Ryan Hodgins
Although a native of the Pacific Northwest, Consulting Winemaker Ryan Hodgins’ first exposure to the idea of wine growing happened in the unlikely locale of Ohio. A plant-biology professor at Oberlin College shared his interest in wine growing with Ryan. After graduating Ryan moved to Minneapolis where he survived the long winters by learning to ski and drink wine. After five years, the call of wine was too strong to ignore and Ryan enrolled in the Master’s program in Viticulture and Enology at the University of California at Davis.
In his second year at Davis, Ryan worked a harvest in Oregon and collected samples for his thesis on Pinot noir tannins in the Willamette Valley. It was also at Davis where Ryan met his wife-to-be and fellow student of wine, Molly. After working harvests in Oregon, Napa, and India, Ryan spent three years in Sonoma as Hanzell Vineyards’ Assistant Winemaker and Viticulturist, where he had the opportunity to work with the oldest Pinot noir vines in the New World and helped craft one of California’s most storied Chardonnays.
Simultaneously with signing on at Hanzell, Ryan was put in touch (while still working in India) with Doug and Ana Lucia. Over many phone conversations over a 13 ½ hours time difference, they made most of the crucial equipment and vineyard sourcing decisions. Upon returning to California, Ryan lived in Sonoma at Hanzell while making frequent visits to Boonville.
In April, 2008, Ryan and Molly moved to Oregon for Molly’s new job as Viticulturist and Vineyard Manager for Chehalem Winery. Ryan, however, could not give up the Anderson Valley, and instead increased his time at Breggo and is very pleased that the 2008 vintage in barrel is already showing the results of the extra attention. As a resident of Portland, Ryan has one of the longer commutes to the Anderson Valley (and highly recommends Santa Rosa airport – no lines, an hour drive from Boonville, and Russian River Brewing’s Airport Lounge IPA on tap). Ryan currently splits his time between Breggo, working on his and Molly’s own label, and hanging out with their three-year-old daughter, Maggie.