Like all of Teresina’s grandchildren, winemaker Linda Trotta was introduced to the craft early in life thanks to the family’s annual home-winemaking events.    Linda’s decision to study winemaking at UC Davis brought her grandparents a delight that was matched only by her subsequent decision to spend a year of study in Italy.  At the Universita` degli Studi di Padova, Linda set aside her wine course-work to study Italian art history.  Her first interaction with a commercial winery was a harvest at Santa Margherita Winery in the Veneto.  Winemaking had now thoroughly hooked Linda and in 1986 her professional winemaking adventure began. 

     She spent 20 years with Gundlach Bundschu Winery in Sonoma, CA where she started as winemaker in 1990 and ultimately served as Director of Winemaking and Winegrowing.  She produced highly acclaimed wines from the winery’s estate vineyards and led the winemaking and vineyard departments through a dynamic evolution toward increased quality.  Linda has also experienced winemaking in the Cape Winelands of South Africa and the Rapel Valley in Chile, expanding upon the global perspective on winemaking she began in Italy.

     When not making wine Linda spends much of her free time in her home garden, which includes tending a fig tree that originated from a cutting of the tree her great-grandfather grew in his garden.