Greg La Follette was born in Europe, growing up with an old-world view that wine is "raised" rather than "made". After studying ancient Burgundian techniques at UC Davis, he continued "on the job" at Beaulieu Vineyard with winemaster, André Tchelistcheff.
From BV, Greg went to work at Kendall-Jackson where he was responsible for gathering and disseminating the best and latest thoughts on vine and wine quality. Asked to accept the positions of winemaker and General Manager, LaFollette moved to Flowers Vineyard and Winery where he established his reputation as one of the most talented winemakers in California and the world.
Greg's accolades include:
"Artisan/Winery of the Year" by Wine & Spirits in 1995 at Hartford Court
"Artisan/Winery of the Year" by Wine & Spirits in 1999 and again (unprecedented) in 2000 at Flowers Vineyard & Winery
Top-rated Chardonnay in the World 3 times by Wine & Spirits for his ’97 & ‘98 Porter-Bass Chardonnay and ’98 CMR Chardonnay
"The Best of the Best" for both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir by The Wine Spectator for Flowers Vineyard & Winery
#1 and 2 scores for 1998-99 Pinot releases by the Wine Spectator for the 1996 Flowers
One of the 5 finest producers of Pinot Noir by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
La Follette's wines have been served at the White House at several state events, including to 44 Heads-of-State at the NATO 50th Anniversary. Additionally, he has been asked by the U.S. State Department to represent the United States in goodwill efforts abroad to improve winemaking practices in other countries. He is also serving as consulting, designing winemaker for the new UC Davis teaching winery.
Greg has turned his attentions to vineyard & winery consulting internationally. He has designed/redesigned 14 wineries worldwide and is involved in projects in South Africa, Chile and Australia. These efforts have resulted in the awarding in 2003 of #1 White Wine of the year in Chile and for two years in a row the #1 Pinot Noir in South Africa, as voted by each of these countries’ own vintners associations.
Most recently, La Follette has returned to crafting fine wines from select Sonoma vineyards at his own lable:Tandem Winery. It was the agreement to provide Tandem Winery with Pinot Noir fruit from Silver Pines Vineyards that led to the eventual engagement of Greg to further develop the vineyards at Silver Pines and to produce the elegant and distictive wines that are the hallmark of our Silver Pines label.