Cline Cellars

Director of Winemaking and Viticulture at Cline Family Cellars since being named head winemaker in 2020. Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, Gendall trained and worked in wineries in New Zealand and Germany before relocating to California in 2011 and joining the Cline extended family in 2016. He works alongside fellow New Zealander Katie Hoggins, who joined as winemaker and is his close collaborator on the Cline portfolio. The Cline winery spans an enormous range: from the Heritage Collection of Rhône and Zinfandel made from 100-year-old vines in Oakley (Contra Costa) to the Family Selection bottlings honoring Fred and Nancy Cline's seven children, plus the Cline County and AVA series. Gendall's philosophy: “If you look after the vines, the vines will look after you and produce great fruit.” He's been a key creative force behind Gust (the Cline second-generation Petaluma Gap label with Megan and Hilary Cline) and The Sneak (Henry Cline's Carneros project). He also makes wines at Cline's sister property Jacuzzi Family Vineyards.

Fred and Nancy Cline are the proprietors of Cline Cellars, which Fred founded in 1982 in Contra Costa County before acquiring a historic Carneros property in Sonoma in 1989 and moving the family winery there. Fred learned to farm from his grandfather, Valeriano Jacuzzi, whose lessons in working the land instilled a lifelong devotion to old-vine Zinfandel and Rhône varieties. On the Carneros estate the Clines preserved spring-fed ponds, rose gardens, and the property’s deep history, building one of Sonoma’s most welcoming destinations. The couple farm sustainably and have raised a large family now active across the business.