Anaba Wines

John Thomas Sweazey, born and raised in Chicago, traveled west in the 1960s to attend Stanford University. During several college trips to the Napa Valley, John developed a passion and thirst for wine. After selling computer hardware at IBM for 3 years, he left his job, withdrew his savings and spent nine months in Europe traveling in his Volkswagen camper. It was during this adventure that he learned to appreciate the importance of wine to the European culture. Upon returning to San Francisco and entering the real estate finance business, he continued his study of wine production, including making wine at home, taking wine appreciation classes, and visiting the different French wine regions. It was during these personal visits with numerous French vintners that his dream of becoming a “vintner” became indelible. At that time, though, his wife-to-be, Kathleen, suggested that, as much as she wanted John to follow his dream, maybe they should wait until their children (not yet conceived) had finished college. After waiting for almost 30 years, his youngest son, John Michael, entered his freshman year of college in 2005, and John purchased a 16-acre plot of land in the windy heart of the Carneros region of Sonoma. It was not only the active intersection that was attractive to John but also the blustery anabatic winds which took him back to his time spent in the Rhône Valley. The powerful and symbolic mistral winds of the Rhône reminded him of this place, and here is where Anaba Wines was born.