Imbibe 75 Person to Watch: Adrian Manspeaker

The sole proprietor of Joseph Jewell Winery, Adrian Manspeaker lives and makes wine in Sonoma County, where, he admits, there’s plenty of great fruit for purchase. Still, for 40 percent of his grapes, he drives three hours north to Humboldt County, a place better known for cannabis, where there are more than 50 wineries but only 150 acres of vines. “A lot of wineries here source fruit from Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino,” he observes. “There’s an impression that the farming is too time-consuming here. It’s secluded; the ground is rugged and steep; there’s a ton of timberland, not rolling hills; and finding even a 4- or 5-acre parcel is hard.” Birds, deer, bears, ornery locals, bad weather, smoke taint—Manspeaker has dealt with it all on the 6 acres he co-farms. The other vineyards he sources from haven’t fared better.

With few takers, they’re practically giving fruit away for the hassle of growing it. So why does Manspeaker bother? “If I wasn’t born and raised here, I wouldn’t,” he says. When he started making wine in 2006, competition was too fierce for Sonoma fruit. “That led me back to Humboldt,” he says. Marine fog layer, coastal redwoods—he knew its promise. “We have much shorter days, maximum temperatures are 80 to 82, and nighttime temperatures drop, so we see less sugar, higher natural acidity, and good hang time.” That’s a plus for phenolic ripeness. “There’s more complexity and balance in the wines. The quality over-delivers on the price.” That matters to a winemaker with Manspeaker’s aspirations.

Humboldt remains insulated “behind the Redwood Curtain,” as he says, most wineries selling only locally. But Manspeaker is a Sonoma resident; he’s oriented toward the wider wine world. He has a PR firm and national distribution, and in that, “he and his wines are amazing ambassadors for Humboldt County, and putting us on the Northern California wine trail,” says Julie Benbow, executive director of the Humboldt County Visitors Bureau. “I want to see the area successful,” says Manspeaker. Still, he’s ambivalent. If his vibrant Humboldt wines pique other grape buyers’ interest? “I don’t know if I want that to happen because then I have competition.”

Click here to read more about some of 2025’s other Imbibe 75 People and Places to Watch.