Our Story

The Fat Dragon story began in May of 2008. At the time, Dani was working for Wynn Resorts as the founding executive director of wine for its Las Vegas and Macau, China properties. Before that, she spent 7-years in New York City as the corporate wine director at the Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group. While in Hong Kong on business, Dani had attended a prestigious Domaine de la Romanée-Conti wine tasting being held at Happy Valley, one of the oldest horse racecourses in Asia – and while most people would have sat back and enjoyed a vertical tasting of the most expensive wines in the world, Dani snuck away to place a bet. She looked at the lineup and, unbeknownst to her at the time, picked the long shot at 44 to 1 odds – a horse called Fat Dragon. She bet all of the Hong Kong Dollars she had in her pocket on Fat Dragon to win – and he won! It was destiny.

While Dani went on to blow all of her winnings that night and that could have been the end of the story, she arrived back home to the states, told Mike, and his first reaction was “wow, that’s a great name for the future wine brand we’ve always dreamed of creating together!“ And so began the search for the perfect place to call home and start Fat Dragon. Fast forward to 2018. Dani and Mike found a beautiful 30-acre property that had 16.5 acres of derelict vineyard, but amazing terroir located just outside the quaint town of Healdsburg, California. It’s one of those rare private parcels up on the eastern bench that only comes up once in a generation if you’re lucky, and it had been in the same family for over 50-years.

In order to execute on their vision of producing world class wines, they gutted the property. Once the old vineyard was cleared, all new hardware, irrigation systems, drainage, and deer fencing were installed. In 2019 a new agricultural well was drilled to ensure ample water. The vineyard was replanted to 2 clones of Cabernet Sauvignon and Rhone varietals such as Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvédre. The buildings were all renovated or rebuilt, and then they waited … and waited. It took three years to produce the first commercial crop in 2022, and that first vintage was bottled in the spring of 2024.

If you meet Dani and Mike, you will inevitably feel the passion in their voices as they talk about their six-year journey developing the property into what it is today. It becomes clear that lots of love, hard work, grit and determination went into it, and they love to share their story and educate friends and visitors on the efforts it takes to farm with a maniacal focus and be good stewards of the land they are lucky enough to call home.

“We feel so fortunate to wake up to the beauty & nature that surrounds us here every day and share it with others. It is a true gift.“

Cheers!

Dani & Mike

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