Fantesca Estate & Winery announces the appointment of Anthony Arcudi as associate winemaker. He joins winemaker Heidi Barrett in creating award-winning wines for the Spring Mountain boutique winery.

 Arcudi’s winemaking goes back more than 20 years when he was  so enamored with food and wine that he tried planting his own vineyard in his Boston backyard.

This former Naval missile navigation specialist and software engineer turned his passion into his profession when he changed careers in 2001 to pursue winemaking. While earning his degree in viticulture from the UC Davis, Arcudi was named a Regent’s Scholar and was selected as a fellow of Davis’ International Food and Wine Society.

Throughout Arcudi’s winemaking career, he has worked as a harvest intern in Europe for France’s M. Chapoutier and in the United States at Napa’s Etude Wines and as a viticulture intern for Stagecoach Vineyards. Most recently, as assistant winemaker at Oakville’s Nickel & Nickel, he learned the nuances of Napa’s appellations and greatly enhanced his winemaking skills with responsibility for 25 single-vineyard wines.

Founded in 2004, Fantesca Estate & Winery is owned and operated by Susan and Duane Hoff, a husband-wife team from the Midwest with a combined 38 years of marketing and retail growth experience with Best Buy.

The boutique winery in Napa Valley’s Spring Mountain District is one mile above St. Helena.

For more information, go to www.fantesca.com or call 968-0890.