Family is important to the Ehrets—all three children are members of the LAS Global Family (Alex ‘09, Christian ‘11, and Isabella ‘22) and they all work together (along with their parents) to run their family’s winery in California. We had the chance to find out more from Christian about the family business and how the siblings’ experience at LAS helped shape their future in the wine business. 

What is the history of the Ehret vineyard – how did your family get into the wine industry in California?

The entrepreneurial spirit goes back to my grandfather, Werner, who was a Kriegskind, the child of a German soldier who was killed in WWI before he was born. Werner grew up earning money for him and his mother and despite not being formally educated past the 9th grade, he always had an eye for business opportunities. After a trip to New York, he brought back to Germany the idea of gumball and toy vending machines, which eventually earned him enough money to move to North America and start buying property. In 1976, Werner bought a 2000 acre ranch in Knights Valley, Sonoma County, California. After about a decade of cattle ranching that was on the decline, my father, Pierre, took over and began to convert the property to vineyards. Now called Bavarian Lion Vineyards, we sell 99% of our grapes to commercial wineries, but keep the best 1% of the harvested fruit and produce our own wine under the Ehret Family Winery label.

Today, we operate the vineyard and winery as a family—my parents Pierre and Susan, my brother Alex, me, and our sister Isabella (all LAS graduates, from 2009, 2011, and 2022!), alongside our brilliant winemaker Erin Green and vineyard manager Alex Vyborny. We live on this incredible property and want people to feel a connection between the land and our story. It’s really cool to make a business out of something that brings people joy.

Is there any parallel or connection between California and Swiss wine or production?

Switzerland and California are very different in terms of the composition of the soil, weather, and geography. The steep terraces of the Swiss vineyards are so impressive—managing vineyards is tough work and doing it on that type of terrain is truly amazing! But one varietal that the regions have in common is Merlot—this is one of my favorite wines under the Ehret brand. I find the grape to be very approachable with a good balance of smoothness and structure. It is not too tannic, so it goes with almost any meal. 

Have you ventured into any other food or beverage products?

We have a few agricultural projects in the works and planned for the future. Last year we did our first olive oil harvest and I have recently been passionate about truffle farming. Truffles are very difficult to grow successfully in the US, but we have planted about 200 trees already with another nearly 2000 planned for the coming years. Currently there is not a single commercial truffle orchard in the US and we are hoping to be one of the first.

How did your experience at LAS lead you to your current career?

During my four years LAS I found it daunting to think about the future. I will never forget when I took a career test in the Savoy library—I was so excited to finally get an idea about potential paths for post-LAS life. I anxiously awaited the results (secretly hoping that it would show my aptitude for becoming an actor or a musician, despite never having tried those things!). My results: farming. I was distraught, taken aback, disappointed. But in the end, the results were completely accurate!

LAS allowed me to find a deep passion for nature. It was in Leysin that I experienced moments of intense awe—it was hard to believe that the view of the mountains was real.
I also learned to become independent. When I arrived I was a terrible student and the school shaped me to take pride in my studies, my environment, and ultimately in myself—I was in a community where I was safe to be myself and not be afraid of failure and I hold that dearly.
Most importantly, LAS allowed me to connect with people from all over the world on a deep level. We found universalities within each other that rang true and this sense of connection has impacted my success in the hospitality industry today. 

How can cultural understanding be fostered through the sharing of food?

Without a doubt, the exposure I had to food from different cultures while at LAS had a huge impact on developing my palate, whether it was during cultural trips to Athens or Lugano, or simply sharing meals with friends from around the world. As an American who grew up in Europe, I have always admired the greater attention to quality, agricultural standards, and the passion for food that exists—eating meals with others is celebrated and cherished in Europe, while in the US the focus is often on convenience and efficiency in service to an obsession with productivity. Making food that is delicious and good for you takes care and patience—there is a sense of humanity that is deeply connected with quality food and I feel that we are losing an important part of what it means to be human. I hope to challenge this orthodoxy of convenience and productivity with my work and ultimately contribute to bringing people together around a table.

Learn more about the Ehret Family Winery at ehretwinery.com