TAZ Vineyards

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Natasha Boffman

Winemaker, TAZ

It was Natasha's voracious desire to know everything about winemaking that caught the eye of legendary viticulturalist Bob "Taz" Steinhauer.

For Natasha the oak savannas, Pacific fog and four-wheel-drive terrain of Santa Barbara County are old hat. She graduated with a degree in Biological Sciences from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and then took a job in the laboratory at Meridian Vineyards. But learning by doing wasn't enough. Natasha headed back to school and earned another degree, a Master's of Food Science with a concentration in Enology from the University of California, Davis. Even the heavy workload at Davis left her thirsting for more so during school breaks she worked in the cellar at Stags' Leap Winery.

After her graduation, Natasha returned to Meridian in 2000 to work as a Senior Enologist under winemaker Signe Zoller. She quickly developed a reputation at Meridian for her hard work and enthusiasm. Despite years of education, she wanted still more knowledge, and felt she could make valuable contributions by gaining in-depth knowledge of other techniques. So she traveled to Australia in 2002 to work the harvest at Jamieson's Run in the Coonawarra region of South Australia. The cooler maritime climate of the area, coupled with its famed Terra Rossa soil, created the perfect learning environment, and provided vital winemaking lessons that Natasha brought back with her. Her Australian wine walkabout completed, Natasha returned to Meridian and was promoted to Assistant Winemaker, where she and Signe worked as a two-woman winemaking team. Her relentless drive was reflected in the wines, particularly Pinot Noir, Merlot and Chardonnay, which garnered rave reviews. Of course, her efforts did not go unnoticed. Bob "Taz" Steinhauer was convinced her passion was perfect for TAZ Vineyards. Now, working hand-in-hand with Bob, Natasha is again working with someone whose yearning for success matches her own. Settled in the familiar territory of Santa Barbara, Natasha's newest winemaking challenge at TAZ is yet another learning opportunity. And that's exactly when she's at her best.