Spelletich Cellars, Biography

Barbara Spelletich has been a wine diva for over 27 years. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington. She started her career in the wine industry as a wine shop manager in Seattle. She worked for Ste. Michelle Winery, G. Raden & Sons, and then established her own distributorship, Zephyr Imports. This began her international travels and relationships with the finest wineries in the world. She spent every spring traveling to Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. The purpose was to visit each producer and set up containers for import into the U.S. These producers became friends and taught Barbara much about wine making, the importance of ripe fruit and the gentle way to preserve that fruit flavor. Her next step was Whitwhams Fine and Rare Wines, based in Manchester, England and Bordeaux. Life as a negociant enhanced her contact with the winemakers of all cru class. She further enhanced her winemaking skills with short courses at U.C. Davis in Table Wine Making. Barbara arrived in Napa Valley June, 1992 and started working at St. Clement Vineyards in St. Helena.

Timothy Spelletich grew half way across the country in Davenport Iowa, after graduated with a degree in business from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, he had an opportunity to work in Italy. He worked at the Locanda Del Sant’Uffizio, a small country inn and restaurant located in a town outside of Asti. At this former monastery he experienced an old fashioned way of life. Each prix fixe meal was prepared with the freshest seasonal ingredients available on the property and nearby villages. The exposure to herbs, fruits and vegetables harvested at their peak of ripeness, creating menus, plus pairing the food with wine introduced Timothy to flavors and sensory evaluations that changed his life forever. This small exclusive inn also made their own wine from estate grapes. He then returned to the United States to work for the Pierre Hotel in New York City and the Four Seasons in Philadelphia. Timothy arrived in Napa Valley spring of 1993 and started working for Tra Vigne Restaurant in St. Helena as manager and wine buyer.
After 11 years of business Barbara & Timothy were able to hire on Barbara’s daughter Kristen. Born in Seattle Washington, ended up joining her mother less than a year after Barbara’s move to California, spending her teenage years growing up in St.Helena. Kristen has spent the last 10 years working in the wine and hostility industry. While going to college in Napa for Psychology Kristen got an opportunity to work at one of the world’s most famous restaurant The French Landry and realized that she needed to start thinking more seriously about the industry that had been a part of her life since the birth. She left school the following year and spent time working for world renound wineries and restaurants doing sales & relationship marketing. Now her main focus is building the Spelletich Cellars brand to fit the 21st century market.

Timothy and Barbara’s individual experiences in Europe, interests in wine, food, cooking and entrepreneurial drive generate an awesome team of artistry and hard work. This combination of 40 years of wine industry preparation and lifelong passions is what united them in the heart of Napa Valley to launch Spelletich Cellars Winery.1994 was the first harvest for Spelletich Cellars Winery.