Craig Stoller

Coming Up

Training in horticulture at Cal Poly gave Craig Stoller a formal framework for work that had already started in the field. Raised among wine grapes at Sunridge Nurseries in the San Joaquin Valley, he came into the trade with agricultural familiarity rather than abstraction. That combination of upbringing and study produced a practical base: observation, timing, and the habit of working with living material where small decisions matter. The early shape of his career rests on continuity between family agriculture and technical training, with each reinforcing the other.

Where They Are Now

At Sextant Wines in Paso Robles, California, the role of Proprietor & Director of Winemaking places Craig Stoller in direct conversation with both tradition and site. His approach draws on Old World Southern Rhône tradition while answering to the bright, distinctive character of Paso Robles. That pairing keeps the work rooted in lineage without treating it as fixed doctrine. The result is a winemaking practice that respects inherited method while allowing the Central Coast to remain legible in the glass.

In Their Words “Wine is a part of my life. I absolutely love this living, breathing, evolving thing called wine.” The line frames wine as a working material rather than a static product. For Craig Stoller, the interest is in change, responsiveness, and the labor required to keep pace with something that remains active after the work is done. That appreciation points to the wider sensory world around the craft. It suggests attention to landscape and climate, the kinds of influences that shape how a maker reads place and condition.

Honors

A degree in horticulture from Cal Poly gives Craig Stoller formal recognition in the discipline that underpins his work. Paired with his upbringing at Sunridge Nurseries and his role in the family business, it marks a career built from early exposure, technical study, and sustained application. The credential sits less as decoration than as evidence of the agricultural foundation behind his position at Sextant Wines.