Our Team

Zotovich Vineyards is a family owned, boutique winery located in the Central Coast's beautiful Sta. Rita Hills. We produce small lot hand crafted wines from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, Grenache and Viognier from 40 acre estate vineyard. We treat the wines produced from our unique vineyard site as gently as possible, understanding that minimal handling yields maximum quality.

 

Ben Merz, Vineyard Manager

Ben manages Zotovich Family Vineyards, and is today, one of the most knowledgeable individuals on the central coast farming premium wine grapes.  He excels in the management of Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir.  Ben received a Bachelor of Science from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in Viticulture and Agribusiness, concentrating in farm and ranch management.  He is as passionate about wine as we are and focuses heavily on tending the best grapes possible.  We feel extraordinarily lucky to have CVCA and Ben onboard with us, and consider them to be part of our family.

“The farmer’s footprint is the best fertilizer”
— Ben Merz
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Steve Zotovich, Owner

Owner Steve Zotovich spent decades as an avid wine collector before finding himself in a position to become owner of what has now become one of the top vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills AVA. Steve's passion for the vineyard and the wines it produces drives his relentless pursuit of excellence in everything we do here at Zotovich Vineyards.

“Growing our own grapes and making our own wine, really let’s us control every detail in the vineyard and the winery. I truly believe that great wines are made in the vineyard.”
— Steve Zotovich
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Joey Gummere, Winemaker

Joey has been a Santa Barbara County winemaker since 1997, working alongside some of the area’s most renowned vineyard managers and winemakers.

At Zotovich Vineyards Joey uses his experience to craft small production wines that captures the character of our estate vineyard in Sta. Rita Hills to produce cool-climate wines of depth, distinction and complex beauty. Whether it is the aromatic, cool-climate complexity of Syrah, the graceful sophistication of our Pinot Noir, or the focused crispness of our Chardonnay, these wines capture the world class quality Zotovich Vineyards and the Sta. Rita Hills has become known for.