Anthony Yount, Winemaker

Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Anthony moved to California to study agriculture at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. While finishing his double major in Agribusiness and Wine & Viticulture, Anthony had the great fortune to work as an intern for two seasons under the guidance of Brian Denner. Anthony then moved up the road to work as Cellar Master at Villa Creek in 2008 and 2009, where he continued to work with Denner fruit.

Coming full circle, Anthony started as Winemaker for Denner in December of 2009 and looks forward to continuing to build on the Denner tradition. He is also the owner and Winemaker for Kinero Cellars, which focuses exclusively on unique white varieties.

Anthony’s winemaking philosophy is non-interventionist – if you provide the grapes and wine with an environment where they can thrive and excel - they will do just that. Fortunately, the Denner facility was built to support that philosophy.

Mike Chase, Assistant Winemaker

Mike Chase was born and raised in Los Gatos, CA. After visiting Alexander Valley Winery with a group of coworkers in High School, he was intrigued by all that the wine industry has to offer. So he decided to move to San Luis Obispo, CA to attend Cal Poly. There he earned his bachelor’s degree in Wine & Viticulture in 2007.

His first wine industry job was at Talley Vineyards working as a Tasting Room Attendant for two years while studying at Cal Poly. Mike completed his internship with the Central Coast Vineyard Team in the summer of 2006. Then in 2007, he worked two harvests, one in California at Claiborne & Churchill Winery and one in New Zealand at Whitehaven Winery.

In 2008, He worked for Saucelito Canyon Winery in California then traveled to Chile to work, but things did not work out so well there. Luckily, he returned to California and began working at Denner Vineyards. After traveling around the world and working for a variety of wineries, Mike truly appreciates all that Denner Vineyards has to offer.