Our Philosophy: Making the best wine possible starts in the vineyard. For a century, these old vines have flourished in Napa Valley 's best soil, allowing each vine to develop its own unique personality. It is our commitment to nurture these gnarly old vines into the next century so they can continue to bring you incomparable wines.

Pam Simpson grew up in the downstate cornfields of Illinois where farming is still a way of life and family farms are inherited. While attending the University of Illinois, Pam became interested in politics and graduated in 1985 with a degree in Political Science and Speech Communication. She began lobbying in Illinois and continued her political career upon moving the St. Helena in 1990. Pam’s extensive political background has taken her from lobbying in Illinois to running state assembly, congressional and presidential campaigns. She was also District Director for Napa's Congressman in the 1990's.

Andy Simpson has lived in St. Helena since 1990. A fourth generation California Native Son, he grew up around agriculture. His parents owned over 100 acres of pear orchards in the Sacramento Delta area and he learned there to work the fields and tend to the fruit. His family instilled in him the love of the land and the passion for growing the finest fruit possible.

Andy ventured beyond California for college. He attended and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1984. Upon moving to California, Andy continued his engineering studies at U. C. Davis where he later earned his degree. He now has his own professional civil engineering practice in St. Helena.

Nile Zacherle, our winemaker, has produced wines from vineyards throughout the World. He and has held winemaking positions at Barnett Vineyards, Chateau Montelena, Pierro Margaret River Vineyards ( Australia) and worked in France at Chateau d’Arsac ( Bordeaux), Navarro Vineyards and Sterling. Nile has a B.S. in Fermentation science from UC Davis that is focused on Enology, Viticulture and Brewing sciences. He gained further skills from working as a brewer and microbiologist for Anderson Valley Brewing Company. His winemaking style is focused on vineyard site expression (Terroir), elegance and age-worthy structure. The Hayne Vineyard and the other Chase Family Wines are a reflection of this style.

Jeff Blaum, Pam's older brother, moved to St. Helena in 2002 to help build the winery. Because of his extensive sales and management experience, he soon joined the team full-time to take charge of the new tasting area and the day to day duties at the winery. He has traveled extensively for Chase over the last seven years and is now direct sales manager, working closely with Pam on national distribution.

He can be found at the winery almost every day and can be reached at: Jeff@Chasecellars.com.