Our Story
Family | Winemakers
As a fifth-generation family-run company, we do this by producing prized Oakville and Yountville appellation estate wines across three distinct brands: Elizabeth Rose, Oakville Winery and Ghost Block. This expansive portfolio provides a variety of different and delicious single varietal and blended wines. As dedicated growers and land stewards, all 650 acres of our grapes are 100% certified organically farmed. Put simply, it is our mandate to offer world-class wines at competitive prices. While the Napa Valley bubble may eventually burst, Ghost Block Estate Wines is determined to continue by offering transparency and consistency. After all, it’s in our roots.
Family
Family
Today, the Pelissa grape-growing operation continues to be family-owned and run, overseen by 4th and 5th generation family members who live on and farm the land.
Andrew Hoxsey
Managing Partner
As a 4th generation grape grower who spent the summers of his youth learning the Napa Valley winegrowing business from the ground up.
Morgaen Hoxsey Pickett
Director of Sales & Marketing, 5th Generation
Growing up in Napa Valley was special, but she didn’t realize just how idyllic it was until she left home.
Kendall Hoxsey Onysko
Business Manager, 5th Generation
In 2012 a reorganization at Napa Wine Company opened up a position for Kendall and she was named Business Manager.
Our family
Three Brands, Three Winemakers, One Family.
With access to 650 acres of first-class vineyards, Napa Valley is our winemakers’ veritable playground. Over 120 years we have come to deeply understand our terroir and planted varietals best suited to each site. In Yountville, our four unique vineyards total 400 acres. Morgan Lee Vineyard (31 acres) specializes in crisp and racy Sauvignon Blanc while Ghost Block Estate Vineyard (18 acres) grows our elegant Cabernet Sauvignon. Mill Race Vineyard (47 acres) consists of predominantly Bordeaux grapes featured in our blends and Block House Vineyard (292 acres) offers a rich aromatic palette of 12 different varieties.
On the other side of the valley, our 250 acres of Oakville vines are made up of three key vineyards. The Rock Cairn Vineyard (30 acres) features chiefly old vine Cabernet Sauvignon, while both Pelissa Vineyard (55 acres) and Lincoln Creek Vineyard specialize in Zinfandel.
From these vines, Ghost Block Estate Wines produces three different wine brands: Elizabeth Rose, Oakville Winery and Ghost Block Wines. Elizabeth Rose is the perfect entry point for anyone wanting affordable elegance, Oakville Winey pays homage to the family history and heritage through food-friendly, balanced wines. For those seeking something a little more special, Ghost Block Wines are created from the highest quality fruit from our family’s four finest organically-farmed vineyards. The newest brand exclusive is our BW9. Crafted in extremely limited quantities, these small-batch wines are exclusive to our wine club members.
Winemakers
Winemakers
The family has supplied fruit to some of the most prestigious wineries in Napa Valley, and its entire 635 acres of grapes have been 100% certified organic since 1991.
KRISTI KOFORD
Winemaker, Ghost Block
In 2001 Kristi joined Napa Wine Company where she puts her technical and practical winemaking experience to use as well as, she says with tongue in cheek, her early background in behavioral studies.
JEFF ONYSKO
Winemaker, Elizabeth Rose
Jeff attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Wine & Viticulture and graduated in the 2010. During his sophomore summer in college he studied in Spain at the University of Valladolid.
LYNN WATANABE
Winemaker, Oakville Winery
Lynn joined Napa Wine Company in 2002 and retired as Laboratory Director in 2022. She will continue to be our amazing winemaker for Oakville Winery while enjoying her retirement in the Napa Valley.
The legacy began in 1902 when Joseph Pelissa came to Napa Valley from Liguria, Italy, and purchased his first 35 acres of land with a single gold coin in 1903. Later his son, Andrew Pelissa, took over, eventually acquiring 650 acres in Oakville and Yountville, where he planted wine grapes and other crops. Andrew was an early champion of keeping Napa Valley in agriculture. As a Napa County Planning Commissioner for fourteen years, he was instrumental in creating the Agriculture Preserve Zone in 1968 and saved the valley from urbanization, ensuring it remained planted to vine. In his own words, “If the county hadn’t passed the Ag Preserve, there’d be houses all the way to the top of Mount St. Helena today.”
Today, Andrew Hoxsey (Andrew Pelissa’s grandson) is the 4th generation family grower. He is joined in the family business by his two daughters, Kendall and Morgaen. Andrew has continued to push the envelope for Ghost Block Estate Wines. In 1991, he purchased the custom crush facility Napa Wine Company and had all seven vineyards 100% organic-certified. In 2004, the Pelissa family decided to create their wines from their grapes. Ghost Block Estate Wines was established and consists of four distinct brands under one impressive portfolio.
The Ghost Block Estate Wines’ winemaking philosophy is centered on the truth that no one owns the land – we are merely stewards of it. Generation after generation, the ambition is to pass the soil on in better condition than it was passed to us. After all, it’s in our roots.
