Where's Linus?

Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Chris Christensen never thought winemaking was an actual career path for people who weren’t born into a winery or vineyard until he went on a wine tasting trip to Sonoma during his Junior year at Stanford. Although originally fueled – as Chris himself admits – by the idea that knowing a thing or two about wine might impress girls, Chris’ curiosity about wine quickly turned into a real passion.

And also a real career: although Christensen originally thought he’d just make a couple of harvests for fun before getting a “real” job in banking (which did shortly happen, for about a year), his true calling won out. So here he is, still making wines for both his own brand called Bodkin Wines (named after a battle in the Hundred Years War; Christensen is a huge medieval-history nerd) and companies like ours that are looking for delicious, approachable wine.

As an African American vintner, Chris also works to promote diversity and inclusion in the wine industry through speaking engagements, podcasts, and mentorship opportunities for aspiring vintners and winery owners. His work has earned him much kudos, including a place in the Wine Enthusiast’s 40 Under 40 industry shakers in 2020. Praised for both his activism and self-taught yet skilled winemaking, Christensen is indisputably one of the figures to watch in the American wine industry, and we’re extremely happy that we can do so with a glass of his/our Where’s Linus? juicy wine in hand.