Lorna Kreutz

At Firestone Vineyard in Santa Ynez, the progression from Assistant Winemaker to Director of Winemaking reads as cellar work does when it is done well: incrementally, with each step widening responsibility without breaking the thread of the program. Lorna Kreutz describes that move plainly: “I joined the company in 2011 as an Assistant Winemaker, and I progressed up to Director of Winemaking.” Her note that “This is a family-run company that fosters promotion from within, and I’m a direct example of that” lands as a statement about structure, not sentiment.

Earlier posts show the same kind of accumulation. Assistant Winemaker at Longoria Wines in Sta. Rita Hills (from 2005) placed Kreutz in close contact with vintage work early on. Production staff at Fresno State Winery in Fresno (until 2008) required the kind of exacting repetition that underpins finished wine. She then served as enologist and Assistant Winemaker at Summerwood Winery and Niner Wine Estates in Paso Robles, adding range before returning to Sta.

Rita Hills in 2011 as Assistant Winemaker at Foley Wine Group (Lincourt Vineyards and Foley Estates). That role later led to her becoming winemaker at Foley Estates. The current span of responsibility is broad but continuous: winemaker of Lincourt Vineyards, winemaker of Firestone Vineyard, and director of winemaking of Foley Family Wines. The through-line is not flash; it is steady advancement across estates, with each post adding another layer of command over the work.

At Firestone Vineyard in Santa Ynez, the winemaking brief centers on restraint and judgment. Pinots Noir and Chardonnay are part of the program, and both reward a hand that knows where to hold back and where to intervene. Lorna Kreutz’s work sits in that narrow band between precision and control, where a cellar program is kept consistent across sites and labels without losing its shape.

The signature wines point to a maker working across both variety and texture. Grüner Veltliner, 2019 Willie Mae Pinot Noir, Barrel Select Chardonnay, and Bar Lazy S Ranch Pinot Noir sit in the lineup, each suggesting a different demand on the cellar: freshness, structure, site expression, and balance. Read together, they show a palate attentive to nuance rather than volume.

The clearest recognition in this career is internal: the scope of trust that expanded from Assistant Winemaker in 2011 to Director of Winemaking. That progression at Foley Family Wines marks a formal broadening of responsibility, and it carries its own weight as a measure of consistency over time. Seen against the earlier posts — Longoria Wines in Sta. Rita Hills (from 2005), Fresno State Winery in Fresno (until 2008), Summerwood Winery and Niner Wine Estates in Paso Robles, and Foley Wine Group (Lincourt Vineyards and Foley Estates) in Sta.

Rita Hills (from 2011) before Foley Estates, Lincourt Vineyards, Firestone Vineyard, and Foley Family Wines — the pattern is clear. The distinction is in the build: a career assembled through repetition, range, and earned authority.