About
Origin Story
I began making my own wine in 2019 in California—the first vintage was a Chenin Blanc from the Sacramento Delta. However, the goal was to work with Spanish varietals and the ultimate dream was to make wine in Spain, given my family history (Cuban, by way of Spain) and my personal connection to the country from my travels.
In 2020, I connected with Nick Africano of En Rama Sherry Co. and the Kingston restaurant Mirador. Nick is a leading U.S. authority on Sherry, and through him, I was introduced to his strong connections within the Sherry triangle region.
I have an affinity for white wines with some skin contact and was intrigued by making wine in the Jerez area because of the presence of Flor. I love Fino wines specifically and Sherry in general. This led to further exploration and my exposure to wines from the Jura region of France, which I was lucky to visit in 2022. The similarities to the wines from Jerez are uncanny: the nutty, olive notes and the growth of a spontaneous and powerful, “Flor”-like yeast. The idea of an unfortified white wine from the Jerez area was intriguing; I knew it was something that my friends would find interesting, versatile and which they would enjoy drinking. This is what I set out to do with this 2023 vintage and with that spun off “Cultivo en Otro Idioma” for the wines I am making in Spain. I am working with amazing partners on the ground in Spain whose passion, focus on quality and expertise are supporting my winemaking and brand visions.
From Children’s Books to Wine
Monica Palenzuela is originally from Miami, FL and calls Brooklyn, NY home. Her background is in PR, branding and marketing in the film and publishing industries, where she worked for 12 years as a publicist. She graduated with her Bachelors degree in Advertising from the University of Florida and has a Masters of Education with a focus in Children’s Literature from Pennsylvania State University.
From 2016-2018, she apprenticed at a small Brooklyn wine shop, Vanderbilt Ave Wine Merchants, stocking shelves after work. Eventually helping the shop produce and run events as their events manager and then as their Director of Operations in 2019. In 2018 she left her full-time job at Scholastic to work as a production intern for Tuck Beckstoffer Estate (now Amulet Estate) in Saint Helena during the 2018 harvest.
She returned to the Napa Valley in 2019 for a second harvest with the same team. In 2020, she worked with Sam Bilbro at Idlewild Wines in Geyserville for an extended harvest. In 2021, she interned with Ruben Parera at Finca Parera, a biodynamic winery in the Penedès region in Spain. She completed the UC Davis Winemaking Certificate Program in March of 2022 and worked as the Cellar Master for Larkmead Vineyards in Calistoga, CA until the 2022 harvest.