Paul Dolan
Deeply dedicated to Mendocino County, Paul is determined to bring greater recognition to its farmers, winemakers and wines. This community of creative people demonstrates an abiding commitment to natural beauty, clean air, anti-GMO regulation and healthy farming. “When Mendocino farmers get together, we talk about organics and biodynamics because we strongly believe these practices are good for the land and for wine quality,” says Paul. “There is an energy here that stimulates a creative approach to business.”
While Paul’s history in this county goes back decades, his family’s involvement in the wine industry extends back four generations through the Rossi and Concannon families. Growing up in Oakland, Paul spent a month each summer in Asti, Sonoma County, where his grandfather – Edmund Rossi – ran Italian Swiss Colony. “During the rest of the year, Granddad visited us in Oakland every weekend,” remembers Paul. “At our family table you could always count on great food and wine, and stories of the old days.”
As an undergraduate at Santa Clara University, Paul studied business and finance. Shortly before he graduated, he wrote a paper on the wine industry (advised by his winemaking uncle, Ed Rossi), and Paul’s family legacy came alive. In 1975 he enrolled in the Enology program at California State University, Fresno ultimately receiving a Masters Degree with honors. In 1977 Paul joined forces with the Fetzer family as their first non-family winemaker. They grew the business to two million cases a year, with regularly glowing acclaim and awards for their wines. After the Fetzers sold their family business, Paul became president of the company under its new ownership.
Today, at Mendocino Wine Company, he continues to break new ground. “We are clear about what we want,” says Paul: “an environmentally and socially conscious winery making great wines from Mendocino. We want to have fun, reaching out to new audiences with each wine carrying a fresh look and message.” Paul and MWC winemaker Bob Swain work with a constant focus on quality, seeking to match each wine’s flavor profile and style with the exciting new packaging and branding.
Paul’s greatest passion, however, is winegrowing at his family-owned Dark Horse Ranch, east of the Russian River in the foothills north of Hopland. He and sons Heath and Jason chose this place because of its diverse natural beauty, dramatic terrain and deep red soils. It has been a family project and a labor of love to convert 70 acres of grapes into a certified Biodynamic® vineyard. An earnest student of Rudolf Steiner (the father of the biodynamic movement), Paul embraces Steiner’s premise that each piece of land has its own unique expression; and the Dolan family will capture that expression of their family vineyard in the bottle at MWC. In 2004 Paul and his sons harvested the first Dark Horse grapes (Syrah and Petite Sirah). The resulting wines will be released in 2006 under the Paul Dolan label. “Dark Horse Ranch is my family’s home, where my sons are fifth-generation winegrowers in the Russian River basin. We’re rooted here. I am part of the fabric of this place: the water, air, wine and food are part of me.”
Paul’s goal is to make Mendocino Wine Company a model for the wine business. In turn, he is determined to develop the wine industry as a model for all agriculture, worldwide. This is the message he delivers as an industry leader, winemaker, farmer and father. Paul knows that sustainability is an economic asset and a competitive advantage, as well as an imperative for healthy life on this planet. He is spreading the word – for the good of business, the community and the environment.
A sustainable business should be a whole business, like a whole person. It must have integrity. It must have a moral center. It must be connected to its values and the greater world. It must aspire to do what is right, not just for the bottom line, not just from a legal standpoint, but from a moral and ethical standpoint. It’s not only accountable, it’s responsible. Paul Dolan, True to Our Roots, Fermenting a Business Revolution, 2003
Paul resides in Healdsburg, California with his wife Diana and daughter Sassicaia. He spends leisure time in his Mendocino County vineyards and on horseback at Dark Horse Ranch.
Deeply dedicated to Mendocino County, Paul is determined to bring greater recognition to its farmers, winemakers and wines. This community of creative people demonstrates an abiding commitment to natural beauty, clean air, anti-GMO regulation and healthy farming. “When Mendocino farmers get together, we talk about organics and biodynamics because we strongly believe these practices are good for the land and for wine quality,” says Paul. “There is an energy here that stimulates a creative approach to business.”
While Paul’s history in this county goes back decades, his family’s involvement in the wine industry extends back four generations through the Rossi and Concannon families. Growing up in Oakland, Paul spent a month each summer in Asti, Sonoma County, where his grandfather – Edmund Rossi – ran Italian Swiss Colony. “During the rest of the year, Granddad visited us in Oakland every weekend,” remembers Paul. “At our family table you could always count on great food and wine, and stories of the old days.”
As an undergraduate at Santa Clara University, Paul studied business and finance. Shortly before he graduated, he wrote a paper on the wine industry (advised by his winemaking uncle, Ed Rossi), and Paul’s family legacy came alive. In 1975 he enrolled in the Enology program at California State University, Fresno ultimately receiving a Masters Degree with honors. In 1977 Paul joined forces with the Fetzer family as their first non-family winemaker. They grew the business to two million cases a year, with regularly glowing acclaim and awards for their wines. After the Fetzers sold their family business, Paul became president of the company under its new ownership.
Today, at Mendocino Wine Company, he continues to break new ground. “We are clear about what we want,” says Paul: “an environmentally and socially conscious winery making great wines from Mendocino. We want to have fun, reaching out to new audiences with each wine carrying a fresh look and message.” Paul and MWC winemaker Bob Swain work with a constant focus on quality, seeking to match each wine’s flavor profile and style with the exciting new packaging and branding.
Paul’s greatest passion, however, is winegrowing at his family-owned Dark Horse Ranch, east of the Russian River in the foothills north of Hopland. He and sons Heath and Jason chose this place because of its diverse natural beauty, dramatic terrain and deep red soils. It has been a family project and a labor of love to convert 70 acres of grapes into a certified Biodynamic® vineyard. An earnest student of Rudolf Steiner (the father of the biodynamic movement), Paul embraces Steiner’s premise that each piece of land has its own unique expression; and the Dolan family will capture that expression of their family vineyard in the bottle at MWC. In 2004 Paul and his sons harvested the first Dark Horse grapes (Syrah and Petite Sirah). The resulting wines will be released in 2006 under the Paul Dolan label. “Dark Horse Ranch is my family’s home, where my sons are fifth-generation winegrowers in the Russian River basin. We’re rooted here. I am part of the fabric of this place: the water, air, wine and food are part of me.”
Paul’s goal is to make Mendocino Wine Company a model for the wine business. In turn, he is determined to develop the wine industry as a model for all agriculture, worldwide. This is the message he delivers as an industry leader, winemaker, farmer and father. Paul knows that sustainability is an economic asset and a competitive advantage, as well as an imperative for healthy life on this planet. He is spreading the word – for the good of business, the community and the environment.
A sustainable business should be a whole business, like a whole person. It must have integrity. It must have a moral center. It must be connected to its values and the greater world. It must aspire to do what is right, not just for the bottom line, not just from a legal standpoint, but from a moral and ethical standpoint. It’s not only accountable, it’s responsible. Paul Dolan, True to Our Roots, Fermenting a Business Revolution, 2003
Paul resides in Healdsburg, California with his wife Diana and daughter Sassicaia. He spends leisure time in his Mendocino County vineyards and on horseback at Dark Horse Ranch.
