Gianna Ghilarducci grew up in Sonoma County, where she was introduced to wine at an early age – sitting on her father’s knee she helped make wine list selections for their family restaurant. She graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in Chemistry, then initially pursued a career in research that started at the IBM Almaden Research Center. She quickly found that polymers weren’t as alluring as vineyards, and redirected her chemistry skills to the wine industry as a chemist for Enologix in her hometown of Sonoma. A post as enologist for Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars followed, where she fell in love with Bordeaux varieties and honed her winemaking skills by working with Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. Then Gianna served as assistant winemaker for St. Francis Winery, where she worked with a wide variety of vineyard sources.

In 2018, Gianna joined Cardinale as assistant winemaker. Today, she works side by side winemaker Chris Carpenter on his portfolio of wines, including Cardinale, Caladan, La Jota, Lokoya, Mt Brave and a new venture in Walla Walla, Washington.