Vintners Own believes in having winemakers that are not only very experienced but know how to work with people. At all major events you will be able to mix and talk with your winemaker. We have a resident winemaker for each location and a Master Vintner to manage the whole process.
Squire Fridell
SQUIRE may look like a typical Vintner, Winemaker and Vineyard Manager, but he also holds the possible distinction of being the only actor in history to have never drawn unemployment benefits. He graduated from University of Pacific and holds a Master's Degree in Acting / Directing from Occidental College.
If Squire's face looks vaguely familiar, it's because he has been one of the most successful actors ever in television commercials. Since 1970, he performed as principal on-camera talent in over 3,000 television commercials and about twice that many television and radio voice-overs. He is still recognized as the on-camera spokesman for Toyota (1978-2007) and until 1991 you might have spotted him on TV wearing a funny yellow and red outfit chasing "The Hamburglar" around McDonaldland!
Squire, with his wife Suzy and their toddler-daughter in tow, escaped the freeways of Los Angeles in 1986 and began a second and concurrent career as a grape grower, vintner and winemaker. The Fridells purchased 26 acres of raw land in Sonoma Valley, built their home, planted two vineyards, created their state-of-the-art winery and named it "GlenLyon" after Suzy's Scottish ancestry.
Over the last two decades, the highly sought after Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon fruit grown at GlenLyon has been sold to Laurel Glen, Wellington, Ravenswood, Bedrock and Franciscan wineries, oft times with Vineyard Designation. Squire is also on the Board of Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers and is a highly respected grower and winemaker in the Valley.
Squire's own hard-to-get GlenLyon wines are totally allocated and pre-sold upon release. Aside from a few select wineries in Sonoma, Kenwood and Glen Ellen, the only restaurants able to procure GlenLyon are sixteen+/- fine restaurants in NYC. Why? Their no-longer-a-toddler daughter is now an actor living in Manhattan and they love to visit her, go out to eat at wonderful restaurants and drink their own fine wine! (If you're headed to NYC, contact Squire for a list of restaurants!)