Erik Bjornstad was born in St. Helena and raised in Sonoma County. As the eldest son of a  winemaker/viticulturist, Erik was fortunate to spend his childhood in the beautiful vineyards of the Sonoma coast and Napa valley. Erik’s earliest memory is living on the beautiful Flowers Winery property on the coast of California, while his father developed the vineyard. As he grew older, Erik and his younger brother eventually graduated from climbing picking bins and stacks of pallets in winery parking lots to partaking in several of the labor intensive jobs required in winery work. They helped sort grapes and did punch downs for their dad’s label while they weren’t at soccer or baseball practice. Needless to say, there was always wine around. However Erik’s devotion to winemaking wasn’t realized until he was persuaded by his brother to work his very first official harvest at Vinify Wine Services in Santa Rosa.