Audrie was born and raised in California’s Mojave Desert, among creosote bushes and the occasional sonic boom from the nearby Naval Air Weapons Station. A competitive spirit instilled during childhood (thanks to a spirited brother and his friends) and a fascination with the natural world (think lizard hunting and squirrel photography) laid the groundwork for her current role as Assistant Winemaker at V. Sattui.

Directly after earning a Bachelor’s in Biological Sciences from UC Irvine, she started working in the lab and cellar at Estancia Estates, where her interest in the art and science of winemaking emerged. She decided to pursue it further, traveling halfway across the world to the University of Adelaide in South Australia, where she earned a Masters in Oenology.

She returned to the U.S. and started urban winemaking in San Francisco’s Dogpatch and on Treasure Island before landing in Napa in 2015. Working harvests at Robert Mondavi Winery and Louis M. Martini was followed by several years at Treasury Wine Estates, where she made wines for Chateau St. Jean, Beaulieu Vineyards, Provenance, and Beringer Vineyards. In 2021, she joined Bundschu Company, where she worked on Gundlach Bundschu, Abbot’s Passage, and various custom crush wines before joining us at V. Sattui.

But wine isn’t her only passion. As a mother to 2 small children (daughter Aoife and son Ronan, names courtesy of her Irish husband, Richard), her free time is filled with park visits, mother/daughter brunches, dance classes, and the occasional moonlight pottery throwing or music recording session. She loves spending time in her husband’s homeland, especially Dublin, saying, “Too bad you can’t grow grapes there!”

If you asked her colleagues to describe her, they might say “creative,” “analytical,” and “a calming force.” But what she says she most enjoys about V. Sattui is that “everyone has a great sense of humor – which is necessary during the rush of harvest. Also, having the chance to work with such a broad range of varieties sourced from world-class vineyards. That’s a winemaker’s dream.”