Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Vineyard promotes its winemaking team
Dry Creek Vineyard promoted longtime winemaker Tim Bell to director of winemaking and moved up Brian Pruett to take his place at the 52-year-old Sonoma County vintner.
“Tim and Brian not only share that vision but are exceptional winemakers who focus on the details to deliver appellation-driven, terroir-focused wines that truly represent a sense of place,” said President Kim Stare Wallace in the Thursday announcement.
For 11 years before being hired, Bell held assistant and senior winemaking roles at Freemark Abbey Winery then was director of winemaking at Kunde Family Winery. At Dry Creek Vineyard, he is credited with introducing unique grape clones and varieties, fusion barrels designed for “deeper fruit expression” in Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. During Bell’s time, the winery earned 90-plus-point scores from critics, including two nods for Wine Spectator Top 100 wines.
Pruett came to Dry Creek Vineyard in 2017 as assistant winemaker and was moved up to associate winemaker in 2021. Before that, he was assistant winemaker and director of production at Peachy Canyon Winery in Paso Robles then moved on to assistant winemaker at Ledson Winery & Vineyards in Sonoma Valley.
