Coombsville Wine Memoirs, with Leo Tellez and Joe Hinde of Ackerman Family Vineyards

Podcast EpisodesWine EducationNapa ValleySmall ProducersWinery Features

Aug 18

Inside Ackerman Family Vineyards

Visit, Order, and Stay in Touch- here are all their links!

The tasting room — The Ackerman Heritage House in downtown Napa offers leisurely pours in the Aviary salon or the courtyard secret garden, plus elevated library tastings for those who want to go deep. Book online or reach Joe at joe@ackermanfamilyvineyards.com.

Online ordering — All three wines (2019 Memoir Red Blend, 2022 Olivina Tosca, 2021 Coombesville Cabernet Sauvignon) are available under $100 here. Ships to most states.

Mailing list — Sign up to find out when Joe and Leo are coming to a city near you.

Follow along — Ackerman Family Vineyards on Instagram and YouTube, where you can finally put faces to these voices.A Beautiful Victorian and a Winery Worth Knowing

Episode Overview:

Ackerman Family Vineyards is exactly the kind of small, family-owned producer Nikki has been on a mission to spotlight — deeply personal, rooted in place, and making wines that hold their own against anything the Napa Valley has to offer. Their tasting room is housed in Napa's only authentic restored historic Victorian home, a labor of love that president Lauren Ackerman spent five years bringing back to life. Nikki sat down inside the Aviary — a converted 1910 carriage house with a secret garden courtyard — to taste three wines with winemaker Leo Tellez and director of sales and hospitality Joe Hind. Both were sitting down for their very first podcast appearance.

The (Unofficial)Mayor of Coombesville: Leo Tellez's Story

Leo is third-generation Napa. His grandfather worked at Charles Krug, his father spent decades at Mondavi, and Leo grew up thinking vineyard trucks were the coolest thing in the world. He worked his way through the French Laundry, Masa's, and Quince in San Francisco before moving into production — starting in a cellar for $9.50 an hour, happy to be there. He describes himself as an artist who makes liquid art; as a kid, when he got tired of ceramic bowls, he sculpted a 3D Michael Jordan shoe.

His connection to Coombesville runs personal. He ran cross-country through those fields as a middle schooler, got married there, and lives down the street from the house that once belonged to Nathan Coombs — the first mayor of Napa, the man the AVA is named after. His friends call him the mayor of Coombesville. It's not entirely a joke. He's been making wine for Ackerman since 2018.

Joe Hinde: From Ohio to the Napa Valley (via Kendall Jackson)

Joe was born in Toledo, Ohio, but wine found him early — his father was among the first eleven employees at a startup called Kendall-Jackson. Joe came up through hospitality and eventually landed at Ackerman, where he fell for the winery, the wines, and the GM. He and Christy Fondario are now married. As director of sales and hospitality, Joe travels the country hosting wine dinners and what he calls "preaching the good word" alongside national brand manager Jay Conway. A French mentor once told him: you're not selling wine, you're selling memories. An empty bottle is memories captured and saved. It's not a coincidence one of Ackerman's wines is called Memoir.

What Is Coombesville, and Why Should You Care?

Napa Valley's youngest AVA, designated in 2011, Coombesville sits in the southeastern corner of the valley — about ten minutes from the Ackerman tasting room. For years it was dismissed. The region runs cooler than up-valley appellations, harvests later, and critics wrote it off. "All I heard was that it was going to be green," Leo said. "You make green cab."

The skeptics were wrong. Before Coombesville had official AVA status, big Napa names were quietly sourcing fruit from there — they just couldn't say so on the label. The cool climate produces wines with more tension, more mineral character, more freshness. Patience is required. Leo has been making wine there since 2012, long before the reputation caught up with reality.

The Sip Spotlight: Three Wines, Three Completely Different Experiences

Nikki tasted through three Ackerman wines during the episode, all currently available and all under $100 — which, as she noted more than once, is genuinely remarkable for wines of this quality from the Napa Valley.

2019 Memoir Red Blend — approx. $50

Memoir was born from a practical problem: Ackerman makes only 1,200 to 1,500 cases annually, and demand was outpacing supply. Christy and Lauren developed a second label with broader distribution in mind — one that could reach more people at a more accessible price point. This 2019 vintage was Leo's first from start to finish: a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc from 11 estate acres in Coombesville, aged 18 to 22 months in 70% new and 30% neutral French oak. Tasting notes: blue and black fruit, a hint of rosemary, Coombesville's signature mineral thread. Mouth-coating and long-finishing. Leo says it makes him want to call friends and cook. Joe goes back to family dinners at the lake. The name fits. Available in about 20 states; order direct if you can't find it locally.

2022 Olivina Tosca — Super Tuscan-Inspired Blend

Olivina Tosca — "the spirit of Tuscany" — is Ackerman's love letter to Italy, first made in 2007 and quietly cult-followed ever since. This 2022 vintage is 60% Sangiovese, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. The Sangiovese — rare and hard to source in Napa — comes from a two-acre sliver on Atlas Peak from the Antinori family's California property, sourced through Leo's connections. In the cellar, Leo handles each variety completely differently: the Cabernet gets the Bordeaux treatment; the Sangiovese gets open-top fermenters, low temperatures, and gentle maceration. "It's Italian," Nikki said. "You have to be nice to it." Production runs 125 to 200 cases. If you find it, buy it.

2021 Coombesville Cabernet Sauvignon

This is the one that gave Nikki goosebumps. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, clone 337, from the same Coombesville estate slope, picked in three sections because nothing on a hillside ripens evenly. Built with six to eight different barrel coopers — Leo treats them like a spice rack. The result: power with finesse, structure with elegance, tannins fully integrated and built to age. Joe went to Florence when he tasted it. Nikki said it reminded her why she fell in love with Cabernet Sauvignon in the first place. The second sip was better than the first. She may have actually melted slightly.

From Vineyard to Glass: What It Takes to Get Here

Leo is the maker — patient, precise, artistic, trusting the vineyard and building something he'd be proud to give a friend on their birthday. Joe is the connector — on the road, building relationships, educating without intimidating. He often doesn't even introduce himself as connected to the winemaker. He just starts talking about wine. As Leo put it: since COVID, wine is people, place, and time. Everything in a bottle is capturing a moment.

One More Thing: A Side-by-Side Worth Doing at Home

Order Ackerman's Olivina Tosca alongside Sollevato's Fortunato — two California Super Tuscan-inspired blends of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon from two small producers who believe Italian varietals deserve far more love in Napa Valley. Taste them side by side and report back. Find Sollevato at sollevatowines.com — use code PODLISTENER for 10% off.