Meet Kimberly Hatcher, owner of Morgado Cellars, winemaker, and San Francisco Firefighter
Kimberly Hatcher is the winemaker and owner of Morgado Cellars, but what most people don’t know is that she is also a San Francisco firefighter and has been for 25 years. And if that isn’t surprising enough, she also raised Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats for eight years before becoming a winemaker. Kimberly fell in love with winemaking in 2008 while she was working with Glen Alexander of Bacchus Vineyard Management and met superstar winemaker Russell Bevan. Kimberly explains, “I offered my labor for knowledge and fell in love with the process and Russell’s style of winemaking. I worked with Russell for five years.”
Rather than owning her own vineyard, Kimberly leases from vineyard management companies in Napa and Lompoc. Grapes for her Morgado Cellars Red Blend come from the Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyards in Napa Valley across from the Meritage Resort, which falls under the Napa Valley AVA. Her vineyard neighbors include Lang and Reed, Del Dotto, and Bevan Cellars. She told Club 672 that although she is technically a “one-woman show,” she is very thankful for help from her cellar hands, “because I sometimes work 48-, 72-, or 96-hour shifts at the firehouse.”
Besides the Morgado Cellars 2017 Red Blend made for Club 672, Kimberly produces a delicious Pinot Noir from Sta. Rita Hills, a Chardonnay from the San Luis Obispo Coast AVA and a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Sage Ridge Vineyard in Napa Valley. Her wines are also distributed in New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Washington State, and Nevada. Visitors to Napa Valley can taste her wines at Elyse Winery in Napa Valley. You can also sign up for her mailing list at morgadocellars.com.
