Joe Webb

Joseph Webb was born in Fresno, Calif. in 1978. When he was eight years old, his mother, Pam, a neonatal nurse, and his father, Bob, a construction superintendant, decided to move the family 4,000 feet above Fresno, to the small, mountain town of Auberry, Calif.

One of Joe's earliest memories is skiing the local resort - a hobby that still has him waxing skis and planning trips in preparation every fall. Living in the mountains also gave him an excuse to begin to "modify" his 1986 Chevrolet Blazer and he's now an avid four-wheeler, as well as an inventive cook and a food-and-wine fanatic.

In 1998, Joe moved to San Luis Obispo, Calif. to attend Cuesta College. He met Kristy Charles there in 1999. Together, they became interested in wine - searching out the best deals from the Central Coast and sharing them with friends, then later exploring the tasting rooms of Edna Valley, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara.

In 2003, Joe's love of wine lead him to follow a new career path, and he transferred to Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, Calif., where he graduated two years later with distinction and a degree in wine business. During college he worked at such well-known wineries as Sebastiani and Landmark Vineyards. He also served as an officer of the Sonoma State wine club.

It was also during this time that Kristy and Joe started to make home wine in their rented Santa Rosa apartment. In 2004, they obtained their first lot of Charles Vineyard Pinot Noir and made a few small barrels of wine, which they have continued to do ever since. The wine is shared with the Charles and Webb families, as well as close friends, and is often thrown into the family's regular blind tastings, where it always seems to place at or near the top.

After graduating from Sonoma State, Joe was hired at family-owned Joseph Swan Vineyards, as an assistant winemaker, direct sales manager, and all-around winery hand. He worked several harvest at the winery until, in 2007, he proposed to Kristy and left Joseph Swan to move with her to Anderson Valley.

Joe now works at Londer Vineyards - a producer of high-end, Anderson Valley wines - as well as with the Charles family as winemaker and all-around winery and business guru.