Our Story

The Family

The Ackerman’s Napa story started with their wedding in April 1989 when they were married at Auberge du Soliel in Rutherford. As they looked out over the beautiful, romantic vineyard countryside, they vowed that, someday, they would live in the Napa Valley. That day came in 1994 when Bob was looking to purchase a horse for Lauren, an avid rider. It just so happened that the horse he found was located on a beautiful 16-acre vineyard property in the eastern hills of Napa that was also for sale. Karma being what it is, the Ackerman’s bought the house and vineyard and were given the horse as part of the deal – their new life in the Napa Valley became a reality.

Since that fortuitous day, Lauren finished up her consulting practice and began volunteering with various local non-profits in the Napa community. When time permits, she enjoys riding her horses through the vineyards as well as breeding and showing quarter horses and western pleasure paints. When not tending to his vines and the winemaking process, Bob works as a managing director at the venture capital firm he founded.

Their sons, Robert, 24, who recently graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and is now an officer on a destroyer, and Alex, 12, who is a budding winemaker and connoisseur, grew up appreciating life in the vineyards. Both sons learned to recognize the subtle flavors of the grapes as they matured on the vine and both were involved where possible in the winemaking process. Alex, already an entrepreneur like his father, stays busy with his organic egg-farming business called "Alex's Eggzactly Organic” where he tends to his two dozen chickens.

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The Truck

Bob's truck is a story in itself. His pride and joy was a birthday present from Lauren. Lauren, who has a high tech industry background, sleuthed on the Internet for several months to find this beautifully restored truck and had it shipped across country to surprise him. Bob and his 1941 Chevy can be see around the Valley as he makes personal deliveries of Ackerman Family Vineyards Cabernet to local restaurants.

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The Vines and The Wine

The Ackerman’s have learned a lot about grape growing since they bought the property in 1994. The first few years were spent just getting to know the vineyard and its various nuances. Over time, they began to fine-tune the vines through new trellising, pruning, installing irrigation and replanting. In 1998, they replanted all 11 acres to Cabernet Sauvignon on drought-resistant rootstock and changed the trellis system to expose the fruit in order to take better advantage of the long, warm days and cool nights on their hillside vineyard. They farm organically, using cover crops and composting. They also use hawk boxes to keep rodents out of the vineyards (as well as a couple of good vineyard dogs to patrol the fences!). They initially sold most of their grapes to local wineries and kept enough to make a couple barrels of wine for themselves, family, friends and a few favorite restaurants. Finally in 2003, the Ackerman's produced their first commercial vintage after everyone who already came to love their wine told them it was time to start making more and selling it. This first release of Ackerman Family Vineyards 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon is designed to be a balanced, smooth wine that blends well with food -- not competing with it. It is created in the style of good French Bordeaux – complex yet subtle. It is a definite labor of love -- 12 years in the making!

The Cause

From the beginning, The Ackerman’s knew that they wanted to support the Napa Valley community in a way that would be meaningful. When the decision was finally made to produce and sell their wine commercially, they also decided to donate the net proceeds from this new venture to support the community they loved. Having served on several non-profit boards in addition to many for-profit boards between them, both Lauren and Bob feel strongly that giving back to the Napa Valley non-profit neighborhood is an important part of being a good community member.

Lauren is currently Chair of the Napa Valley Community Foundation, a philanthropic community "bank" of donations by individuals, families, corporations, and nonprofit organizations and governed by a board of directors who determine what the strongest needs in a community are, funding grants accordingly. All net profits from the sales of Ackerman Family Vineyards Cabernet will go to their fund at the Community Foundation. As each vintage grows in size, so will the donations to the Community Foundation.

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The Ackerman Family

Ackerman Family Vineyards is proud to be a part of the newly released book Spectacular Wineries of Napa Valley printed by Panache Publishers