Winemaker

Napa-Trained, Monterey Focus, Unabashed Seeker-of-Quality

Cima Collina Winemaker Annette Hoff Danzer is no newcomer to wine production, and she will tell you that her entire winemaking career has been a consistent march toward Monterey, that each stop along the way has prepared her for the opportunity to apply her artisan’s approach to producing the purest expression of Monterey County wines. She will also tell you that she is an unabashed seeker of quality whenever life has that to offer….but let’s talk about the wine first.

Annette’s Cima Collina wines, as well as those she’s made all over the world, are the product of all the people who worked to get it into the bottle…from grower to cellar worker. She is convinced that Cima Collina’s Monterey County wines should and will be among the finest she, her colleagues and the region have to offer.

NAPA
Annette has worked in wine production since 1994 and her experience has spanned through the cellars of Klein Family Vintners, Sterling and most notably Saintsbury. “Everything at Saintsbury was about producing world class Pinot Noir with integrity and with a devotion to the grapes,” says Annette. “I soaked it up and realized Pinot would be the varietal around which I wanted to shape my career.”

NEW ZEALAND
In 1998 Annette left for New Zealand with a desire to explore that country’s wine production and its approach to Pinot Noir. There she was what she termed a “peddling cellar rat,” often riding around the Martinborough region working with various wineries. That lasted a few months until she returned to America to become the Pinot Noir winemaker at Estancia Winery in Monterey County.

MONTEREY
Monterey immediately reminded her of New Zealand where an intense maritime climate dominates the landscape. The position gave her the opportunity to apply everything she had learned in Napa Valley and also in New Zealand about cool climate wine production. In 2000, Annette was ready to strike out on her own, becoming a consultant to many small producers in the Monterey area.

CIMA COLLINA
In 2004, Annette was convinced to quit her consulting work and create a new winery, Cima Collina. She saw it as an opportunity to play a role in defining quality in an emerging wine region. Today, Annette is charged with overseeing the day-to-day management of the winery as well as making the wine. She works closely with growers and oversees sales and marketing, but can often be found in the vineyards or cellar.

QUALITY
“I guess my career is part of a larger ambition of seeking and growing from quality, authentic experience. I remain captivated by wine because it reflects life . It has an innate ability to convey a sense of place, the people involved in it’s creation and the sensory attributes of the world around us. What other consumer good does that?” Well, maybe cheese…In their free time, Annette, her husband and son maintain a small farm that includes an orchard, vegetable garden, chickens and dairy goats. Annette has been obsessed with making artisanal raw milk goat cheeses and is beginning to think that cheese might offer the same qualities as wine… but that’s another story waiting to be told!