Our Winemaker
Gina Richmond is the fourth generation of her family to live in Suisun Valley. Her great grandfather, Sebastian Oberti, came to Suisun Valley in the 1890’s from Italy. He grew fruits and vegetables to sell to the local community and dabbled in some home winemaking. Gina expanded on this legacy by graduating from CSU Fresno with an enology degree.
After graduating, she interned at Spring Mountain Winery in St Helena and Trinity Hill Winery in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. She met her husband, George, while working in New Zealand, and he has become an integral part of Mangels Vineyards.
Gina ran the custom crush program at Hall Winery in St Helena and then was the assistant winemaker for X Winery in Napa. Now she is the Director of Winemaking for Top It Off Bottling. She enjoys the diversity that working in both Napa and Suisun Valley brings from the different varietals grown in both areas.
Winemaking Style
Gina’s no frills winemaking style that she learned from the great professors at Fresno State allows her to make clean, fresh, and flavorful wines.
She concentrates on picking the grapes at the peak of their flavor. When blending, she looks for a balanced wine consisting of great aromatics and the right ratio of tannin, acid, and alcohol. She believes these are the two most important points in winemaking.
She still makes wine for Mangels Vineyards in small, hand-crafted batches that are all a labor of love.