Team

Brett Escalera

Brett Escalera’s roots in winemaking can be traced back to his grandfathers who were both home winemakers, but his passion was inspired thru courses taught by Dr. Marian Baldy, author of The University Wine Course, while attending California State University, Chico as an undergraduate business major.

He began his career the old fashioned way, initially taking a part-time cellar position at Santa Barbara Winery for Winemaker Bruce McGuire in 1985. After several years of seasonal work at Santa Barbara Winery, he decided to pursue a formal education in winemaking and became a Santa Barbara County Paramedic while pursuing his studies. It was through his Paramedic work, and late night visits to the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Emergency Room, that he met his future Consilience partner, Tom Daughters, a Radiologist, and also met his future wife, Monica, an emergency room nurse.

In 1992 he enrolled as a graduate student at California State University, Fresno where he completed the course requirements for a second major in Enology, a minor in Viticulture, and a Masters of Science in Agricultural Chemistry. His thesis project work was on the trellising, training, and pruning of Chardonnay grapevines in Santa Barbara County to improve yield, fruit composition, and wine quality. While attending CSUF he became a Graduate Assistant at the CSUF Viticulture & Enology Research Center under the direction of Dr. Keith Striegler. He was a member of both the CSUF Viticulture Club and the CSUF Enology Society, and served as its President in the 1994-1995 school year.

Upon completion of his coursework at CSUF in 1996, he accepted a position as Enologist at the Byron Winery & Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley. After the harvest of 1996, he accepted a position as the Production Manager at the Fess Parker Winery & Vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley. In 1998 he was promoted to Associate Winemaker at the FPW&V and was named Winemaker just prior to the 1999 harvest. A promotion to the Director of Winemaking & Vineyard Operations for FPW&V was granted in 2004.

After a very brief stint in 2005 as the Director of Winemaking for Central Coast Wine Services in Santa Maria, Brett returned to the Fess Parker organization in 2005 as the Head Winemaker for the Parker Station line of wines and more recently as the Director of Winemaking for the Parker Wine Center.

Through all of these years Brett has been making the wine for Consilience, the wine company that he and business partner Tom Daughters have gradually built since the 1997 vintage.

In 2007 he again teamed up with Tom, and Tom's brother Ken Daughters to launch "Tre Anelli", a new company producing Italian and Spanish varietal wines.