Dominion Tantara Team
Rick Hill | Winemaker
Rick has been involved in Dominion Tantara wine production since our initial vintage in 1997. He has been our Head Winemaker since 2011. A native of New Zealand, Rick has produced wine in New Zealand, Australia and California. He provides a wealth of experience, years of expertise and a real passion for crafting the very best wines from the Central Coast of California. In his spare time, Rick enjoys surfing, snow skiing, taking care of his animals, taking a drive in his Porsche 928 and drinking great wine. Rick’s wine of choice is Pinot Noir!
Kristy Carlsen | Operations | Wine Club | DTC Manager
Having worked over sixteen years in many facets of our local wine industry, Kristy wears quite a few hats at Tantara as well and always with passion and enthusiasm! She manages our office: HR, accounting, compliance, Wine Club, supports our DTT & DTC, and events, etc. She takes care of inventory, warehouse management, shipping and is known to drive a mean forklift! Her love is with family and all her critters from horse on down. Her educational background in interior design finds her creative side orchestrating and designing an occasional event or wedding in her “spare time.” She too loves a great Pinot Noir!
Joe Jorge | Estate & Vineyard Manager
As a connoisseur of the finer things in life, transitioning from a career of restoring higher-end exotic cars to ranch and vineyard management was seamless for Joe Jorge. When our owner and his best friend of over 35 years, asked him to embark on a winemaking journey, Joe dove in head first at the opportunity. From wheels to wine, Joe lends his extensive experience in patience, focus and artistry to his role as Tantara Vineyard and Ranch Manager. An Argentine native Joe’s love, passion and quest for good wine began well before he came to the US in 1969 with his wife of 50 years, Silvia. Joe’s favorite Tantara Wine is our Lolita Red.
Conrado Zepeda | Estate & Vineyard Associate
Conrado’s passions for the outdoors, growing grapes and making our grounds beautiful have made him a valuable asset to Tantara since 2016. He preforms all day-to-day property maintenance for our 14-acre estate and vineyards. From spring pruning to fall harvest and so much more in between, Conrado is a handy man of many talents. You will even see him on the bottling line. In addition to his time spent at Tantara, he operates a family landscaping business and enjoys spending time with his wife and young daughter. His favorite varietal is a Pinot Noir.