Category: Uncategorized

Home for the Holidays at a Napa Valley Winery

Rolando Herrera is an American success story, from his days of washing dishes as 
a teenager to running his own acclaimed Napa Valley winery, Mi Sueño. When the holidays hit, it’s all about family—and his wife Lorena’s amazing homemade tamales. December means tamale time in Napa Valley, at least at winemaker Rolando Herrera’s house. And… Read more »

The American Dream Winery

While some say the American Dream no longer exists, Mi Sueño Wineryis proof that hard work and passion can take you from dishwasher to winery founder. Rolando Herrera began working in restaurants and wineries in California’s wine country as a dishwasher, line cook and even a stone cutter starting at age 15. He then joined… Read more »

What I’ve Been Drinking — Wine Time

Before Thanksgiving, Lesley took on the very difficult task of suggesting wines to pair with your huge holiday meal. She did a great job, especially considering that turkey pretty much tastes like whatever you baste it in or season it with and doesn’t really bring that much to the flavor party. I’m not as ambitious… Read more »

Farm to Table

Blame my Berkeley origins, but the immediate imagery I associate with the phrase “farm-to-table” is Alice Waters in a purple garlic flower crown ladling soup at 1970s Chez Panisse. But for many people around the world, farm-to-table is not a social movement or a trend, and it definitely is not something they learned about in… Read more »

How a Boutique Wine Producer is Meeting Labor Challenges Head On

“No green flavor,” Rolando Herrera says, tasting a bunch of grapes from the latest pallet of Pinot Noir fruit to arrive here at his boutique winery in Napa Valley. He’s relieved, but the relief isn’t evident on his face, which instead bears the studious expression of a professor as he grabs another bunch straight from… Read more »

Winemaker Interview: Rolando Herrera

As our regular readers know, we frequently pose a series of questions to a winemaker to probe their winemaking philosophy and to gain insight into how they became a winemaker. This week, we are featuring Rolando Herrera, the winemaker at Mi Sueño Winery. Rolando fell in love with wine after working harvest at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in… Read more »

Smithsonian Honor Mexican-American Winemakers

Last week, donors and vintners from Sonoma and Napa gathered at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History for the fifth-annual Winemakers Dinner, a fund-raising event benefiting the Museum’s American Food and Wine History Project. Sponsored and hosted by California wine eminence grise and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars founder Warren Winiarski, this year’s dinner, “Rooted… Read more »

Rolando Herrera Living the Dream

From dishwasher to director of winemaking, from sneaking across the Mexican border to having his wine served in the White House, Rolando Herrera has made the American dream happen. And last week he brought his career full circle. Herrera held a posh dinner party at Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley on Saturday to celebrate… Read more »

Rolando Herrera of Mi Sueño Winery, Napa Valley

Napa Valley brings together winemakers from all over the world…and many from it’s own back yard.  Rolando Herrera is the owner and winemaker at Mi Sueno Winery. Rolando was very young when he came to Napa growing a strong work ethic, love of the land with a positive attitude. His success came from his experiences…. Read more »