The Reaper Story

Reaper is our tribute to great California winemakers and winegrowers. Over several decades it has been our great good fortune to develop strong bonds with many truly remarkable men and women. We work with as many of the people we have come to love, trust and respect as we possibly can around the Reaper project. Over the years that list has grown to include:

Jake and Scott Bilbro
Reaper Chalk Hill Cabernet is hand-crafted by Jake Bilbro and his younger brother Scott at their historic Limerick Lane Cellars at the confluence of three Sonoma Viticultural Areas: Chalk Hill, Russian River and Dry Creek. Learn more about the great work the brothers are doing with their ancient vines at Limerick Lane Cellars.

Penny Coral Gadd-Coster
Penny Gadd-Coster made the Reaper 2010 Sonoma Pinot Noir. Penny’s interest in wine began when her family moved to the Livermore Valley in central California. It took a few years, and the advice of a friend, to convince her that making wine was a career that did not require belonging to a winemaking family. In 1986, she was hired to help with the crush at Jordan Vineyards & Winery, which led to a 13-year career at Jordan. That was the same year that the Jordans brought the first French Coquard sparkling wine press to the United States to begin J, a sparkling wine experiment. In 1999, she was hired as the assistant winemaker for J, eventually working her way up to the position of winemaker for sparkling wines.

Ed Killian
Ed Killian crafted the Reaper Sonoma Pinot Noir 2012 and 2013. This year we also released our first Reaper Chardonnay, which Ed crafted out of the Adam and Eve Vineyard. Until 1992 Ed was the winemaker for Lambert Bridge Winery in Dry Creek Valley. Since then Ed has been making wine at Chateau Souverain. Ed has been the head winemaker at Souverain since 1996. With 20 years of experience in winemaking in Sonoma County, Ed has developed important relationships with the most talented and dedicated growers in the area.

Andrew Murray
Andrew Murray grows amazing grapes, and crafts amazing wines in and around his home in Los Olivos, heart of California’s famed Santa Barbara wine growing AVA. Look for two new wines from Andrew towards the end of this year: a Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon and a Paso Robles Cabernet/Syrah blend modeled after the great Domaine de Trevallon of Les Baux en Provence.