Kimberlee Nicholls

Coming Up

The cellar apprenticeship began with Kimberlee Nicholls as assistant winemaker at Markham Vineyards in St. Helena, Napa Valley (1992–2001). That decade set the cadence for the work: harvest decisions, barrel work, blend trials, and the daily repetition that teaches a winemaker how an estate behaves across seasons. Since 2001, she has been winemaker of Markham Vineyards, carrying that continuity into the current house style.

Where They Are Now

Nicholls is the winemaker for the St. Helena winery. Her own language keeps the work tied to the vineyard: “They are about being in tune with the vineyards, recognizing the very best blocks, and making wines that have a deep and nuanced sense of place.” Read plainly, that is a cellar discipline built on site recognition, block selection, and harvest judgment. The point is not abstraction; it is the practical habit of listening to what each lot is offering and shaping it with restraint. That same approach shows up in the season itself. The named bottlings, the parcel decisions, and the pressure of picking are all part of the same routine. Nicholls keeps the tone simple: “Harvest is my happy place.”

Signature

Kimberlee's signature wines include The Character, Marked Parcels, 2022 Blue Boots Red Blend, 2021 Rockerbox Cabernet, and 2023 The Altruist Red Blend. Taken together, these wines map the range of her work at Markham Vineyards. The Character and Marked Parcels point to a focus on structure and parcel-level identity, while 2022 Blue Boots Red Blend, 2021 Rockerbox Cabernet, and 2023 The Altruist Red Blend anchor that approach in named vintages. The through line is measured and site-aware.

In Their Words “They are about being in tune with the vineyards, recognizing the very best blocks, and making wines that have a deep and nuanced sense of place.” “These are my favorite wines to make.”

Honors

Recognition for recent wines has come from both critics and competition. The 2021 Rockerbox Cabernet received 96 points from Decanter, while the 2023 The Altruist Red Blend earned 93 points from JamesSuckling.com. The 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon took home top honors at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and later sold for $225,000 at auction. For a winemaker whose career has stayed rooted in one St. Helena cellar, those honors extend the house lineage outward: from block and barrel to judging table, auction room, and the collectors who follow the wines.