Winemakers

Mica Raas
Director of Winemaking and Viticulturalist
Cyclist
Family Man
Smarty Pants
Master of Distraction
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Mica Raas is more than a winemaker, he oversees not only all of our winemaking operations but also our vineyard operations. He has degrees in botany, viticulture (grape growing), enology (winemaking), geology, and maybe some other stuff too. We guess that makes him a maverick of sorts? Heavy is the head that wears the crown, it is a big job. He’s also our main source of distraction in the winery, but when it comes to Fringe that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In addition to being passionate about winemaking and viticulture Mica loves riding his mountain bike in the hills of El Dorado County, and spending time with his family.  

Lauren Rizzolo
Winemaking Muse
Big Sipper
Wild Card
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Lauren brings a wealth of experience and creative inspiration to her winemaking approach. Over her years in sales and marketing for a handful of wineries across multiple wine regions, she’s constantly dabbled in fermentation both in the winery and as a hobby. In fact, she’s mildly obsessed with it. From beer to cider to kombucha, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, vinegar, basically if it can ferment, then she’s involved. She loves pushing the boundaries of modern winemaking and playing with lesser-known varietals, which she first learned while working for the ultimate winemaking maverick Randall Grahm at Bonny Doon Vineyard. Here at Fringe, she’s honing her craft under Mica’s direction. 

Brian Darwazeh
Winemaking Apprentice  
Hipster?

We met Brian a few years ago and knew right away we needed his kind of laid-back cool on our team to balance our crazy and laugh awkwardly at our obscure jokes. But seriously though, Brian is passionate about winemaking, and we need that kind of dedication on our team. He keeps coming to work every day and that says a lot because frankly sometimes it’s a *#&%show around here.