We’re a small team of passionate creatives based in our winery in Diamond Springs, California. Our winemakers, marketing, and customer service staff all work side by side each day coming up with all this crazy stuff. We can’t wait to meet you and share our wines!
Mica Raas
Director of Winemaking and Viticulturalist
Cyclist
Family Man
Smarty Pants
Master of Distraction
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
Winemaker
Big Sipper
Wild Card
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
Winemaker
Brian always says, “drink what you like, but make sure you try new wines too.” To him, wine IS art. It is meant to be expressive, thought provoking, and relatable. Fringe is an opportunity to follow these inspirations of alternative expression through winemaking. His fringe-worthy dark side appreciates the deep, brooding and heavy hitting wine styles, while his light side loves the balance of lighter styles of wine. The Sierra Foothills microclimate allows him to try something new with a plethora of unique varietals to work with. Brian’s wines are varietal expressive without overly intervening with what the fruit wants to show. Let’s sip on that.