In 2004, we were honored have Mark Künz join us as the new winemaker at Chatom Vineyards. Owner Gay Callan was confident that Mark’s seventeen prior years of experience in the winemaking business had given him the infinite patience and brilliant knowledge needed to produce the smoothest of wines--and she was right. Mark’s wine career began at Piper Sonoma; he was at Matanzas Creek for over a decade, and finally, he worked at B.R. Cohn before his move to Chatom.

Mark didn’t take the most traditional of routes on his journey into the world of winemaking. With careers ranging from construction and farming to working at a nuclear testing station in Idaho, it wasn’t until his mid-30’s when he started working at Piper Sonoma on the bottling line that he finally experienced “real” wine--and he was hooked. Fascinated with the method of making wine, Mark worked his way up the ladder at Piper Sonoma until he ended up in the cellar. His experience at Piper Sonoma inspired him to pursue jobs at other wineries and continue to learn about the winemaking process. Finally, working in the cellar and lab at Matanzas Creek gave him the technical skill he needed which eventually led to his job as assistant winemaker for B.R. Cohn.

For the past seven years, Mark has been the winemaker for Chatom Vineyards and in those years he has consistently made award-winning wines of the highest caliber. With all of Chatom wines, Mark says, “My long term goal is to put the Sierra Foothills on the map. It’s like Sonoma County 30 years ago. It’s fun to visit.”