About Us

Our Story

More than a decade ago, David and Betsy Lawer fell in love with and purchased one of the most unique vineyards in Calistoga. The special characteristics of this Knight’s Valley vineyard inspired them to create one-of-a-kind, limited production wines that can be shared with total confidence

among family and friends.
Betsy Lawer is a third generation Alaskan banker who has proven that helping people succeed in the community is not only the right thing to do, but is the right approach to business. Betsy and David apply those core values to their winery. Betsy and David run Lawer Estates together with their extended family and their experienced team of vineyard managers, viticulturists and winemakers.
As a tribute to their love of business, whether it’s banking or winemaking, the Lawers designed their label to harken back to the era of fine, inscribed bonds or stock certificates—artfully merging their banking and winemaking worlds. The landscape etching on the Lawer Estates label is one of their favorite vineyard views.
The Lawer family is committed to sustainable farming and excellence in their grape growing and winemaking. Lawer Estates vineyards are sustainably farmed, thoughtfully managed and meticulously maintained, and the grapes are always hand picked at harvest. The Lawers hope to continue these traditions for generations to come.

Betsy's Stories

Now in her seventies, Betsy Lawer looks back on a life she can only describe as blessed. It was never easy, but the people she was fortunate to meet and work with, the success the teams achieved, and her experiences have built a portfolio of life stories she now shares in her wine brands. Wine, after all, is meant to be poured with family and friends who have become like family as they share and write their own stories. Betsy’s first brand was Hooker, what other girl can say that both her father and her husband were Hookers – for respectively their Stanford and Duke rugby teams. She was raised on Rugby songs as her bedtime lullabies. The Duck Shack was where the family gathered each year to enjoy the beauty of Alaska, the million stars in the night sky, and to pass on the legacy of family stories – ones that seemed to grow as they were told each year. Betsy’s daughter, Sarah, wrote her college application essay titled “Family Values I Learned at the Duck Shack.” She got into every school.

Betsy’s father ran a gold mine in Alaska, in the foothills of Denali. His quality control measure was to throw Three Coins on the hill that was to be mined. Those three coins had better be in the bottom of the sluice box, or it meant that the water pressure from the “giant” had been to high, washing the coins, along with gold into the tailing pile. Betsy thinks that winemaking is much like gold fever – you’re always searching for those illusive gold nuggets, or gold medal wine. As a salute to her family’s love of business, the Lawer Estates label was designed to harken back to the era of fine, inscribed bonds or stock certificates – artfully merging Betsy’s banking and winemaking world. The landscape etching on the label is one of her favorite vineyard views – over the Block 1 Syrah. The Voodoo wine series, Voodoo Black Magic, Voodoo Red Magic and Voodoo White Magic, are a tribute to winemakers and the magic they do to produce wines that are shared over a fine meal where memories are made, shared and retold. In the center of the front door at Betsy’s childhood front door was a door knocker. A lion door knocker. One that welcomed anyone who knocked. Iron Lion is reminiscent of that door knocker. A bottle of wine that’s in your hand, when you knock on a new neighbor’s door, the wine poured into the glass to toast with a new friend or wine drunk during peels of laughter as the story is told about how you met. Coming soon will be Fire Ridge, as the ridge at the end of our vineyard has come to be called after the devastating Tubbs Fire that swept overnight from Calistoga to Santa Rosa. It’s a salute to the resilience of friends, neighbors, strangers and firefighters during the fire and during recovery. Profits from this wine will be donated to the Up Valley Family Center and firefighters.

Our Winemakers

Cary Gott & Kelly DeIanni

Our winemaking team consists of Cary Gott and Kelly DeIanni who possess a rare blend of winemaking passion, bold creativity and exacting standards of excellence. They are as finely balanced as the Lawer Estates wines they make.
Cary Gott is the lead winemaker at Lawer Estates. Representing the fourth generation of his family in the California wine business, Cary has lifelong experience making ultra-premium wines and creating successful brands for over 40 years. Cary is also the founding principal of Vineyard & Winery Estates, where he assists wine brands in establishing

operations and developing wineries. He has worked with dozens of wineries including Round Pond, Ram’s Gate, Sterling Vineyards and Mumm Napa Valley.
Winemaker, Kelly DeIanni, works closely with Cary to craft the Lawer Estates wines. Kelly has more than two decades of vineyard and winemaking experience and has made wine for more than a dozen leading wine brands. She applies her winemaking skills, passion and drive for excellence to each vintage. She and her family share the Lawer Estates values in sustainable farming, whether working in their family vineyard or maintaining their edible gardens, beehives and fruit trees.
From our vineyards to your table, our winemaking team’s talent and experience is your assurance that every bottle of Lawer Estates wine is bold, distinctive and memorable.

“If there were a recipe for making a high-profile Napa Valley winery and vineyard, Cary Gott would likely be among the key ingredients. He has been involved in the creation of more than 20 wineries, and he has a history that gives him unique expertise.” – Napa Valley Register

Our Vineyard Management

Piña Vineyard Management

Twenty years ago, John Piña drove his truck through wrought iron gates that were barely clinging to their wooden posts. Through his truck’s windshield he saw a vineyard sorely in need of maintenance—overgrown blackberry vines and poison oak covered the property. The soil beneath his tires was volcanic tufa, and puffs of dust swirled with every breeze.
Betsy Lawer always guessed John drew the “short straw” that day, having to meet some woman from Alaska who had just bought a vineyard and called to ask about vineyard maintenance. The vineyard was on his way home.

John, to his credit, humored Betsy as she cheerfully suggested she hop into his truck and that they tour the site together. John was a third-generation vineyard manager with decades of experience, having managed his first vineyard at just 13 years old. He’d likely already noted everything he needed to know.
After the tour, Betsy told John she thought great wine began in the vineyard, and she didn’t expect to put forth all the time and effort, only to grow average grapes. Her goal was to grow fruit of the highest quality, fruit that a winery owner would be proud to put in a bottle with their name on it.
A man of few words, John simply responded “If that wasn’t your goal, I wouldn't still be standing here.”
The rest is history – that day in the vineyard was the beginning of a twenty-year long relationship between Lawer Estates and the team at Piña Vineyard Management. Over the years, the blackberry vines and poison oak were cleared out, the vineyard was expanded to twenty acres, and it became among the first vineyards in Sonoma County to be certified as sustainable. And yes, it produces distinctive terroir-driven ultra-premium grapes with a character and flavor not found in other vineyards.

Winery Dog

Lummi

Lummi loves a good romp through the vineyard. Checking on the vines and chasing whatever wildlife is milling about that day. She’s always ready for a good belly scratch and a ready place to nap. She takes her winery dog title seriously by being sure that everyone is having fun visiting the vineyard.