Sonoma County’s Balletto Vineyards promotes assistant winemaker

Balletto Vineyards has promoted Andre Swart to assistant winemaker.

Swart came to the winery in Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley as an enologist in June 2022 with a resume of working for producers of pinot noir and chardonnay wine in the North Coast, New York, New Zealand and France, the vintner announced Thursday.

"Andre established himself as an integral part of our winemaking team from his first day on the job," said Anthony Beckman, vice president and winemaker, in the news release. "Within one month, it was obvious to me that he would quickly step out of the wine laboratory and into a serious winemaking position at Balletto. He has a strong palate, is hardworking and beyond smart. It’s been a pleasure to work with him and be able to promote him to a position that plays into his strengths.”

Swart came to Balletto from Armida Winery, where he quickly shifted from harvest intern to cellar master and assistant winemaker over his two years with the Healdsburg vintner. The rest of his 11-year industry career includes internships at William Hill Estate in Napa; Sierra Vista Winery in Placerville, Northern California; Red Tail Ridge Winery in Penn Yan, New York; Luna Estate in Martinborough, New Zealand; and Domaine Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace, France.

Swart earned a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering and an Master of Science in viticulture and enology, both from UC Davis.

Starting with apples, the Balletto family moved into wine grape growing in 1995 and launched the single-vineyard estate winery in 2001.