Copper Cane – International Wine & More

Joseph Wagner is 5th generation in an impressive family of winemakers in Napa Valley, California.

Joseph is the middle child of the three who are involved in the family business. Chuck Wagner, his father and Co-founder of the Caymus Vineyards winery located in Rutherford, the same one that was forged back in 1972 when Charly Sr., his wife Lorna and Chuck began to market the wine that until then was for their own consumption, wines of vineyards that had begun to be planted in the 1960s.

Joseph was fortunate to grow up in a family of grape growers and winemakers. Having the amount of knowledge and experience of previous generations was something that has undoubtedly given him an immense foundation to build on. Along with the opportunity he had in front of him when he joined the family business, he had a great responsibility for the current times, but more importantly, to pass the family legacy to his children in a better state than when he received it. The focal point of being part of a generation of family winemakers is expanding on the trade he was taught.

Joseph had no formal education in wine, he began working alongside his father at age 19 and learned the job as he went. He started in the vineyards, then with winemaking, later sales and finally business administration. He had his weaknesses and made mistakes, but it was that practical learning that cannot be replicated by books. Winemaking and grape cultivation are very reactive processes. You never know what you will face when you wake up in the morning. For him, it is the challenges and independent learning that he enjoys the most.

Joseph Wagner's Pinot Noir Epiphany was more organic than most. A summer job at age 15 had him planting at the Taylor Lane vineyard. When she was 19, Belle Glos was launched, a new Pinot Noir Single Vineyards project from 3 different Regions (AVAs), which was named in honor of her grandmother, Lorna Belle Glos Wagner.

In 2002 while still in high school he began a project called Meiomi which began as a blend of Pinot Noirs from the coastal regions of Sonoma, with some contributions from Riesling and Gewurtztraminer. A project that was consolidated back in 2006 and that revolutionized the market due to its price/quality ratio.

Since then, Joseph Wagner has been working in parallel on projects such as Elouan, a Pinot Noir from the state of Oregon, and Beran Zinfandel, with the help of John López. An assistant winemaker who used to work alongside his father Chuck and who today supervises all projects with Joe.

Owner - Joseph Wagner

In 2014, Joseph Wagner sold his Meiomi brand to the Constellation group, allowing him to fulfill his lifelong dream: founding Copper Cane Wines & Provisions. A company that, in addition to producing high-end wines, produces Habanos with its Avrae brand and a line of swimsuits run by his wife.

After the sale of Meiomi, Joseph Wagner set a goal to acquire 1.6 million hectares, of which today he only has 400 thousand hectares, owned and leased. Joe is currently building a new winery in Napa Valley, between St. Helena and Calistoga. The facility will be prepared to support 2 million liters of wine. The idea of this project is that the consumer can see and be part of the production process.

Another winery project is The Dairyman in Sonoma County, located on a property outside of Sebastopol that was once a dairy and sits amidst 162,000 M2 of Pinot Noir vines. Wagner has plans for a winery to support 4.5 million liters of wine plus a distillery with a capacity of 9.5 million liters, focused on brandy. The goal is for The Dairyman to be a home to facilitate the research and development of all of our Sonoma wine production.

But Joseph Wagner is always looking forward. The future site for Copper Cane production is a planned facility on Mare Island in Vallejo, at the southern end of Napa Valley, where the Napa River empties into San Pablo Bay. The site is a former submarine repair facility, and Wagner hopes to have it renovated and operational by 2021.

Meanwhile, Joe Wagner is moving forward with another unique project: a bar, tasting room and restaurant in downtown Napa. Several years ago, he purchased a row of three historic buildings on Main Street, one of which housed Fagiani, a historic Napa bar that had been closed for decades.

Joe not only aims to produce 10 or 20 million cases of wine, he aims to turn Copper Cane Wines into an emblem of luxury for the wine consumer.