Megan Twitchell

Winemaker, Beaulieu Vineyard

A native of Orange County, California, Megan dreamed of becoming a chef, but at her father’s encouragement, she applied to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to study food science. Her fascination with wine began when she took a part-time job at the nearby Wild Horse Winery tasting room. By chance, what she was learning in several of her food science classes, like fermentation and microbiology, also went hand in hand with the winemaking process. Her interest in wine firmly piqued, Megan worked two harvests at J. Lohr in Paso Robles as a cellar and production intern. She then stayed on part-time as a production planning assistant while finishing her degree. “My time at J. Lohr will always be a highlight of my career. It’s where I truly fell in love with winemaking and production,” she says. “I was able to learn various winemaking techniques on a large and small scale and was exposed to the logistics of managing wine quality at a large facility. It’s also where I met some of the most influential people in my life, including my husband.” Upon graduating in 2015, Megan worked a harvest at Paraduxx, part of The Duckhorn Portfolio, in Napa Valley before returning to Paso Robles to take a position with Sextant Wines as a laboratory technician. In 2016, she returned to Napa Valley to join the Beringer Vineyards team as an enologist intern. She was hired as an enologist at Beaulieu Vineyard in 2017, promoted to assistant winemaker in 2019, and appointed winemaker in 2023.
Today, Megan works by combining modern winemaking technology and
techniques with Beaulieu’s tradition of creating timeless and classic wines. “I feel a great sense of responsibility to ensure that the wines we’re producing today honor Beaulieu Vineyard’s storied past. We are fortunate to be working with vineyards that have been a part of the winery’s more than 100-year history, enabling us to create wines with strong lineage,” she says. The most rewarding aspect of her work, however, comes when someone opens a Beaulieu Vineyard wine: “I love that our winemaking team helps create moments of significance for people. It’s extraordinary when people tell me about a bottle they had for an event and how that wine helped shape the occasion and make it memorable.”
Megan resides in Sonoma County with her husband, daughter, cat, and dog, Ghost, who has become a celebrity in his own right, appearing
in the book Wine Dogs California 4. Her passion for cooking has never waned and she finds endless inspiration from her garden, where she grows a variety of fresh herbs and vegetables.

Country born: United States

Years in the wine industry: 10-15 years

Winemaking Philosophy:
I believe that great wine starts in the vineyard. Terroir is the greatest thing to smell in a glass of wine and it's our job as winemakers not to mess that up. I love seeing fresh wines with natural acidity, balanced alcohols, and refined tannins. My goal is to pick our fruit at the time in the vineyard that best mimics the qualities we want to see in the glass.