Russian River Valley Pinot Noir specialist promotes long-time winemaking team member

Santa Rosa, California (May 30, 2019) – Family-owned estate winery Balletto Vineyards, located in Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley AVA, has promoted Ian Bearup to associate winemaker. In this new role, Bearup will continue working closely with vice president and winemaker Anthony Beckman and play a key role in crafting Balletto Vineyards’ award-winning Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. Bearup has worked at Balletto Vineyards for almost a decade and most recently was assistant winemaker.

“The very first day I worked with Ian I knew I wanted him to be a mainstay on my winemaking team,” recalls Beckman. “He is such a rare breed of pure talent, intelligence and work ethic that it was impossible to let him go to any other winery. Ian is capable of making wine anywhere and we’re proud to have him on the Balletto Vineyards team.”

Ian, who was raised in upstate New York, didn’t originally plan on a winemaking career. But after working his first harvest at Sonoma County’s St. Francis Winery in 2007, he was hooked. After working wine harvests in New Zealand, Oregon and several California wine regions, Ian started with Balletto Vineyards in August of 2010 as a lab intern. He quickly proved his skill set and work ethic, which earned him a promotion to assistant winemaker in fall 2012.

“Ian is an integral part of our team and a big part of our family here at Balletto Vineyards,” remarked John Balletto, owner and founder of Balletto Vineyards. “Part of our philosophy is to identify, develop and promote excellence, in not just our wines, but in our employees. Ian is the perfect example of what we strive to do.”

About Balletto Vineyards
Balletto Vineyards is an estate winery in the famed Russian River Valley appellation of Sonoma County, California. Owned and operated by the Balletto family, Balletto Vineyards delivers honest and approachable estate wines meant to be enjoyed with family and friends. Owner John Balletto and his wife, Terri, started in the vegetable farming business, growing into the largest vegetable farm in Northern California. Seeing a bright future for wine grape growing in Russian River Valley, John and Terri transitioned to grape growing in 1995. In 2001, they created the first vintage of Balletto Vineyards estate wine from Russian River Valley. For more information, visit BallettoVineyards.com.

##
Press Contact
Megan Helphand, Benson Marketing Group, 707-260-0124, helphand@bensonmarketing.com

Press releases are generated outside of Spirited magazine and the information contained does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Spirited or its parent company, Sonoma Media Investments.