The launch comes 30 years after she began working closely with her father, Hanns Kornell, was the first in California to produce sparkling wine using the traditional Méthode Champenoise at the family’s Kornell Champagne Cellars. The business was established 61 years ago, in 1958.
Growing up on her family’s Napa Valley vineyard, Paula Kornell worked with her father until the closing of Kornell Champagne Cellars in 1992, after which she served as General Manager of Vichon Winery, then Carmenet in Sonoma County, and finally Oakville Ranch.
Now principal of Kornell Wine Co., she consults with esteemed wine brands and appellations across Napa and Sonoma counties. She was 2009 President of the Board of Directors for the Napa Valley Vintners, filling a position her father held 45 years earlier. She currently serves as board secretary for the Queen of the Valley Foundation, and on the board of Napa Humane.
Vintage Wine Estates will partner with Paula to bring the Méthode Champenoise sparkling wine to market.