For me, winemaking is cooking. This is something I've learned from years of professionally doing both; but, it doesn't get any better than working with the incredible flavors, textures, and aromas of pristine grapes grown in the sun and soil of the California coast. Winemaking is a tremendous challenge of the senses and demands three things from me: focus, focus, focus.

I grew up in rural, western New York where simple, fresh, homegrown food was an everyday experience. Our meats, milk, bread, fruit, and veggies were from local farms. Many of my earliest memories are the tastes and smells of my mother's kitchen - bread, Christmas cookies, apple pies, smoked ham, and Thanksgiving turkey. Just picked, juicy, finger-staining huckleberries were hard work, but memorable. When mom canned summer fruit for winter eating, the house would fill with the incredible smells of ripe peaches, tomatoes, strawberries, and pears.

Although my family didn't succeed on our trips every year, hunting season in the community produced a steady supply of game; and, dad's grill turned out some very tasty elk, moose and venison. Home cooking for three growing boys made the Miller kitchen a busy place. Little did we know then that this kitchen was cutting a path - paving the road to Miller Wine Works.

The wonderful world of wine opened up to me when I went to college to study engineering, and simultaneously worked in a wine and spirits shop near Purdue University. As a wine buyer, I was exposed to wines from around the world, which got me to daydreaming about California.

Initially however, my passion for cooking got a hold of me, and I found myself in my first cooking job - a short-order lunch cook at a convention center hotel in Greensboro, North Carolina. Soon thereafter, I attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, and was presented with the opportunity to apprentice at the Greenbrier Hotel, in White Sulphur Springs, WV. Thereafter, I couldn't resist the draw of helping to open the restaurant Spruce in Chicago. This subsequently led to a position at The Little Nell in Aspen, and my westward progress was THEN finalized in the land of my dreams, Napa Valley.

Napa Valley is an amazing place, but not just for its history, natural beauty, and perfect conditions for winegrowing. The people are truly amazing, placing a premium on food, family, friends, and farming. Two such people are Bill and Joan Smith, formerly of La Jota Vineyard Company, for whom I worked, and who dear friends became. Their ongoing support and encouragement inspires me daily; in making wine, and in living life to its potential.

As a winemaker, it is my intent to make wines of the style that made me fall in love with wine - balanced, nuanced wines that speak clearly of their locations, and have affinity for carefully raised and prepared food. It doesn't get any better than that.