Meet Our Winemakers
Dough is about the roots of food and wine. Back to the yeast. Back to what creates a good foundation ... whether it’s a good foundation for a wine or a culinary masterpiece.
Meet Heidi
Dough Winemaker Heidi Bridenhagen brings a solid scientific background to her winemaking, having first earned a B.S. degree in biochemistry University of Colorado at Boulder before spending six months traveling throughout Europe, exploring the wines of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Heidi’s goal in pursuing winemaking is to combine her scientific expertise and her creative skills.
A believer in the value of exploration and experimentation, she has spent her career working with diverse and acclaimed vineyards. Most recently Heidi worked with prestigious vineyards in the Sonoma coast, developing a highly lauded vineyard program. This has led Heidi to this new project Dough Wines, where she is utilizing DVWP vineyards and its network of growers and négociants to choose high quality lots from top AVAs, bringing the art of assemblage to life to craft the core wines to be as food friendly as possible.
"A believer in the value of exploration and experimentation."
Meet Branden
With a degree in Biological Sciences, Branden Hamby started his wine career in the lab, eventually landing a role as a lab chemist and assistant winemaker for Bronco Wine Company, the fourth largest winery in the world. He worked along a Master Sommelier at Seabold Cellars, creating four wine labels and assisting in the creation of Gordon Ramsey’s wines. He launched his own label — Hamby Cellars — in 2018, and worked at Sonoma County’s Draxton Cellars before joinign the Dough Wines team in 2022. Branden works alongside Head Winemaker Heidi Bridenhagen to craft the Dough portfolio of food-friendly, future-forward wines.
"It’s exciting to expand the brand portfolio and inspiring to be make a lasting positive impact on the industry."
The Collaboration
To craft the final blends for dough, Heidi works in concert with a hand-selected group of JBF Chefs and Sommeliers. Heidi presents two distinct blends of each varietal to the group, followed by a lively group tasting, where everyone has the opportunity to weigh in on which will pair best with food, and which aromas and flavors are striking the right chord. From there, Heidi takes the feedback back to the cellar to compose the final blends.
Making Dough Wines is such a fun, collaborative process. It's a really interesting and unique opportunity to gain additional perspective on the wines from people with trained palates in different fields.
Winemaking Regions
We source our fruit from some of the finest wine regions in California and Oregon, including Willamette Valley, Sonoma Coast and Napa Valley.