Zoom Into Wine Archive: July 12th - Study of Cabernet Franc w/ John Skupny of Lang & Reed Napa Valley

"FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED, DEDICATED TO MAKING ENJOYABLE AND ACCESSIBLE WINES SINCE 1993."

John Skupny is the Proprietor and Winemaker for Lang & Reed Wine Company, an artisan winery dedicated to producing Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc in California. John and his wife, Tracey founded Lang & Reed in 1996. He has spent over 45 years in the wine business with over 40 years working for more than twenty-five of California’s finest wine producers. Since 1984, he has worked in the Napa Valley, first as the Marketing and Sales Director of Caymus Vineyards [1984-1989], Vice President of Clos Du Val Wine Company [1989-1992] and then as General Manager of the Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery [1992-1996]. For twenty five years, John was a partner and consultant to Boulevard Brewing Company, located in Kansas City.

Along with Lang & Reed Wine Company, John also runs a wine marketing consulting practice, Vineyard Avenue Marketing. In this capacity he has worked with such clients as Pahlmeyer Winery, Cain Vineyards, Dalla Valle Vineyards and Spottswoode Winery, as well as newer estate properties such as, Seavey and Palmaz Vineyards. For the past decade, John has been an advisor and member of the Board of Directors for Long Meadow Ranch. In this capacity he has assisted in the company’s vineyard acquisitions, brand creation and development of their Main Street properties, including Farmstead Restaurant at Long Meadow Ranch. 

John is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Napa Valley Vintners Association and the Napa Valley Wine Auction (1996), Chair of Premiere Napa Valley Barrel Auction (2006) Co-Chair of Auction Napa Valley (2019). He is a past President of the Napa Valley Wine Library Association (2001/02). Past President of the Stags Leap District Winegrowers [1990/91] and founding Vice-President of the Rutherford Dust Society [1993/94] He has lectured at the University of California-Davis for both marketing and winemaking classes, for ‘Leadership Napa Valley’, Society of Wine Educators, as well for the Executive Wine Studies program at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. John has judged regularly in various regional and international wine competitions, including the International Wine & Spirits Competition. He penned a chapter in the book, “Successful Wine Marketing” by Kirby Moulton and Jim Lapsley, published by Aspen Publishers, 2001 and was well covered in “The Far Side of Eden” the infamous second installment of James Conaway’s history of the Napa Valley, published in 2002.

John and his wife, Tracey, reside in St. Helena, in the heart of the Napa Valley. With the founding of Lang & Reed Wine Company, the Skupny’s are dedicated to the continued preservation of the agricultural communityand the production of distinctive Napa Valley and Californian wines.