VINTNER Q&A: What Christian Palmaz Believes About The Roles of People and Terroir in Winemaking

Miles Smith | May 19, 2023

VINTNER: Why did you enter the wine industry and what makes you love being a part of it and stay in it?

PALMAZ: Making wine is the ultimate pursuit of perfection. Through its process wine has infinite depth and dimension. After 25 years, I’m constantly humbled by the seemingly endless diversity of terroir this estate can offer our wine program. I’m not sure I will ever see the same vintage twice and that’s precisely why I’d spend lifetimes doing this if I could.

The Luxury Item: Christian Palmaz, Chief Operating Officer at Palmaz Vineyards

S09 E01 | May 2, 2023

Family-owned and -operated Palmaz Vineyards in Napa Valley is regularly voted one of the best wineries in the region and is known for fusing the time-honored art of winemaking and cutting-edge technology. Scott Kerr sits down with Christian Palmaz, COO at Palmaz Vineyards, to discuss his father Dr. Julio Palmaz’s journey from inventor of the balloon-expandable heart stent to vineyard owner. Christian also talks about the engineering marvel of the vineyard’s 18-story subterranean winery “Cave”, the smart technologies and big data analytics used to improve the winemaking process, expanding into cattle operations and creating a Wagyu beef enterprise, why Millennials are their best wine customers, and navigating through climate change and extreme California weather. Plus: Is AI technology eliminating the romance in winemaking?

The Living Kitchen | Marni Elyse Katz | November 2022

Three Napa Valley Vineyards; Abreu Vineyards, Palmaz Vineyards, and Rudd Estate; have properties and processes that are as distinctive as their wines.

A Cut Above

Written by Claire McArthur | Photography by Nicola Majocchi | Oct 12, 2022 | Original Article

Family-run ranch raises grass-fed wagyu in the High Sierra:  In the lush Genesee Valley at 3,500 feet elevation, black-horned cows graze in chest-high grass, with the granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada looming behind them. Surrounded by the Plumas National Forest, roughly 30 miles southeast of Lake Almanor, the historic Genesee Valley Ranch is a family-run operation with roots dating back to California’s Gold Rush. Today, the Palmaz family — known for its eponymous winery in Napa Valley — is taking the same fusion of tradition and technology used to create their estate cabernet to raise, harvest, and sell their grass-fed wagyu beef.

“Let’s make beef worthy of our wine,” says Florencia Palmaz, co-founder and partner of Palmaz Vineyards, about her family’s mission of revitalizing Genesee Valley Ranch. “Let’s take the same model of what we call estate growing in the wine industry — our wine doesn’t leave the property, not for a minute, until it’s fully finished and ready for consumers — and take on that task in the beef world. We call it ‘estate beef.’”

Navigating Abroad: Interview with Christian Palmaz

Season 2 | Sep 22, 2022

Lisa speaks with Christian Palmaz about using data to make the perfect glass of wine, conserve water, and free up winemaker’s time to make art!

Feast and Field | May 2022

Written by Amy Lynch | ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Written by Elyse Glickman | ICONIC LIFE | MAY 2022

Napa Valley is known for idyllic conditions. It will forever be associated with rolling terrain, mild year-round temperatures and a home-grown wine and artisanal food scene with an international reputation.

By Elite Traveler | Discover the Passion Behind Palmaz Vineyards | October 2021

Nestled in the Coombsville AVA in Napa Valley just outside of the town of Napa, Palmaz Vineyards has a history that dates back to the Gold Rush era of the 1800s.

Today, it is proudly owned and operated by two generations of a family that has brought innovation, creativity, and hospitality to the culture of wine, and ancient art of winemaking.

Sommeliers are asked the question at least once a day, says Zaitouna Kusto, sommelier at Esters Wine Shop & Bar in Santa Monica, California. “These well-meaning people aren’t wrong about their tastes, of course, but they are potentially misguided by a number of sociological factors they may not even realize.”

American sweet wines have long had a poor reputation. In stark contrast to the grand sweet wine traditions of Europe, like Sauternes, Tokaji and Italian passito, U.S. bottlings are often lumped together with poorly made, sugar-laden sweet offerings sipped by those thought not to know “real wine.”

RESPONDING TO VINE PAIR’s Question: Can Cutting-Edge Technology and Character Coexist in Winemaking?

By Christian Palmaz Responding to an Article Written by Tim McKirdy | Aug 6th, 2021

Dear Tim, 

Thank you for so thoroughly covering our story.  I really appreciate the effort to capture such a technical topic and make it an enjoyable read!  I have a couple reactions to some concepts your article drew that might potentially serve as a followup topic for a future piece and an interesting discussion for our blog where your article will be featured.