Portrait of Nate Ready
i. Biography
He came up in Napa, where wine is part of the daily climate, and that environment reads through in Nate Ready’s work: close attention, controlled pace, and a feel for the small decisions that separate competent service from a bottle that lands. He started in the dining room, where timing, posture, and repetition matter as much as palate, then moved that discipline into the slower, more granular work of winegrowing and cellar production in Oregon.
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The Climb
The dining room trained Nate Ready as a sommelier at Thomas Keller's French Laundry, where service runs on exact timing and each pour has to hold its line. He later worked as sommelier at Frasca in Boulder, CO, carrying that same precision into a different room and continuing to build a style rooted in attentiveness, structure, and control. Those years on the floor gave him a practical read on wine as something that has to function in real time, across a table and within a service.
The cellar brought that read into production. Nate Ready later worked as winemaker at Hiyu Wine Farm in Columbia Gorge, Oregon, where farming, cellar work, and winemaking sit close together. The move from service to production is clear in the work: the language of the dining room becomes a way of thinking about texture, balance, and pacing in the bottle.
Today
Of Hiyu, Nate Ready has said, “It means “big party” or “abundance”.” The line fits the house name as a working description: open-handed, direct, and less interested in austerity than in plenty.
Signature
The bottle belongs to the language of his cellar work: specific, considered, and built from the same priorities that shaped his service background.
FAQ
Asked of Nate
What is Nate Ready's current role?
As of 2026, Nate Ready is Winemaker.
The Sunday email
Read about winemakers like Nate Ready in the Sunday email.
Every Sunday we send a lead story and up to four more about the chefs, winemakers, sommeliers and hoteliers behind the restaurants, bars, wineries and hotels we cover.
Recent stories
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