Thomas Monroe

Years of Participation

Tom is the co-owner & co-winemaker of Division Winemaking Company and winemaker for his personal project Nightshade Nebbiolo. His extensive career in food, music, corporate finance and small business has given him the solid foundation needed to run a thriving winery. Tom grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and enjoyed his time in the Midwest watching Cardinals baseball games, helping his grandfather on their family farm and working for various restaurateurs and rock bands in the region. He attended the University of Denver where he received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration, and went on to work in corporate finance for Wells Fargo in San Francisco for five years.

After completing a program in enology and viticulture and working in wineries in France’s famed Loire Valley, Beaujolais and Burgundy regions, Tom moved to Oregon to start Division Winemaking Company with Kate Norris in 2010. Tom is also the co-owner of the Southeast Wine Collective urban winery and wine bar, which evolved from a business plan he wrote while earning his MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.

Tom strives to make nuanced wines that are driven by vineyard character, or terroir, from sustainable vineyards (organic and/or Biodynamic), while using minimal intervention winemaking practices in the cellar. Outside of the winery, he enjoys skiing, live music, hiking in the Pacific Northwest, and traveling, eating and drinking wines throughout the world.