Emily
Haines
Winemaker
Melissa
Bordi
Viticulturist
Our Team
EMILY HAINES
WINEMAKER
A good winemaker understands terroir. A great winemaker understands how to push the envelope to fully reveal what terroir can achieve, and since 2017, Emily Haines has done just that to shape the next generation of Terra d’Oro wines.
Emily graduated with a degree in biotechnology and biochemistry at Eastern Washington University. While working in a research lab she took a part-time stint in a tasting room. Seeing everything involved in the winemaking decisions appealed to her scientific mind, and she quit her steady job to try her hand at winemaking. She honed her skills at the Wahluke Wine Company in Washington, ultimately serving as director of winemaking for its Millbrandt Vineyards, where she earned a number of 90+ scores from top critics.
The possibility to work with Terra d’Oro’s vineyard holdings attracted Emily to Amador County, and her skills and keen palate have continued to refine Terra d’Oro’s terroir-driven wines since then.
Melissa Bordi
Viticulturist
If great wine starts in the vineyard, a great vineyard starts with the soil, and Melissa is responsible for cultivating and maintaining the health of all 500 acres of Terra d’Oro’s vineyards from the ground up.
Melissa joined Terra d’Oro as viticulturist in 2019 and is responsible for ensuring each vineyard is a vibrant and sustainable ecosystem year round through best practices in irrigation, soils amendments, cover crops, sustainable pest management and more. She also works closely with winemaker Emily Haines on decisions regarding the crop throughout the growing season and harvest.
Melissa oversees Terra d’Oro’s organic certification process, bringing more acreage into certification each year, and has implemented a plan that plants California native wildflowers among the vines to attract beneficial insects as an eco-friendly (and beautiful) pest management program.
