Meet The Tierra Roja Team
Linda Neal, Owner
Meet Linda Neal, owner of the Tierra Roja Vineyard and CEO of Obsession Wine Company, maker of the Tierra Roja Cabernet Sauvignon wine.
After 20 years as a Vineyard Manager and CFO of M&L Vineyard Management, Linda has stepped away from managing vineyards for others and is concentrating full time on her own vineyards and wine.
“I am so excited to be in my own vineyard everyday. I am doing as much of the work myself as I can. When the work is too hefty, Ruben sends a fantastic team from Rubio’s Vineyard Management to help me. Even with their help, I have the chance to look at every pruning cut and baby every vine. Taking care of four and a half acres is so different from several hundred.”
Her desire to become a farmer began in High School. After growing up in Southern California, she moved to the central Napa Valley town of Oakville.
Linda served in the Peace Corps, in Morocco. Read her blog for a glimpse into this adventure!
Here is Linda as “Miss January” for the Napa Valley Grapegrowers’ “Women in Winegrowing” calendar.
Photo by Charles O’Rear in his book “Napa Valley: The Land, the Wine, the People”, pages 54 and 227
“In high school I became involved with the Future Farmers of America (FFA). I came to realize that agriculture was the only essential industry and I wanted to be a part of that.” Linda worked her way up by earning degrees in Business and Ag Business and holding jobs in the sales of Ag products.
She started working in the Napa Valley in 1983 while representing the French Company, Rhone Poulenc. She moved to Napa Valley after marrying Michael Neal and bought the Tierra Roja property in 1987. “Michael and I were newlyweds and it was tough. We put everything we had into the property and the business. It wasn’t a question of if we were having pasta for dinner, but whether we could afford to put cheese on top.”
“We did not even consider having a winery back then, we both just loved the farming. Through hard work, the vineyard management business became a great success. Now, I am so thrilled to bring all our history and the history of this property together into a wonderful wine, to be shared with all who want a taste of the real vineyard life.”
As Linda launches this new venture, she continues to be involved with the community and FFA through the local St. Helena High Ag Boosters, Oakville Winegrowers, Napa Valley Grape Growers, Farm Bureau and Farm Service Agency.
The Winemaker
Benoit Touquette
Benoit Touquette’s journey on the leading edge of fine winemaking spans continents. From Bordeaux to Napa, he has pursued a balance of elegance and power in his craft, achieving twenty-eight 100-point ratings along the way. Now embarking on his most personal wine journey yet, Fait-Main (/handmade/ in French) brings together some of Napa Valley’s most iconic vineyards with Bordeaux’s historic Grand Cru sites to seek visionary expressions of each.
Today, Benoit is one of Napa Valley’s most sought-after winemakers, responsible for such ultra-premium offerings as Realm Cellars, Marciano Estate, Fairest Creature, Bure, Tierra Roja, as well as his own labels, Fait-Main and Teeter-Totter. His trademark vintages fuse the structure, elegance, and nuance of Bordeaux with the power, dimension, and opulence of the Napa Valley. Fait-Main embodies this vision while seeking new expressions that forever change the way the world views these iconic regions.
The Vineyard
Ruben Rubio
Ruben Rubio, and the Rubio Vineyard Management team, has been my right hand for the past 10 years. Before starting his own company, Ruben already had a long resume in the Vineyard Management business, including time with my former company. I enjoy working together in the vineyard with Ruben and his team, but I also know that while I am in Morocco, the vines could not be in better hands.