Our Team
Kevin McEnnis
Kevin became interested in agriculture when he was doing human rights work in Guatemala in the 1990’s. Seeing pristine rain forest reduced to charred stumps to plant corn, caused Kevin to question how agriculture could be more sustainable. He began learning more about agriculture, started his own garden, and then worked on several sustainable agriculture projects in Chiapas, Mexico.
In 1999, he founded Quetzal Farm in Santa Rosa where he grew organic vegetables until 2016. In 2010, Kevin took a viticulture class at Santa Rosa Junior College. The wine bug bit him hard right away—he was soon making his own wine, working harvest at wineries, and working with vineyard consultants in his spare time. In 2016 he completed degrees in Viticulture and Enology at Santa Rosa Junior College. He started working at Porter Creek Vineyards as Assistant Winegrower in 2017 and joined Barton Farming in 2021.
Joseph Ryan
Ernest winemaker and Barton vineyard manager Joseph Ryan always has had an understanding of the agrarian lifestyle. He grew up on a farm in Iowa. He knew about land stewardship before he learned algebra. With this experience came the awareness that great product begins with careful, conscious work in the soil. This is the foundation for Joe’s approach to vineyard management.
Joseph carries this perspective into the winery, where he applies minimal intervention to his winemaking. Over the last decade he refined these techniques as assistant winegrower at Porter Creek, a family-run estate in the Russian River Valley. He also worked as director of grower relations for Flowers Winery. This experience on both sides of the bottle gives Joe the mentality of a European vigneron.
The road to wine was circuitous for Joseph. He went to a theater conservatory in New York and discovered wine while working in restaurants during that time. Looking back, Joseph credits a handful of sommeliers with opening his eyes to his true passion in life. We’re glad they did.