Healdsburg’s Jesse Katz named 2025 Winemaker of the Year by Wine Enthusiast.
 
96-Points by Int'l Wine Review
The 2021 Bordeaux Blend from Aperture is a beautiful mélange of 44% Merlot, 27% Malbec, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot, and 9% Cabernet Franc and saw 50% new French oak for approximately 18 months. A medium, moving to dark, purple core with a light neon ruby rim that glistens in the glass. Starting off with aromas of black cherries, blackberries, cedary herbs, tobacco leaves, and sweet spice, it flows across the palate with ease. Sweet but present tannins coat the mouth, while the racy acidity finishes things off. A truly incredible wine for the price point. About 5000 cases made. Highly recommended and best buy. 
 
 
The Aperture Chenin Blanc has earned the highest Wine Enthusiast rating for the varietal in the history of California. Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2024, #71.
In 2021, his work with Devil Proof's Farrow Ranch vineyard led him to joining the elite group of winemakers, receiving 100 points from both Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate and Jeb Dunnuck.
 
Jesse Katz is a winemaking sensation renowned for becoming the youngest head winemaker at Lancaster Estate in the U.S. in 2010. Jesse’s journey from prodigy to powerhouse includes garnering nearly a dozen perfect scores and setting a world record with a million-dollar auction bid for his “The Setting 2019 Glass Slipper Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon” at the 2021 Emeril Lagasse Foundation’s Carnivale Du Vin auction in New Orleans.
Jesse Katz developed a passion for wine at an early age, sparked by globetrotting with his father, renowned photographer Andy Katz, to explore wineries and vineyards around the world.
Jesse honed his craft after earning a degree in Viticulture and Enology from Fresno State. He gained invaluable experience at some of the world’s premier wineries, including Pétrus in Bordeaux, Screaming Eagle and Robert Foley Wineries in Napa Valley, and Viña Cobos (Paul Hobbs) and Bodega Noemia in Argentina.
Wine Enthusiast 40 Under 40 Tastemaker, Wine Spectator Rising Star, and was the first winemaker to land on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. He made wine for the Timberlake-Biel wedding, and shattered records when a six-liter bottle of his 2019 Cabernet sold at an auction for a million dollars.
Aperture Cellars is a small-batch wine producer in Healdsburg of Sonoma County, California. It was founded by winemaker Jesse Katz in 2009. 
The Bordeaux-style wine portfolio is sourced from various subregions of Sonoma. The Site Series is a collection of terroir-driven wines from different vineyards throughout Alexander Valley. The soil series includes Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon wines crafted according to the soil type. The top range is a duo of red blends produced from the estate vineyard in Healdsburg. 
Wine labels feature imagery by Katz's photographer father, Andy Katz, Aperture Cellars is derived from the aperture of a camera lens.