Tech pioneers turned winemakers redefining Napa’s tradition with sustainable innovation

After successful careers building and marketing technology that transformed multiple industries, proprietors Kia Behnia and Tracy Borman set out to re-imagine the wine industry.

“Why can’t we be proud of 21st-century design and all the technology that is now available to us to help us reduce our waste and improve the wine experience?” Behnia said.

Together, Behnia and Borman created Neotempo, a wine estate and label that aims to push the boundaries of the traditional wine industry, from the bottle they use to the end product they produce, with a dramatically reduced end-to-end carbon footprint between it all. The name Neotempo is a nod to “new times” and a “change of tempo” for the wine industry.

Their journey dates back to 1996, when they were wine enthusiasts tasting in the valley.

“I got a flat tire in front of the property, and it became my favorite house because of the site’s distinctive old oaks on a knoll,” Behnia said.

In 2011, while still working in technology, they realized their lifelong dream of purchasing the property located between Darioush and Hagafen Cellars. From there, the couple became wine growers and applied their tech mindset to farming.

“Two decades in the tech industry taught us to have a growth mindset, where you find the right solution by researching alternatives and applying disruptive innovation,” Behnia said. “The wine industry today lacks risk-taking and is under financial and climate pressure; we can’t keep doing what we have done in the past.”

They spent months researching rootstock and soil and used three different clones of cabernet.

“The clones we planted were new to California and the Stags Leap area. We didn’t know if they’d be great, only that they would be unique,” Behnia said.

Once the vines yielded grapes, they were sold to nearby wineries like Shafer and Darioush, and the business continued on this path for years. However, the 2017 North Bay wildfires changed everything.

“It was an important wake-up call for us; we thought we lost everything because someone swore our house burned. Once we saw how the community came together, we knew we were going to stay, and set our sights on our own label, but (to) create a brand with a purpose,” Behnia said.

“Our goal is to respect the past, live in the present, and act now to protect our collective future.”

Borman was raised in Cape Town, a short drive from the famed South African wine-growing regions that date back to the mid-1600s.

“Wine was on the table each evening for our meal, and the cellar was never locked,” Borman said. “It’s very special to me to have the family and geographic connection, and it makes me appreciate the privilege of working and living in Wine Country and being part of the extraordinary Napa community.”

The two turned to famed winemaker Tony Biagi and paired him with legendary vineyard manager Phil Coturri. The fusion combined decades of organic and biodynamic viticulture; pioneering, award-winning winemaking; and technology-enabled innovation in farming and packaging to help create Neotempo in 2021.

Biagi built on the foundation of the unique clones by using 80% new French oak barrels to create a complex wine balanced between the acidity, tannins, and the cooler southern Napa cabernet fruit.

“The wines from this area just south of Stags Leap have a cooler climate, which allows us to pick later in the season and get full phenolic ripeness. The different clones give different flavors and freshness that we really love and remind us of the classic wines from previous decades and generations,” Biagi said.

“We discovered that heavy bottles are awful for the environment due to the energy used to make and transport them — 35% to 42% of the carbon footprint of wine is due to the manufacturing and transportation of bottles,” he said.

Also, round bottles are inefficient because you are transporting air for 20% of the size of a pallet. “We wanted to create something significantly more sustainable that felt distinct to touch,” Behnia said.

This type of intentionality carries through in each aspect of the brand. Every move was meticulously thought through and researched.

Their patent-pending bottle design is uniquely shaped with a round to hexagon shape, which is lightweight and designed to reduce the carbon footprint of their wine by 20% to 30%. This is accomplished by leveraging a lightweight but structurally sound high-density packing shape, and it is the first cabernet bottle in the valley to utilize 100% post-consumer recycled glass.

This past year, Neotempo beat all other bottle designs in the wine category at the global luxury packaging event in Monaco.

The label on the bottle is white, displaying the oak trees on the property that the couple initially fell in love with. The oaks are embossed on the label but are almost invisible from afar. The white label creates an elegant contrast against the black bottle and conveys artful elegance.

“Minimalism is a lost art. Sometimes removing things is best. When it came to labels, we applied a lesson we learned from our architect: the concept of a ‘slow reveal’ intentionally, which doesn’t show the audience everything and overwhelm them,” Behnia said.

As for the wine bottles themselves, they recently began shipping to Neotempo’s growing waiting list.

Antonio Galloni rated the wine a 97.5, and said, “This award is based 100% on the wine, and not on anything else, but suffice it to say I would like to see other proprietors taking a more conscientious approach to bottles and packaging.”

Technology is also a focal point in their farming. 2023 was an entirely emissions-free growing season for Neotempo.

“We solely used our Monarch electrical tractors, which were 100% powered by the California sun through our solar panels,” Behnia said. “We have been working closely with a startup from UC Davis to collect thousands of images from our vineyard and analyze them for how to farm better and more efficiently.”

He sees the new-age approach to sustainability in wine as something other brands and wineries can adopt. Between using recycled glass, creative bottles and 100% emission-free smart farming practices, there is potential to inspire a lot of change.

“The future of wine depends on what actions we take as an industry,” Behnia said. “When thinking about the future, if not us and not now, then who and when?”

To try the wine or see the bottle, visit Oakville Grocery in Oakville.