Michael Trujillo of Trujillo Wines

Trujillo Wines of Napa Valley, Over Thirty Years in the Making
​August 30, 2025

People in the know appreciate who Michael Trujillo is, a mover and shaker and vineyard maker, with an eye to the art and science of winemaking. Trujillo Wines is the culmination of life experience, family history and Napa Valley terroir, blended with insight and passion, and a skillful touch, letting the fruit shine. Cabernet Sauvignon is his game, and Trujillo draws upon his extensive experience to make the wines he always dreamed of, without the economic pressures of a large production, an homage to family that his fans can savor and appreciate. In April, he traveled to Los Angeles to share his story and wines with the LA Wine Writers, over a long winemaker lunch at AOC Brentwood.

Courtesy of Trujillo Wines

Courtesy of Trujillo Wines

​When you visit TrujilloWines.com, on the home page you’re greeted with a quote from Michael Trujillo, “You might say this wine is thirty years in the making, I’ve been anticipating its release since I first set foot here in the Napa Valley.” After working forty vintages and creating several successful brands, today Trujillo is fixated on his own passion project. He says, “What Trujillo Wines is about is just me rebooting, getting back to where I started, getting back in the vineyard, getting back into making the wine. I systematically shed my other responsibilities, and I’m just now laser focused on having fun doing what I do, which is crafting great wine, and just make enough. I don’t want to get big and crazy, just make enough to have a nice successful wine club, and maybe distribute in four or five markets, just fun to play in. I’m just going back to doing what I love.” 

Michael Trujillo, Courtesy of Trujillo Wines

For Trujillo, agriculture runs in his blood, coming from a multi-generational farming family, he learned early how to grow crops, tend sheep and cattle, and tinker with farm equipment on their 3,000-acre Colorado ranch. Trujillo was the oldest of four, and he says all this prepared him for cultivating wine grapes and making wine, even though his mother was “adamant about him getting out of the farm bubble, and experiencing the world.”

But as fate would have it, although Trujillo set a path as an architectural engineer, he discovered his passion for winemaking during spring break from college in the early 1980’s. He went to Napa Valley to visit a family friend, Jim Allen, who happened to own a small winery. Trujillo was smitten, and stayed to help plant Sequoia Grove vineyard. He never returned to finish his degree but instead, he remained in Napa Valley, noting “I got the wine bug, my entire career is connected to this place.”  He went on to work at Domaine Carneros, where he developed the farming skills that made him invaluable. Along the way, he established vineyards, met people who would be influential in his life, like André Tchelistcheff, one of Napa Valley’s wine masters, who taught him the “art of wine”, and was advised to go to UC Davis to “learn the science of it”.

Courtesy of Trujillo Wines

​In 1991, he became an owner/partner in Karl Lawrence Cellars, making the wines, and the brand really took off. They increased their Cabernet Sauvignon production and brought in more investors, becoming known as “the cult wine without the cult price”. Between Karl Lawrence, Sequoia Grove, and other consultant projects, where he helped design state-of-the-art winemaking facilities, Trujillo found himself so busy, he almost lost his compass, why he started in wine in the first place. Slowly fine-tuning what type of wine he wanted to make, in 1997, Trujillo “had an epiphany, that’s when I really figured out what style of wine I am about. From here on, it’s going to be my wine, I’m not trying to be like so and so, or copy that, I’m not trying to chase scores, this is what I believe in, and I’ve stuck to it. The wine that I make today are my thumb print and nobody else’s.”  He created a style, a blend of lush valley floor fruit with spicy mountain fruit from premium vineyards, that taste like where it was grown while exhibiting varietal characteristics, allowing for vintage variations.

​So in 2010, he bought everybody out from the Karl Lawrence brand, and rebooted it to Trujillo Wines. It was back to square one, but with the same vineyards, the ones he knew so very well. The year 2013 marked his first vintage under his namesake brand, and he designed a label that would tell his entire story. The crest, at the center, is the Trujillo family’s Spanish heritage, the ram and the bear on either side of the crest represent the Colorado ram and the California bear, his journey from his Colorado roots to his Napa Valley home. Inside the crest are two Colorado Blue Columbine flowers, a tribute to his late wife’s favorite flower. The “Fortaleza” ribbon beneath the crest is Spanish for “fortitude and strength”, illustrating the dedication and resilience behind each bottle of wine. The label itself has a wood grain-like texture, a nod to Trujillo’s love of woodworking, and at the top left, are three small notches, each one representing a decade of winemaking in Napa Valley, which of course changes over time. All of this marks Trujillo’s “journey of life” for the love of wine.

Michael Trujillo of Trujillo Wines

​While Trujillo was working on his own label, he continued on as the President and CEO of Sequoia Grove Winery. It seemed that his business style was so successful, he found himself immersed in meetings all day long, “it was all about business, and no longer fun.” So in 2020, he retired to focus on his brand, and return to the beginning of his journey, the sheer love of wine.

Trujillo brought six wines with him, demonstrating his range of winemaking expertise within Napa Valley. Renowned for his Cabernet Sauvignon, there are also Reserve wines of single-vineyard designates, made only in “exceptional vintages”. Then there is the Winemaker Select Series, named for single varietals, such as Chardonnay and Malbec. And the Madelyn Wines, an ode to his daughter Sophia Madelyn, a selection of white, red, rosé and Cabernet Sauvignon, everyday wines for all occasions.

First course, a Romeo’s Lettuces Salad, with Avocado, Citrus, Sugar Snaps and a Basil-Buttermilk dressing, served as the backdrop for two white wines. The Madelyn White Cuvée 2023 is fresh and zesty, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Gewürztraminer, fragrant and flavorful with citrus and tropical fruit notes. The Trujillo Chardonnay 2022 is bright and mineral, its apple and pear aromas seemingly encased in a charred marshmallow essence, giving it a creamy quality.

Second course, Za’atar Lamb Chops with Broccoli, Farro, Black Rice, Currants and Pine Nuts served as a perfect canvas for three of his Cabernet Sauvignon wines. The Trujillo Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is a quintessential Bordeaux blend, incorporating Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot alongside the Cabernet Sauvignon, expressive and bold in its dark fruit, bittersweet chocolate and herbal robe. The Trujillo Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 represents Michael’s fourth decade of winemaking, lush and aromatic with baking spice and cedar notes, its balance holds the key to its long finish, a Double Gold 2024 winner at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. The Trujillo Gary Morisoli Reserve 2021 is an “Old-World style, traditional winemaking made with California sunshine”, seamless and silky, with its dark fruit, toasty vanilla and sweet tobacco notes.

​Third course, the Three Cheese Plate was served with the Trujillo Malbec 2021, is what Michael says is “me having fun”, a rugged, rustic-style of wine that expresses the varietal, think of spice rack and mouthfeel, dusty cherry and plum, with sweet herb, in a mineral frame.

​Although Michael Trujillo is immersed in his brand, he continues to craft wine for several other premium brands, as well as some private labels. For those in the know, he is a bit of a legend, with a history of making eloquent and polished wines, intensely varietal and textured, a rich and pure expression of Napa Valley and its vineyards that he so loves, and having fun while doing it.

Trujillo Wines, ​https://www.trujillowines.com/