Noir operation, she points out, Nabor participates in every tasting, remaining connected with the wine into the bottle and the marketplace.

In turn, Nabor credits both Hyde and Moller-Racke as veteran growers who farm for quality, not quantity, comparing them to marathon runners with a head start who maintain their speed to stay ahead of the pack. 

Robert Stemmler’s passion for winemaking spans over 40 years. A native of Germany, he completed his formal education in winemaking and viticulture at Bad Kreuznach Wine College. In 1961, he accepted a winemaking position at Charles Krug, one of Napa Valley’s most prominent wineries. He quickly earned a reputation as one of California’s leading winemakers, and that recognition lead him to other renowned wineries including Inglenook Vineyards in Napa Valley and Simi Winery in Sonoma County.

In 1976, he opened his own winery in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley.  In 1982, after securing high quality fruit from a Russian River Valley vineyard, he was able to concentrate on his true passion, Pinot Noir. His first release of the wine that would be most identified with him brought him immediate and widespread acclaim.

Although Robert retired from full-time winemaking in 1989, he still provides input and insight into the making of the wines that bear his name.