About GBV
Ken, Christina & The GBV Story
Gershon Bachus was a simple man who immigrated to the United States from Europe in 1922 with his wife and two girls. He brought with him a zest for life and agriculture with only a few concepts for fine wine. Like many transplanted Europeans, he continued to make wine for his friends and family but never realized his dream of owning his own vineyard in California.
In 2005, 84 years later, Gershon's fantasy was fulfilled by his grandson, Ken, and his wife, Christina. The family winemaking tradition now lives on in Temecula, California, where the lifestyle described in the many stories from the old country has been captured. Family, Friends and Food.
Established
‘05
Acres
20
Varietals
127
Our Winemaker: Dakota Denton
Dakota Dentona and his family have lived in Temecula since the 1970's. A true local, Dakota–along with his 6 brothers all bearing the same initials, "DD"–found himself working in a relatively young Temecula wine country in his teens.
His passion for wine became evident when working in Baily's production room during harvests. Under the tutalidge of Mike Renney and young winemaker, Tim Kramer, Dakota learned the makings of not just one wine, but perhaps 100 different varietals–carefully watching and learning.
Dakota continued to further his craft during his 8 year tenure at Temecula Valley Winery Management, where he participated in the making of wine for at least 20 wineries.
In November of 2013, he was named head winemaker at Gershon Bachus; however, he has been part of the GBV family for years, always willing to offer a helping hand.
Dakota is now orchestrating our production on-site—a first for GBV. Here, he will continue to fulfill the standards our Clique members and fans alike have come to expect, while also working to introduce several new varietals from his extensive background to the GBV line-up.
The GBV Team
Howard Kotliar
Howard joined GBV in September of 2014, where he brought a passion for both winemaking and wine education in the tasting room. He has learned all aspects of our winemaking style at GBV and offers first class concierge treatment to each and every wine enthusiast that visits the winery.
Jeff Giles
Jeff joined GBV in 2018 bringing a wealth of knowledge about tasting room management and farming. Jeff can be found in the tasting room, barrel room production and in the fields. He is a vital member of the GBV organization.
Stephanie Worley
Stephanie joined GBV in early 2019 with a background in hospitality. She brought with her a solid knowledge of wine with her experience from other wineries where the environments were small like ours. She has concentrated on giving our patrons a personalized and positive wine tasting experience in the GBV wine tasting way.
Drake Freeman
Winemaker. Snake wrangler. Our resident badass. These are all words we’d use to describe Drake, one of the most integral members of our team. Drake works under Dakota on all things production-related.