Our Story
Our Story
Tucked in the divide between Laguna Beach and the cityscape of Orange County is a winery built on a lifetime of passion for the craft. The founder and award-winning winemaker J.J. Huber brilliantly brings a Canadian urban winery approach to crushing Napa and Sonoma Valley grapes. To add to the winery’s uniqueness, the winemaking methods and equipment are all Italian. This diverse cultural approach produces extremely distinctive wines that
continue to stand out and win medals every single year at the OC Fair Commercial Wine competition. We look forward to welcoming you to enjoy crafted award-winning wines while listening to Rock n’ Roll music on our 10 foot screen. A unique wine tasting at one of Orange County’s hidden gems in Laguna Beach, CA. Whether you book a corporate or private event, visit us for a daytime wine tasting or join the wine club— we hope you will savor the aroma and flavor of our expressive and carefully crafted boutique wines.
J. J. Huber grew up on a remote ranch in southern Saskatchewan, Canada. Learning from his father, he grew a deep appreciation from working and nurturing the land. He ventured west to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and met Gianni Seminari, oenologist and Winemaster from the University of Milan, Italy. After crushing grapes for two years under the tutelage of Gianni, J. J. began to source and crush his own grapes employing his new learned Italian winemaking techniques. Upon crafting his own winemaking style, he began to win prestigious awards as a hobby winemaker. That led to his first winery with his brother in the Vancouver area in 1993, then built a second with his family in 1996. Wanting to be near the famous vineyards of California, J.J. made preparations to build a third winery in Laguna Canyon, naming the winery after the picturesque divide that separates Laguna Beach from the inland sprawl of Orange County.
Continuing his wine science education from UC Davis professor, “Clark Smith”, J. J.’s style has evolved over the years and his philosophy of “blending is better” adds layers of complexity to all of his wines. The team has grown with the addition of Heather Nenow, who brings technical knowledge of winemaking with a Master’s in Viticulture and Enology from UC Davis. Heather now overseas the entire winemaking program. Long time freind John Rider has also joined our team. John has taken on the position of assistant winemaker and operations director.
We hope you will visit our tasting room and experience these amazing wines for yourself.