The Donum Estate: People

Our People Love of the Land, A Passion for Wine

		Anne Moller-Racke: President and Winegrower 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 Donum Ranch and home to The Donum Estate. Today, Anne farms 70 acres of vines at the home ranch, 20 acres of the venerable Ferguson Block in Carneros, and the Nugent Vineyard, an 11-acre Russian River Valley estate she planted in the mid-1990s. As caretaker of vineyards she has farmed for decades, Anne brings a vast knowledge of the appellations and sites to her role as wine grower for both Donum and its sibling label, Robert Stemmler. As president of The Donum Estate, Anne's management style inspires a committed team to work with the utmost pride and care on its "ultimate Pinot Noir project.”

		Kenneth Juhasz: Consulting Winemaker 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. There he began working with winemaker Ken Bernards, who became Kenneth's mentor over the next few years. When Juhasz came to Carneros in 2002, Bernards helped him to create and launch the "ultimate Pinot Noir project” at The Donum Estate and to develop a fresh identity for the Robert Stemmler label. Kenneth was appointed winemaker for both Donum and Robert Stemmler 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 estate vineyards in the Carneros and Russian River Valley appellations. He also produces fine Burgundian varietal wines from Sonoma, Mendocino and Oregon's Willamette Valley under his own label, Auteur.

		Lauro Servin: Vineyard Foreman Lauro grew up in Zamora in the state of Michoacan, Mexico, and came to the United States in 1987. He joined his brother, Francisco Servin, at Peter Nissen's vineyard management company. Ironically, Lauro's first job in the U.S. was helping replant what was then the Tula Vista Vineyard, known today as the Donum Ranch. Overseeing the replanting was none other than Anne Moller-Racke, then director of vineyard operations for Buena Vista Winery. Lauro worked for Nissen for 11 years, then joined Francisco's vineyard management company for another decade. Former Donum vineyard manager Nabor Camarena approached Lauro about a position as Nabor's replacement. "I said, yes, I certainly know the ranch!" Lauro says. Returning to the vineyard has brought back lots of memories, he says, including when the roof of the old milk barn (now converted into winery offices) blew off and landed in the driveway. Lauro asserts that he learns something new every day now, and he finds the greatest differences in 20 years are equipment improvements, new vine spacings, trellising techniques and plant materials, and an intense focus on details to enhance quality.

		Frieda Guercio: National Sales Director A self-described “Air Force brat,” Frieda was born in Apple Valley, California, but spent her formative years in Spain. She studied zoology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before becoming an art major. Freida arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1985 and worked her way up in the restaurant business, learning about wine at Emporio-Armani Ristorante and Scala’s Bistro while moving into management. Her position as general manager and wine buyer at Bistro Don Giovanni in Napa brought her to the wine country in 1998. She joined The Estates Group, the nascent fine wine division of Young’s Market, in 2000 and moved to The Donum Estate in 2003.

		Brooke Gadke: Hospitality Director A former magazine editor, Brooke left Celebrate Publishing Group in 2007 to pursue her passion for wine and food. Upon relocating to the Napa Valley, Brooke dug in her heels and quickly linked up with acclaimed wine writer and author of The Wine Bible, Karen MacNeil, with whom she collaborated on the 2010 Page-A-Day Wine Lovers' Calendar. By day, the Alabama-born, Arkansas-raised Southerner quickly built her reputation as an independent marketing consultant, completing projects for some of Napa and Sonoma Valleys' most esteemed wineries, including Caymus, Blackbird, Stagecoach and Forman Vineyards. By night, she founded and edited an award-winning website honoring the industry's most celebrated names and places and continued to publish her writing in publications across the country. In 2009, Brooke joined Martin Estate, a boutique Rutherford winery producing luxury estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon, as Marketing, Hospitality and Wine Club Director. Today, she lends her talents, skillsets and her disarming Southern charm to the Donum Estate experience.

		Patty Ketchum: Controller Patty Ketchum, born in Jakarta and raised in Bali, dreamt of seeing the world at an early age while going to school with children from the diplomatic community in her country. Her love for numbers started when helping her father correcting student quizes. Those interests have stayed with her; she was accepted into Monterey Peninsula College as an undergraduate. With her BA in Accounting, Patty has made her professional home the wine industry. She made her first foray into the wine industry when she joined the accounting team at Clos Pegase. After more than a decade working in the financial world, Patty has found her niche at Donum Estate as Controller. Her positive attitude and lovely smile add another dimension to crunching numbers and creating balance sheets. Patty lives with her two daughters in Napa, CA. In her free time between practicing her native Balinese dance and challenging her girls playing competitive soccer, she also trains and runs half marathons.