Brad Grimes

The Path

Chef work gave Brad Grimes a practical read on timing, rhythm, and repetition before wine did. That kitchen discipline carried forward in 2002, when he moved into winemaking at Abreu Vineyards, a role he holds today. The change was less a reset than a transfer of skills: the same attention to texture, sequence, and judgment found a new setting in grapes, barrels, and cellar work.

The Work Today

The method is built on owning the process end to end, from vineyard to finished bottle. As Brad Grimes puts it, “We are a complete circle in the sense that we own all the vineyards, we farm everything ourselves, we have our own winery and we do everything ourselves.” That line defines the structure of the work: farming, cellar, and bottling kept under one roof, with each step answering to the next. He also frames the practice as one of intuition and craft, which points to a style of winemaking that depends on close reading of the season as much as on procedure. The result is a process kept tight, with decisions made in sequence and with little distance between source and bottle.

Signature

Cappella is one of the signature bottlings associated with Brad Grimes, and it carries the weight of the estate’s approach in a single site. Cappella, Madrona Ranch, Las Posadas, and Thorevilos are the four exceptional vineyard properties he and David Abreu planned and planted; they are the sources for the Single-site Cabernet blends. The emphasis is on vineyard distinction: each property feeds a separate expression, but together they show a method grounded in planning, farming, and preserving site identity in the finished wine.

In Their Words “We are a complete circle in the sense that we own all the vineyards, we farm everything ourselves, we have our own winery and we do everything ourselves.” “I don't know if I've ever fully, in my mind, achieved that full title of 'winemaker'. I'm more of a janitor and a cellar master.”

Acclaim

Cappella, Madrona Ranch, Las Posadas, and Thorevilos are the four exceptional vineyard properties he and David Abreu planned and planted; they are the sources for the Single-site Cabernet blends.