Rob Griffin

Career Founder and Head Winemaker at Barnard Griffin Winery in Richland, Rob Griffin built a role where ownership and production sit in the same frame: the name is on the bottle, and the work behind it is his. At Barnard Griffin Winery, that alignment is not branding garnish; it is the operating principle. Griffin has described the early pull plainly: “I fell in love with winemaking at an early age.” That early draw became a working career, with cellar responsibility and long-view leadership running in parallel. In 1977, he served as Head Winemaker at Preston Cellars, placing him squarely in the line of makers who learn by doing and keep their hands in the process. Formal study also belongs in the record. Griffin says, “I studied winemaking at UC Davis,” putting technical training alongside instinct and early interest. The decision to print a name on the bottle was, for Griffin, a craft statement as much as a business one. “We wanted to put our names right on the bottle,” he says, and the line makes clear how Barnard Griffin Winery in Richland was conceived: as a winery with a visible maker attached to it, and a point of view carried through the label.

At a Glance - Formal study is part of the résumé; Griffin says, "I studied winemaking at UC Davis." - Naming was intentional: "We wanted to put our names right on the bottle." - The craft is winemaking, carried through head-winemaker work and founder-level leadership.

Signature

Rob Griffin is the winemaker at Barnard Griffin Winery.

In Their Words “I fell in love with winemaking at an early age.” “We wanted to put our names right on the bottle.”