Our winemaking team of Jill Davis and Mitch Firestone-Gillis knows that great wines are made in the vineyard—row by row, vine by vine, berry by berry. This is reflected in their unrelenting and meticulous attention to intense farming practices to identify and cultivate subtle nuances and concentrated fruit. They then "blend for complexity" utilizing their combined 50 years of experience in creating artisan crafted, small lot production wines that have become our hallmark.

Lambert Bridge Winemaker
Jill Davis

With a ready smile, Jill Davis enthusiastically greets guests to Lambert Bridge. She loves to engage visitors in lively conversations that include her passion—making great wines that are “complete, complex, and multi-dimensional.”

At Lambert Bridge, Jill works to define and refine the winemaking style that is the signature of the winery—wines that are “indicative of the limitless potential of our vineyards.”

Jill has recently outfitted the winery with many new, exciting “tools”—small, state-of-the-art fermenters and an elaborate, technologically-advanced system that includes a new “Le Trieur,” which allows the sorting of grapes down to the individual berries. Only fully mature, perfectly-ripe, and hand-selected grapes will become the new wines. This new equipment adds to their artisanal and time-worn procedures to take the wines’ quality to new heights.

Having grown up in a California community surrounded by agriculture it seems only natural that she was drawn to the enology program at the University of California in Davis. Graduating in 1978, she has continually worked in the Napa and Sonoma wine country, crafting stellar wines for several renowned wineries.

Starting her career at Beringer Vineyards under the watchful eye of the legendary Myron Nightengale, she was later tapped to reinvent the historic Buena Vista Winery. There, she worked with industry icon, Andre Tchelistcheff, and was mentored through twelve vintages. During her eight years at William Hill Winery she created their signature style and flavor profile.

Jill has shepherded several wineries through their “renaissance” and now, at Lambert Bridge, she is leading a unparalleled team in realizing their shared vision of great wines focused on their signature, world-class, red varietals.

Watch Jill as she talks about the challenges and The Art of Winemaking on the California Insider Videos at the Welcome to California—The Land of Wine and Food website.

Click here to read the recent article by Robert Calvert, published in the January 2006 issue of Austinwoman. (1.93MG PDF)

Back to top 

Lambert Bridge Associate Winemaker
Mitch Firestone-Gillis

Mitch has joined Winemaker Jill Davis and the Lambert Bridge family as Associate Winemaker. His gentle demeanor, passion for fine wine, and love of the Dry Creek Valley makes him a keystone in the Lambert Bridge team.

A position at Balverne Winery in Windsor started his career in the world of Sonoma County winemaking. In four short years he rose through the cellar and was promoted to Winemaker. Later, during his eight harvests at Fisher Vineyards he crafted their highly-lauded wines, and managed their estate vineyards for the Fisher family. In 1999 he joined the renowned Sonoma winery, Williams Selyem, as Associate Winemaker, maintaining their artisan approach to winemaking while integrating innovative technological advances. He worked tirelessly with their diverse group of vineyard owners to communicate the desires of the winemaking team for quality grapegrowing.

Mitch plays a key role in helping Jill achieve and maintain, through innovation and craftsmanship, the Lambert Bridge quality goals.

Back to top