Wine Industry Executive Profile: Herb Rowland Jr.

Herb Rowland Jr.

Owner and manager, Pacheco Vineyard; partner and co-founder, Pacheco Ranch Winery; 235 Alameda Del Prado Road, Novato 94949; 415-883-5583; www.pachecoranchwinery.com
Career: Assistant manager, 1969-1977, owner and manager, 1977-present, Pacheco Vineyard; partner and co-founder, Pacheco Ranch Winery, 1979-present; owner, HMR Mediation, Novato; attorney, Ragghianti Freitas LLP, San Rafael, 2006-present
Education: B.A. in classical literature, U.C. Davis, 1973; J.D., University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law, 1976
Staff: 10 part-time family members and friends; 60 to 70 friends at harvest
Age: 59
Residence: Novato
Family: wife, Debbie, and two children, Cassandra, 26, and Herb III, 25
Industry/economic outlook: “The market seems very strong for wines that are appropriately priced. The mid-priced range of $20 to $40 a bottle seems to have real upside. We don’t want to price our wines so our friends can’t buy them.”
Toughest decision: “Not to buy white grapes and make wine. The winemaker needs to have a lot of contact with the grapes. On the other hand, we have lost opportunities because markets like to have a choice of a white and a red, perhaps buying two cases of a red for a case of white.”
Biggest risk: “Planting grapes in Marin, when all said they would not grow, and building a winery. The first was out of stubbornness, and the second fell into place when we had a product and a built-in winemaker we knew would be around forever.”
Favorite tasks: Driving a tractor in the vineyard, planting grapevines, training vines, harvest and crush, the latter two of which are done with a large group of friends.
Favorite wine pioneers: Richard Steltzer, Rodney Strong, August Sebastiani and Louis Martini helped us when we were getting started.
Current reading: “Inverse Condemnation: Unintended Physical Damage” by Arvo Van Alsteyne on flood-related litigation. He represents San Anselmo, Fairfax, Mill Valley and other Marin governments with claims related to the New Year’s Day 2006 flood.
Stress reliever: Fly fishing on Henry’s Fork of the Snake River in Idaho
Words that best describe you: Determined, prepared and strong