Jean Edwards Cellars

Owner's John and Karen Troisi were both born and raised in New Jersey. Their diverse backgrounds in the food industry (John's in R&D/ Operations and Karen's in Sales/Marketing) for a major CPG company, set the foundation for their winemaking journey.  They first fell in love with the Napa Valley in the 1980's and in 2004 launched Jean Edwards Cellars (a combination of their two middle names). On their initial release Wine Spectator Magazine named them as "one of twenty new cabernet producers to watch" in their annual cabernet issue - and since that time, Karen and John have expanded their portfolio to include multiple cabernet sauvignon wines, malbec, merlot, petite sirah, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, and rose.  

Most recently the winery was named by the Napa Register as 2021's - Best Winery, Best Winemaker, Best Hidden Gem and Best Tasting Room.

When asked what's the Jean Edwards Cellars style of wine - with a wink and a smile their response is "wines that will pair well with food... wines that you will want to open and share with good friends... but you will want to keep the bottle at your end of the table." ​

​​Kian Tavakoli, the winemaker, is a graduate of UC Davis and has nearly 30 years of winemaking experience. He started his career at Opus One where he spent 4 years and then moved on to become assistant winemaker at Clos du Val. Kian spent 8 years with Clos du Val were he became the winemaker for their red wine reserve program. In 2004, Kian left to start his own wine consultancy company and it was perfect timing as we were forming Jean Edwards Cellars.  Kian has been with us each step of the way since 2004. A humble yet very accomplished winemaker, Kian has an exceptional palate. In 2017 and in 2018, Kian was named by Napa Valley Life Magazine as one of the "top 3 winemakers in Napa Valley" and he was a finalist once again for this honor in 2020. When Kian is not busy in the winery, he is actively involved with the Napa Valley Swim Team (along with his wife and 3 children). Kian is also a martial arts black belt and an avid Star Wars fan.  We are proud to call Kian our winemaker, friend and colleague.