A boutique winery.

Crosby Roamann is a boutique winery crafting sophisticated, small production wines in Napa Valley. Our vineyard is located near San Pablo Bay, the southernmost and coolest region of Napa Valley, on a bed of sandy loam soil, which combined with our low yields, produces wines with complexity, longevity, and concentration. We practice traditional, non-interventionist techniques in the winery, such as allowing the native yeast living in the vineyard to form a "wild" alcoholic fermentation, and extended barrel aging. We are consumed with the idea of producing terroir-driven modern wines with traditional values.

Napa Valley, California

We practice sustainable agriculture in our vineyards and grow over 60 olive trees and a variety of flowers and vegetables on the property. Napa Valley’s combination of diverse soils, ideal climate and varied terrain are perfectly suited to producing a wide variety of consistent, high-quality wines. Our climate is classified as Mediterranean, which encompasses just 2% of the earth’s surface. The long, dry growing season is marked by warm days and cool nights influenced by a recurring pattern of marine fog, ideal for wine grapes to ripen slowly, evenly and with great balance.

Established 2006.

Crosby Roamann is a collaboration of Juliana A. McBride and Sean W. McBride. The winery is named for two of our grandparents -- Peachy Crosby and Sally Roamann. We launched Crosby Roamann from our apartment in Brooklyn, New York in 2006 and produced our first wine in 2007 at White Rock Vineyards. We were very fortunate to spend our first six years working at White Rock Vineyards, which has been a breeding ground for young winemakers for over 30 years. We later worked with Robert Mondavi Jr. at Michael Mondavi's Folio Winery and with Eric Gordon at the Eric Gordon Wine Studio. We learned something new from each of these experiences, and each brought us closer to our ultimate goal of building our own winery.

Building the Winery

After eight years working in various capacities at different wineries, we purchased a small, unfinished warehouse in the city of Napa in 2014. We spent the next year completing the space and building our winery. As one of the smallest stand-alone bonded wineries in Napa Valley, we produce less than 2000 cases per year from vineyards in Napa Valley, the Petaluma Gap, and Dry Creek Valley. We are consumed with the idea that every vineyard is different, each vintage is distinct, and each and every wine is unique.

The Estate Today.

In 2020, we added a small vineyard in Carneros (the southern part of Napa Valley) on a particularly sandy bed of loam soil. The microclimate this close to the San Pablo Bay protects our vineyard from extreme temperature variations, which allows our vines to grow in a truly Mediterranean climate, and the sandy soil forces our vines to grow deep into the subsoil for water and nutrients. We farm our vineyards to less than three tons/acre -- less than half the average for California, which combined with our naturally cool climates and sandy and calcareous soils, produces wines with complexity, longevity, and concentration.

The Rose Icon

The flower on the front of our label represents the red rose that appeared on the oldest recorded coat of arms for the McBride family. The crest and the rose were significant for many reasons -- the shield on which the rose appeared was white, and stood for peace and sincerity. The red rose represented grace and beauty. Over time, the McBride crest evolved, later encompassing a red chevron, three fish, and a "chief" (or checkered pattern), but we chose the simplest od these to adorn our label for the simplicity and beauty that a rose represents. We have also planted over 100 rose bushes along the perimeter of our vineyard, including a mix of English hybrid, tea, shrub, and climbing roses.

Sean Walker McBride

Sean’s career in the wine industry began thirty years ago at a wine and cheese shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan during college, where he first started to learn and think critically about the theory of terroir – that wines should taste differently depending on the time and place in which they are grown. He has spent every day since then deepening his understanding and appreciation of fine wine. After college, Sean returned home to New York City, where he attended law school and began his career. After he and Juliana married and, later, their twin daughters were born, the family moved to California to launch Crosby Roamann. He spent the next eight years learning the art and craft of winemaking, first at White Rock Vineyards under the tutelage of Christopher Vandendriessche, and later with Robert Mondavi Jr., all while studying viticulture and enology at U.C. Davis. Sean is an avid gardener and cook and loves sharing his wines with family and friends.

Juliana Arvai McBride

Juliana believes in wines of balance. Her own experiences are suitably proof in point, creating a winding path to winemaking that she never saw coming and is eminently thankful for. Juliana grew up in a small town outside Chicago and would spend summers with her Hungarian family as a child in Budapest, where she learned the importance of meals prepared with love and shared with family. She studied Italian and Art History at university in Wisconsin and Bologna, Italy. Besides a ten-year period in which Juliana helped Sean build the winery full-time, Juliana has worked in publishing for her entire professional career. Her love of books continues today as a literary agent (although she still occasionally moonlights as winery photographer, copy editor, and punch down artist).

Silvano Herrera

Cellar Master

Silvano "Trino" Herrera joined Crosby Roamann during harvest part-time in 2019 and contributed to the winery in both the 2019 and 2020 vintages. Trino joined us full-time in 2021 and has contributed significantly to our operations. Prior to joining Crosby Roamann as Cellar Master, Trino was the Cellar Master at The Wine Foundry and B.R. Cohn. Trino leads the charge in all aspects of winemaking and production and also assists in the vineyard and can often be found riding the tractor, tilling, and maintaining the vineyard in the winter months.