A ‘force of nature’: Award-winning local winemaker’s resilience pays dividends

Patience and perseverance — those are the two virtues the wildfires have taught Bibiana Gonzalez Rave.

While the recent Point Fire didn’t pose any problems for the vintner of Cattleya Wines, she said it brought back “challenging memories.”

The Tubbs Fire in 2017 forced Gonzalez Rave to evacuate from her Santa Rosa home with her husband, Jeff Pisoni, and their year-and-a-half toddler and six-month-old baby.

Then the Walbridge Fire in 2020 exposed the winemaker’s Sonoma County vineyards to smoke. With worries of smoke taint, Gonzalez Rave decided to forgo making 5,000 cases of wine that year.

“It wasn’t until the 2020 fires, after multiple conversations with my brother-in-law, Mark Pisoni, and my husband, Jeff, that I saw firsthand what farmers take on every year,” she said. “Mark kept reminding me that there are good and bad years and that things come and go. You just must have patience and keep on going.”

The winemaker’s resilience paid off. She crafted our Wine of the Week winner — the Alma de Cattleya, 2022 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($60). It’s a complex Cab with aromas and flavors of black raspberry, red currant, cedar and a kiss of vanilla. With a supple texture and a lingering finish, it’s striking.

“The warmer weather in 2022 makes this wine what it is,” Gonzalez Rave said. “The wine is very approachable with no green notes to it and a lot of freshness. It’s a well-balanced wine.”

A ‘force of nature’

Gonzalez Rave, 46, is the founder of Cattleya Wines. She launched the label in Rohnert Park in 2012, with only 25 cases. (Cattleya is the national flower of Colombia, the winemaker’s native country.)

“As the only formally educated and trained hands-on winemaker from Colombia, I wanted everybody to think of my native country for something special like this,” she said. “Most of my life people would only ask about drug cartels and violence.”

Among her many accolades, Gonzalez Rave was named one of Wine Enthusiast’s “40 Under 40” in 2013 and in 2015, she was named “Winemaker of the Year” by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Gonzalez Rave earned a degree in viticulture and enology from the Lycée de L’Oisellerie in Cognac in 2002 and a degree in enology from the University of Bordeaux in 2004.

“When people meet me in person, they often describe me as a ‘force of nature,’ someone who is very passionate about her craft,” Gonzalez Rave said.

“What people don’t know much about me, is that I am very science-driven. I believe that the more you know about the intrinsic details of chemistry, physics, and biochemistry the better wines one can make with minimum intervention. I am a little bit obsessed about making the perfect wine.”

You can reach wine writer Peg Melnik at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @pegmelnik.