Danny’s responsibilities cover the full scope of business operations from production to sales, including team management, strategy, leadership and finance.

Born and raised in the Cotswolds of Oxford, England, Danny was not exposed to the world of wine and viticulture until he and his family moved to Sonoma when he was 12 years of age. Working teenage summers and weekends in Sonoma Valley at local wineries, such as Benziger and Viansa, Danny began to discover the convivial heartbeat of the wine industry. After commencing his aviation career at 17, he went to study Aeronautical Engineering at Cal Poly (SLO) University, but quickly found wine business classes to be more entertaining and more aligned with his character. In 2005, Danny worked his first harvest as a lab tech and cellar rat. He has been making wine pretty much ever since.

After completing a wine business degree, Danny sold everything he owned and backpacked around the world for 2 years, completing his wine MBA at Bordeaux Ecolé de Management in France while working harvests in New Zealand, Australia and France. Upon graduation in 2011, Danny and childhood friends, Mike Benziger and Benjamin Flajnik, started Envolve, a boutique winery in Sonoma focused on philanthropy and organic/biodynamic vineyards. Danny led the winery for 5 years before eventually selling Envolve Winery to Lake Sonoma Winery in 2015.

At a crossroads, Danny wanted to focus on more premium, estate vineyards and became General Manager of Kanzler Vineyards in Sebastopol in 2016. A vineyard with historic pedigree, Kanzler hired Danny as their first non-family member. Over several years, Danny led the company to new heights, built structure within the business and tripled production to 2,500 cases of boutique pinot noir. In 2022, Tor called Danny and asked if he would entertain the opportunity to lead his winery into the next chapter and hop over the hill to Napa Valley. It was an opportunity Danny could not pass up.

“I’m proud and excited to be part of such an incredible team and winery. Tor is a Napa Valley legend and an inspiring mentor. It’s an honor to carry his legacy into this new stage of TOR wines and continue to share wines from Napa’s greatest vineyards.”

When Danny is not running TOR, he can be found organically farming grapes in his Moon Mountain vineyards, hiking with his border collie, Tormey, or seeking adventure through aviation, motorcycles, traveling or scuba diving.