Introduction

From Monterey to Russia to Wine with Love

Scott grew up in Monterey, where his parents taught him to appreciate the coastal fog and hiking through the oak forests and chapparal of the region. Living away from the area for many years, he was thrilled to come back “home” when the ROAR winery moved from San Francisco to Monterey County in 2018.

After college at UC San Diego, Scott worked as a marine biologist for the US Geological Survey, got married, and seven days later moved to Russia and Ukraine for five years with his wife Laura’s job. Wine was barely on his radar. “It was the honeymoon period of the opening of the Iron Curtain,” he explained. “The infrastructure was crumbling, but the people were wonderful . On the street, no one wanted to draw attention to themselves, people weren’t effusive, but once you got past their apartment door it was music, speeches, vodka and champagne, a boisterous party when you got into the inner circle.”

After two years with Crushpad, Scott became winemaker for Roessler Cellars – another Pinot program from Santa Barbara through Oregon – and began consulting for several small producers including making Rhone varietals for Halcon Vineyards. In 2013, he started as ROAR winemaker and brought all of his projects into one winery.

Working at the new ROAR winery in Monterey has given Scott more time with family, more focus on ROAR and interaction with the whole Franscioni team. He’s even got a little more time for Flywheel, his own wine project that makes just 400 cases from the Chalone AVA. “I’ve enjoyed being able to focus on Monterey wines through the lenses of Chalone and Santa Lucia Highlands – very different expressions of what the County has to offer,” he said.

Reflecting on his winemaking path coming full circle to work with the Franscionis again, and on his past several vintages with ROAR, Scott shares, “I love the ROAR program, with an amazing family and fantastic fruit, and I’m as excited and proud to be a part of the team as the day I started.”