John Sweazey founded Anaba in 2006 at the western edge of Carneros, where anabatic winds sweep upward across the vineyards and give the winery its name. It was Northern California's first wind-powered winery; today Katy Wilson, VinePair's 2025 Winemaker of the Year, crafts Rhône and Burgundian wines from estate vineyards.
The name Anaba comes from the anabatic winds — the cool Pacific air that sweeps upward across the western edge of Carneros, slowing ripening and concentrating flavor in the vineyards. Founder John Sweazey spent four decades in computer systems sales and real estate while making small batches of Napa Zinfandel in his garage and studying winemaking. In 2006, with that career chapter behind him, he launched Anaba on land in the western corner of Carneros — drawing on his 1970s travels through southern Rhône and Burgundy to define what the winery would actually make: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Rhône-style blends, sourced from partner vineyards across Sonoma alongside the J McK Estate Vineyard. The same year, Anaba became the first winery in Northern California to install wind power on-site; a 45-foot turbine and 465 solar panels generate 95–100% of the winery's electricity.
Coriol Red, Sonoma Valley — The flagship Châteauneuf-style Rhône blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Counoise, and Petite Sirah (Wine Spectator 90).
Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir — A vibrant, structured Pinot of black cherry and orange peel.
J McK Estate Chardonnay, Carneros — A rich, lemon-curd estate Chardonnay from the home vineyard.
Landa Vineyard Syrah, Sonoma Valley — A peppery, savory cool-climate Syrah.
Turbine White — A Rhône-style white blend of Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne, Picpoul Blanc, and Grenache Blanc.
Winemaker Katy Wilson — named VinePair's 2025 Winemaker of the Year — has shaped the modern Anaba portfolio across Rhône and Burgundian registers. The Pinot Noir program is the heart of the winery, with bottlings from Carneros, Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, and the Petaluma Gap (the 2021 Roberts Road Pinot scored 99 points and Best of Class at the Sunset International Wine Competition). The Rhône program runs from estate Picpoul Blanc and Grenache Blanc through single-varietal Syrah and a Late Harvest Viognier dessert wine. The Vintners House tasting room — a modern farmhouse-style hospitality center — sits beside the estate vineyards and includes bocce ball, pickleball, and paddle tennis courts, fireside lounges, and wood-fired pizza. Tastings are seated, 90-minute affairs paired with seasonal chef-prepared bites.
Wilson set her sights on winemaking at eighteen, while studying at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she earned dual degrees in Wine & Viticulture and Agricultural Business after a childhood on a California walnut orchard. She chased harvests across hemispheres — Testarossa, Torbreck in the Barossa, Craggy Range in New Zealand, and Joseph Phelps — before joining Flowers on the Sonoma Coast, rising from harvest enologist to assistant winemaker. In 2009 she launched her own cool-climate label, LaRue, named for her great-grandmother, and began consulting in 2012. She joined Anaba in 2014 as co-winemaker and became its winemaker in 2020, while also crafting wine for Reeve and Smith Story. Known for a minimalist, vineyard-driven hand across Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Rhône varieties, Wilson was named VinePair's 2025 Next Wave Winemaker of the Year.
John Sweazey founded Anaba in 2006, the realization of a dream that began on a 1975 trip through France, when — then a young IBM salesman — he stood atop Chapoutier’s Hermitage vineyard above the Rhône and vowed to one day create a winery evoking that beauty and heritage. After a career in computer sales and real-estate finance, he sold his business and found a Carneros property at the gateway to Sonoma Valley. He named it for the anabatic winds that cool the vineyard, an echo of the Rhône’s mistral, and built a warm, family-style estate devoted to Rhône and Burgundian varieties — an early pioneer of wind and solar power in Northern California.
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Coriol Red, Sonoma Valley — The flagship Châteauneuf-style Rhône blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Counoise, and Petite Sirah (Wine Spectator 90).
Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir — A vibrant, structured Pinot of black cherry and orange peel.
J McK Estate Chardonnay, Carneros — A rich, lemon-curd estate Chardonnay from the home vineyard.
Landa Vineyard Syrah, Sonoma Valley — A peppery, savory cool-climate Syrah.
Turbine White — A Rhône-style white blend of Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne, Picpoul Blanc, and Grenache Blanc.
The name Anaba comes from the anabatic winds — the cool Pacific air that sweeps upward across the western edge of Carneros, slowing ripening and concentrating flavor in the vineyards. Founder John Sweazey spent four decades in computer systems sales and real estate while making small batches of Napa Zinfandel in his garage and studying winemaking. In 2006, with that career chapter behind him, he launched Anaba on land in the western corner of Carneros — drawing on his 1970s travels through southern Rhône and Burgundy to define what the winery would actually make: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Rhône-style blends, sourced from partner vineyards across Sonoma alongside the J McK Estate Vineyard. The same year, Anaba became the first winery in Northern California to install wind power on-site; a 45-foot turbine and 465 solar panels generate 95–100% of the winery's electricity.
Winemaker Katy Wilson — named VinePair's 2025 Winemaker of the Year — has shaped the modern Anaba portfolio across Rhône and Burgundian registers. The Pinot Noir program is the heart of the winery, with bottlings from Carneros, Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, and the Petaluma Gap (the 2021 Roberts Road Pinot scored 99 points and Best of Class at the Sunset International Wine Competition). The Rhône program runs from estate Picpoul Blanc and Grenache Blanc through single-varietal Syrah and a Late Harvest Viognier dessert wine. The Vintners House tasting room — a modern farmhouse-style hospitality center — sits beside the estate vineyards and includes bocce ball, pickleball, and paddle tennis courts, fireside lounges, and wood-fired pizza. Tastings are seated, 90-minute affairs paired with seasonal chef-prepared bites.
Wilson set her sights on winemaking at eighteen, while studying at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she earned dual degrees in Wine & Viticulture and Agricultural Business after a childhood on a California walnut orchard. She chased harvests across hemispheres — Testarossa, Torbreck in the Barossa, Craggy Range in New Zealand, and Joseph Phelps — before joining Flowers on the Sonoma Coast, rising from harvest enologist to assistant winemaker. In 2009 she launched her own cool-climate label, LaRue, named for her great-grandmother, and began consulting in 2012. She joined Anaba in 2014 as co-winemaker and became its winemaker in 2020, while also crafting wine for Reeve and Smith Story. Known for a minimalist, vineyard-driven hand across Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Rhône varieties, Wilson was named VinePair's 2025 Next Wave Winemaker of the Year.
John Sweazey founded Anaba in 2006, the realization of a dream that began on a 1975 trip through France, when — then a young IBM salesman — he stood atop Chapoutier’s Hermitage vineyard above the Rhône and vowed to one day create a winery evoking that beauty and heritage. After a career in computer sales and real-estate finance, he sold his business and found a Carneros property at the gateway to Sonoma Valley. He named it for the anabatic winds that cool the vineyard, an echo of the Rhône’s mistral, and built a warm, family-style estate devoted to Rhône and Burgundian varieties — an early pioneer of wind and solar power in Northern California.
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