William Hill
Vintner

William Hill, better known around Napa Valley as "Bill" has traveled an unlikely route to becoming a wine industry pioneer.

Born and raised in Oklahoma, Bill moved to California in his words, for "the coast, the weather, and the mountains." By 1996 "Wine Spectator" recognized Bill as one of the 50 most influential wine industry players in the world. The list included �wine producers who innovated, perfected, promoted and led the international campaign for higher quality wine.�

Of course there was a lot of learning and experience that took place in between. Bill first developed a taste for the wines of the region while earning his MBA from Stanford University in the late 1960s. Bill fed his growing passion for fine wine and viticulture with frequent trips to Napa and Sonoma Valleys. A grand tour of Europe inspired his passion for the subtleties, style and philosophy of French and German wine. The European focus on terroir as the most important component in a wine’s character and style resonated with Bill, and in 1972 he began his career long pursuit of acquiring and developing exceptional vineyard sites.

His timing couldn’t have been better. Napa was well on its way to becoming a center for fine wine in California then, but few were looking to the hillsides to plant vines. Bill was among the first to realize the potential of these sites and became a specialist in hillside plantings. Many of the vineyards that Bill created in the 1970s were later purchased by some of the world’s top wine producers including The Hess Collection, Piero Antinori of Italy, and Diamond Mountain Ranch.

His passion for viticulture eventually led to winemaking with the inception of the William Hill Winery in 1978 and its first release of premium Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. William Hill Winery quickly became known for producing world class wines and in 1991 the 1987 William Hill Cabernet Sauvignon was honored by Wine Spectator by being ranked in the top 15 of the 100 Best Wines of the World. By 1992 the production of William Hill Winery had grown to over 100,000 cases per year and Bill’s reputation for developing premium hillside vineyards and award winning, highly acclaimed wines drew him to the forefront of the California wine industry. After selling his successful namesake winery in 1992, Bill continued to pursue high quality vineyard sites in California, Oregon and Chile, and was involved in several winemaking ventures. In 1994 Bill’s zeal for winemaking inspired him to create Bighorn Cellars to focus exclusively on handcrafting wines from exceptional vineyards. Bill Hill also continues to create outstanding vineyards by way of his second company, Premier Pacific Vineyards, a developer of high-end vineyards established in 1997 with partner Richard Wollack.

Richard Wollack
Co-Proprietor, Bighorn Cellars

In addition to being Co-Proprietor of Bighorn Cellars and Co-CEO of Premier Pacific Vineyards, Dick has been involved in the wine industry in several capacities: (1) he served on the Board of Directors for William Hill Wine Co. from 1989 to 1991; (2) together with William Hill, he controls a company which is part of the general partnership that developed Kreuse Creek Premier Vineyard (now part of the PPV-CalPERS portfolio); and (3) he owned a small vineyard in Napa Valley which sold grapes to an unaffiliated winery.  

Mr. Wollack has been involved in all phases of the real estate investment business since 1971, and has been a principal in dozens of real estate entities with a combined capitalization of more than $5 billion. Mr. Wollack is the founder and Chairman of Global Real Analytics (GRA), an investment firm that specializes in forecasting real estate market prospects for investment in real estate debt and equity securities. He also founded the National Real Estate Index in 1985, which is owned by GRA.

Mr. Wollack is the author of books on real estate and investing and has been an adjunct professor at both Stanford Graduate School of Business (1983-84) and the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Business (1985-86), and  was a member of the California Senate Commission on Corporate Governance, Shareholder Rights and Securities Transactions.

Mr. Wollack holds an M.B.A. with distinction from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (1969)--where he and Bill Hill met--and a B.A. from the University of Illinois (1967), where he was admitted to Phi Betta Kappa. Mr. Wollack is a licenced California Real Estate Broker.

Kevin O'Brien
General Manager

Richard Sowalsky
Co-General Manager Winemaker

As winemaker for Bighorn Cellars, Richard Sowalsky oversees all aspects of wine production. With extensive winemaking experience and a diverse educational background that includes enology, medicine and the culinary arts, Sowalsky is well equipped to create intense yet balanced wines with true Napa Valley character.

Before coming to Bighorn Cellars, Sowalsky spent two years as the winemaker at William Hill Estate, crafting benchland Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and mountain Chardonnay.  Prior to that time, Sowalsky spent six years at Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville as associate winemaker for the Bordeaux varieties. Sowalsky spent his first two years with Mondavi as a research enologist for the Woodbridge brand, before which he worked at other top wineries, including Handley Cellars in Philo, California, and Havens Wine Cellars in Napa.

“I see winemaking as similar in some respects to jazz music: informed improvisation through a vision of individual style is key to success in either discipline,” notes Sowalsky. His philosophy involves becoming attuned to the particulars of a vineyard site and using his vast body of knowledge as a starting point for approaching each unique lot of grapes. Sowalsky’s passion for blending has been informed through many hours dedicated to tasting and experimenting with many hundreds of individual wine lots each vintage, resulting in a finely honed understanding of synergies achievable through this often-counterintuitive process. It is therefore not surprising that one of Sowalsky’s greatest assets as a winemaker is his diverse academic background, which includes study in enology, food science, culinary arts, immunology and neurology.

In the course of his education, Sowalsky pursued degrees from such prestigious institutions as U.C. Davis, University of Maryland, California Culinary Academy and Amherst College. He is a published author and sits on the editorial review board of the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. When not making wine or walking rows of vines, Sowalsky enjoys scuba diving, hiking and reading.

Megan O'Donnell
Direct Sales Manager