From the streets of Philadelphia to the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma Counties, Barry Singer has forged his way into creating award-winning wines.
Visits to Bordeaux wineries with their cathedral-like caves and reverence for wine, inspired Barry to want to learn more about this beautiful elixir. Heaven knows, he had consumed a lot of wine over the years, but he wanted to go beyond that: he wanted to learn more and talk authoritatively about it. So he thought he would volunteer behind a counter somewhere and pour wine on Sunday afternoons.
Finding no openings in nearby tasting rooms, Barry signed on as a cellar rat at Keller Estate Winery, where the winemaker, Michael McNeill, took him in. He began by washing macro bins and shooing yellow jackets. The assistant winemaker turned to him one day during lunch and asked if he was going to make wine that year. Barry responded, "What the hell do I know about making wine? I just started last week!" When McNeil chimed in with "We'll help you," and added "If you pass up this year's fruit, you are going to have to wait 3 years before you can taste your wine," that was all it took. "I am in!" said Barry, as he moved all his chips to the center of the table. Little did he know the slippery slope awaiting him.
In 2004, he slowly started making wine in his garage with two barrels of Knights Valley Cabernet. With one hand in the barrels and the other in the photography gallery, Barry pursued his passions. In 2009, he moved out of the garage into Corda Winery where we currently make our wines. From this humble beginning, 2016 production has grown to 640 cases.
In 2012 Singer Cellars entered five of its '09 wines into the prestigious San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition with 5500 other entries. This was the first time any Singer Cellars wines were entered in competition. All 2012 wines won Medals including a Double Gold for the 2012 Rhapsody.
