Kira Ballotta hosts winemaker-led tastings in Napa that you can book online. She loves teaching folks about winemaking and answering any questions on the process. Her wines are much lauded in their own right with high scores, awards and prestigious restaurant placements, but what really makes them extra special is the inspiring stories of women featured on each label - which she is only too happy to regale you with. Her love of wine history comes through in her discussions as she is always happy to dive deep on any esoteric wine topic. Time travel back to Napa in the 1970s and talk wine at the bar with a winemaker.
Featured in this article:
- How Kira Ballotta became a winemaker
- How the history of wine is her inspiration
- Her favorite books to read to discover your love of the history of wine
How Ballotta turned a career in finance into a life in wine:
Kira Ballotta was an analyst at an investment bank in San Francisco in 2010. Her typical work involved valuing mines – gold, aluminum, bauxite, and oil and gas reserves. When her boss asked her to focus on a wine deal she was excited about the new subject. Her friend knew a winemaker in Napa. In order to get some “extra credit” at work she went out to Napa to meet him and learn a bit more about wine to inform her spreadsheets. She now refers to herself as “the guest that never left”. He was the winemaker for Olivia Brion in the Wild Horse Valley of Napa. She asked if he needed any help on the weekends with his winemaking work and the rest is history. Coming up most weekends, she washed and topped barrels and assisted with rudimentary cellar work in exchange for learning winemaking basics. In 2011 she helped bring the Pinot Noir grapes in for harvest for Olivia Brion.
She switched jobs to work in business analytics at Constellation, a wine conglomerate, in 2012. But by 2013 she was done with wine-based spreadsheets and wanted to commit full-time to the craft. Her first full-time harvest job was at The Prisoner Wine in Napa. She has worked at numerous wineries throughout Napa and Australia since. In 2019 she left her full-time job on the winemaking team at Alpha Omega in Rutherford to assume the role of head winemaker and owner for the first Pinot Noir winery she worked for in 2010, Olivia Brion. In 2021 she founded the brand, Cantadora, to explore richer Rhone and Tempranillo wines. You can taste both wine brands with her at her Napa-based tastings.
How ancient wine history inspires her work:
During the pandemic, Kira wanted to dust off some of her investment banking PowerPoint skills and engage her clients with her favorite wine topics. She started investigating the history of wine labels to showcase how her unique labels fit into the label trends of the past. In her label art research she discovered that the first wine label was found in King Tutankhamen’s tomb. It was an etched amphora that read “Year 5, Estate Eten, Very Good, Chef Vintner Rer”. This led her down many wine history wormholes.
Her fascination with the world of ancient wine never ends and many who have tasted her wines think it ends up in her winemaking. She is quick to challenge that, as she believes the ancient winemakers would be quite envious of our more recent scientific understanding of yeast and bacteria in winemaking. However, she continues to present on all manner of wine history topics and has recently started an Instagram and tiktok channel to share her historical insights @goldenageofwine.
Wine Tasting experiences:
When you book your tasting with Kira you can request certain styles of wines (lighter brighter versus richer and opulent). You can ask to focus on certain topics – she enjoys presenting her wines along with topics ranging from winemaking, wine history or even the history of wine fraud. Want a snack style pairing? That is optional as well. Customize your winemaker-led tasting to dive deep into the world of wine!
What to read to be similarly inspired:
Kira loves sharing wine history, but if you can’t make it to Napa just yet, she recommends the following books to inspire your journey into wine history.
- Tasting the Past: The Science of Flavor and the Search for the Origins of Wine, Kevin Begos
- Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture, Patrick McGovern
- Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization, Edward Slingerland
This article is brought to you by Cuvée, your gateway to booking the best experiences in Napa Valley, including exclusive wine tours and tastings.
