One of the industry’s first female winemakers and brand owners, Laely Heron uncovers the very best vineyard sites in California to create incredibly balanced, fresh classics at a price point that redefines approachability.

Laely Heron comes from an historic era of original female owners and winemakers who broke the glass ceiling in the wine industry, beginning in the 1990s. Instead of going to UC Davis she studied Oenology at the University of Bordeaux cutting her teeth by learning from French winemakers. This influenced her creating simple restrained wines with no additives. She was one of the first female owned and operated wine brands in the world. Her personal life, experiences, philosophy, reflect her style of winemaking - unique, adventurous, daring, irreverent, non-traditional, and international. In spite of her impressive resume, she does not take herself too seriously and she encourages drinkers to not overthink it. Not to take the wines too seriously. Just enjoy!

Much like the Heron bird embodies strength, focus, and determination, Laely leans into inner wisdom and intuition to craft classic varietally-based wines set with intention - representing a timeless, but modern take on California wines. They are never formulaic - each vintage of Heron reflects an exhausting search for the very best grapes, from the very best vineyard sites in California, to make the very best vintage that showcase the finesse, freshness, and balance.

The brand continues to be a “Best Buy” from Wine Enthusiast to this day because of its incredibly quality and price.

Region: California

LAELY HERON, FOUNDER & WINEMAKER

Laely Heron was raised by a family of true adventurers and grew up living across the globe. She lived in Copenhagen and traveled often to Italy and France. She moved to Bordeaux at the age of 19 and during that time had the opportunity to learn from many respectable domains and chateaus. Being exposed to diverse flavors and tastes in her travels, along studying Oenology at the University of Bordeaux allowed Laely to activate her senses and lean fully into the experience of wine.

Laely launched Heron Wines in 1994 with the Merlot and after four years started to add more wines. Laely has a worldly view on life and believes that wine should be shared over meals. She's a firm believer of being at the table with friends, family, and those who are interesting.