Meet Our Team

As the president and CEO of Two Estates Wine Collective, Dan Zepponi literally brings a lifetime of knowledge and experience to his role guiding the future of Cuvaison. Having worked in every facet of the wine industry, Dan applies what he calls a root-to-wine approach that empowers his team to create wines that are quintessential expressions of their appellation, and of the the historic Tai Estate Vineyard where they are grown. In 1969, the same year that Cuvaison was established, Dan’s father, Gino Zepponi, cofounded ZD Wines. “Other than my time in school,” Dan says, “I was completely immersed in the winery. By the time I was a teenager, I’d learned to drive a tractor, prune, fill barrels, run the crusher, do lab analysis—you name it. I also learned that running a successful family business is about care and quality, and that it requires hard work and integrity.” In the years since, Dan has earned a reputation as one of the most visionary executives in the wine industry, holding positions as senior vice president of production at Beringer Wine Estates, president of the Mark Anthony Group, president of Vintage Strategies, and president and partner at West Coast Wine Partners. In 2016, Dan returned to his independent winery roots, when he was named the president and CEO of Two Estates Wine Collective.

A master of cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, director of winemaking, Steve Rogstad has spent most of his professional life making wine in the Los Carneros appellation. Since 2002, Steve has guided the winemaking at Cuvaison, crafting wines that have earned renown for their seamless balance and vineyard-inspired depth and complexity. Working with Cuvaison’s acclaimed Tai Estate Vineyard for more than 20 years, Steve has refined a vineyard-driven approach to winemaking that takes advantage of the site’s remarkable diversity, including doing as many as 80 individual fermentations each vintage—a small-batch, labor-intensive approach that defines Cuvaison’s estate-grown wines. Born and raised in North Dakota, Steve fell in love with wine while traveling abroad and living above a wine shop in Paris. While attending the masters of enology and viticulture program at UC Davis, Steve worked at La Crema, where he gained invaluable hands-on experience making Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with legendary winemaker Dan Goldfield. After university, Steve joined the team at Saintsbury, before being named the assistant winemaker at Rombauer. Prior to joining Cuvaison, Steve spent six years as the winemaker at Clos Pegase in Los Carneros. Since becoming winemaker in 2002, Steve has been widely recognized for making many of the finest wines in Cuvaison’s history. “Great wines are the culmination of years of knowledge and experience,” says Steve. “For 20 years, I have had the incredible fortune to work with a grand cru-caliber vineyard to create wines that honor Cuvaison’s roots, while also helping to lay the foundation for the next fifty years.”

As VP, marketing & trade development, Jaki Palacios utilizes her extensive experience in brand strategy and aesthetics, digital marketing and consumer engagement to tell the story of Cuvaison. After earning her bachelor of science degree from the Art Institute of California, Jaki began her career at Constellation Brands, where she was the associate marketing manager for Robert Mondavi Private Selection. Since then, Jaki has served as account supervisor at NSight Connect, specializing in digital marketing, as brand manager for Kroger beer and wine at Winery Exchange, and most recently, as brand manager for C. Mondavi and Family, where she led the highly successful repositioning of the Charles Krug brand. “At Cuvaison, every wine we make is an extension of the vision and values that have made us a leader in Los Carneros for over five decades,” says Jaki. “They are also the foundation that our next 50 years will be built upon.” Jaki splits her time between Napa and Miami, with her husband, two sons and their two dogs.