Jean’s dedication to quality aligns seamlessly with AXR’s founding partners, Kelly Trevethan, Mark Schratz, and Don Van Laeken, known as the FAB 4. This dynamic team blends hard work with joy, seriousness with playfulness, and inspires one another to reach new heights.

The FAB 4’s formation was a matter of perfect timing, four individual pathways intersecting at just the right moment. Over a lively breakfast in October of 2015, four fabulous and slightly mischievous friends could be heard laughing, plotting, and dreaming aloud. With diverse backgrounds but a shared vision, they decided to go all-in on a new winery called AXR Napa Valley, a name that reaches far back in California’s rich wine history to write an incredible new chapter in its story. They desired to create a winery that embodied what they believed in: authenticity, approachability, and experiences that are anything but pretentious.

Named after the AxR rootstalk (Aramond x Rupestris) that was so prominent in building the modern California wine industry, AXR Winery pays homage to the so-called “roots” of the industry. By utilizing modern and innovative techniques in the cellar, they extract the uniqueness of Napa Valley’s soils into enjoyable wines now, or many years from now.

Starting with hand-picked grapes, naturally fermented in small, handcrafted lots, add in the expertise and palette of renowned consulting winemaker Jean Hoefliger, and you have a recipe for stunning wines that promote even better conversations, more laughs, and an invitation for others to join the group!