Founder
Fred Brander and his late father Erik Brander (pictured left) pressing an early batch of Brander fruit. After graduating from Harvey Mudd College with a degree in Chemistry, he went on to pursue studies in Enology at UC Davis. Fred started his career in the wine business while working for a Santa Barbara wine merchant, and late moved into the wholesale business. While attending college, he started his own small wine import company, bringing in wines from France and his native Argentina.
“My background and interest in chemistry led me to pursue a career in the food and wine sector. Traveling through Europe in my student years provided ample contact with growers and winemakers from the classical wine making regions from Europe. While pursuing studies in oenology and viticulture at UC Davis, I encountered several California wine families who further piqued my interest… My interest in Sauvignon Blanc started with my travels to Bordeaux where I first experienced the white wines of the Graves region, where Sauvignon Blanc is traditionally blended with Semillon. From there my interest expanded to regions where Sauvignon Blanc is unblended and made in its pure form.”
Winemaker
Our winemaker Fabian Bravo is an integral part of everything here at Brander. Fabian has been with Brander for more than 17 years and is the reason behind our consistent bottlings. Like many, Fabian didn’t take a direct path into winemaking. He grew up in the city of Gonzalez, the Santa Lucia Highlands. One of California’s premier cool-climate winegrowing districts. Fabian’s passion for winemaking is easy to see, as he describes his devotion to the craft…“You want to capture the vintage, the vineyard, the varietal. You have one shot at each vintage. Keeping that in mind, you only have a certain amount of years to make wine, a certain window to capture each year. Getting up early and staying late in necessary. You want to make sure you showcase the vineyard and hard work that goes into the fruit and production.”
Fabian eventually ended up at Siduri Winery where he assisted in harvest production. One year after harvest, Fabian decided to celebrate his birthday by wine tasting.. of course! One of the wineries he found himself at was Brander winery. As fate would have it, the next Monday he saw that a winery had posted a job for assistant winemaker to Fred Brander which led him to the Brander Vineyards team.
General Manager
Nikolas is Fred Brander`s only son and is in charge winery operations. Nik grew up on the Brander Vineyard and is considered the future of Brander! Nik went to college on the east coast where he played NCAA Lacrosse & can be found coaching at San Marcos High School when he is not working away at the winery. One of Fred Brander`s firsts gifts to Nik came before he was even born, naming a reserve Sauvignon Blanc after him- what’s known as our renowned Cuvee Nicolas label. Nik assists Fabian Bravo (pictured on the right), our winemaker, during harvest season as well. Nikolas plays an integral role in our DTC efforts as well and is known to cook up a great BBQ for our guests at events!