|
Team Tolosa
Tolosa Winery is owned by two prominent San Luis Obispo families whose local traditions and commitment to quality are reflected in their choice of friendly and knowledgeable employees. Each Team Tolosa area of expertise works together as a larger cohesive group, creating a dynamic push towards excellence.
Bob Schiebelhut – bio
Principal
Jim Efird – bio
Principal
Robin Baggett- bio
Inactive Principal
Larry Brooks-bio
Winemaker
805.782-0300 ext.23
Ian Herdman
Director of Operations
805.782-0300 ext. 13
Brittney Blete
Tasting Room Manager/ Wine Club Coordinator
805.782-0500 ext.11
Katie Noonan
Marketing Administrator & Event Coordinator
805.782-0300 ext. 20
Tami Carija
Director of Marketing & Sales
805.782-0300 ext. 24
Jon Goodier
National Sales Manager
512.667.0765
Darren Worley
Regional Sales Manager
805.782-0300 ext. 34
June Ward
Sales Assistant
805.782-0300 ext. 34
Jeff Kandell
Marketing Assistant & Shipping Coordinator
805.782.0500 ext. 15
John Shakley
Concierge
805.782-0500 ext. 10
Cathy Agler
Controller/Human Resource Director
805.782-0300 ext.25
Carla Willey
Chief Financial Officer
805.782-0300 ext. 21
Sue O’Sullivan
Administrative Assistant to Bob Schiebelhut
805.782-0300 ext. 15
Melanie Brain
Executive Assistant
805.782-0300
PRINCIPAL
Bob Schielbelhut
Born into a grape-growing family near Fresno, Bob has vineyards in the Edna Valley: 750 acres of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Merlot (Edna Ranch and Salaal Vineyards). Bob and his wife Ann met while attending the University of California at Berkeley and raised their three daughters in the Edna Valley on one of their vineyards. Bob and Ann now concentrate on grandchildren, cats and dogs.
Bob currently chairs the Outreach Committee of the San Luis Obispo Vintners and Growers Association and is active in Wine Vision, a broad-based statewide industry group dedicated to promoting sustainable practices in grape growing and winemaking.
Bob also serves as Chair of the California Central Coast Research Partnership, which is establishing a university-related research park with California Polytechnic State University and Cuesta College, located in San Luis Obispo. This research collaboration will focus on a substantial part on developing leading agriculture technology for the grape and wine industries.
PRINCIPAL AND VINEYARD MANAGER
Jim Efird
Jim grew up on a Fresno County cattle ranch and family farm near the small town of Caruthers. It was here that Jim’s grandfather pruned his own vineyards in the early 1900’s before turning to a successful cattle ranching career in 1920. Years later Jim’s father would return to vineyards and educate his son with first hand experience.
After graduating from the California State University of Fresno with studies in viticulture under Professor Vince Petrucci, Jim moved with his young family to San Luis Obispo in 1973. It was here that the planting of what is now the majority of the vineyards of the Edna Valley began.
Over the past 32 years these vineyards have been a source of grapes to more than 160 of California’s finest wineries. Working together and through the efforts of extremely talented winemakers several of the wines from these vineyards have been recognized as among the best in the world.
Jim has served as President of the Central Coast Wine Growers Association, a board member of the American Vineyard Foundation, and in 1998 was honored to have been recognized as the first recipient of San Luis Obispo County’s Grape Grower of the Year award.
Today, Jim and his wife Jeanette continue to live in the Edna Valley keeping a watchful eye on the vineyards and Tolosa’s future.
Inactive Principal
Robin Baggett
Robin began his involvement in the wine industry in 1988 as an amateur winemaker with Bob Schiebelhut. In 1990 what started as a hobby soon became quite serious with the planting of the Edna Ranch Vineyards. It was in 1998 that Bob, Robin and Jim Efird agreed to build Courtside Cellars and the Tolosa Winery which in turn encouraged Robin to serve not only as President of the San Luis Obispo Vintners and Growers Association but as a current board member of The Wine Institute.
SENIOR WINEMAKER
Larry Brooks
While some subscribe to the idea that winemaking can be learned in school, there is ample evidence that this theory is wrong. What Flaubert called a sentimental education is far more important. Wine is made as much with the heart as with the head. So to understand a winemaker it is crucial to review aesthetic as well as intellectual development.
Charles Baudelaire, in attempting to explain his upbringing, said that his pram was parked next to a bookcase so he spent his childhood living in the land of the imagination. Larry’s parents made a similar mistake when they first took him to a library. He spent most of his days with his nose in a book, and the balance in the daydreams they engendered. The complexity and mystery that is inherent in the study of Biology made good training for a winemaker. He got a BA in Botany from Rutgers University, but what was as important was the minor in Art History. At the time, Larry thought he was studying Art because the girls were prettier and the parties were wilder in the Art department. Little did he know, that these early studies in aesthetics were preparing him for the type of intuitive decisions that are at the heart of winemaking. The parties were good training as well for life in general.
An equally whimsical decision led him to UC Davis for his graduate work. The grad school catalog was illustrated with a racing bicycle. Larry loved bikes and this was all it took for him to bid farewell to the eastern seaboard. While obtaining his MS in Plant Pathology at Davis, Larry was introduced to two things that would help shape the rest of his life: his future wife Alexis and California wine. Little of what followed would have been possible without her forbearance and help.
In 1978 Larry had a fateful meeting with Mike Richmond, Acacia’s founder. This lead to the many happy years which followed at Acacia as cellar worker, lab rat, assistant winemaker, winemaker, and ultimately general manager. After 19 vintages, Larry briefly experimented with corporate life at Chalone. This three year interlude as an executive saw Larry found Echelon Vineyards, and manage Chalone’s many wineries and vineyards.
Since 1999 Larry has run a consulting practice out of a cozy office in downtown Napa, and operated two small wineries, Campion which produces Pinot Noir and Amethyst which makes Cabernet Sauvignon.
|
