Maija Roses
Assistant Winemaker
Growing up in Durham, North Carolina, Maija learned about wine from her late father, a collector of Napa Valley Cabernet and Bordeaux. Maija remembers building wine racks in exchange for a taste of what Dad had open. A competitive swimmer, Maija attended UC Berkeley, where she earned a BA in media studies and swam on Cal’s 2015 NCAA championship team and in two USA Olympic team trials. After university, Maija worked in AI, but soon realized a desk job wasn’t for her. Remembering her shared interest in wine with her father, she set out to become a winemaker.
The more I learned, the more I knew I wanted to be at a smaller winery that cared about the environment and the finer details that define great winemaking, which ultimately led me to Spottswoode.
Maija Roses
As she had done with swimming, Maija dedicated herself to wine, earning her professional certification in winemaking from UC Davis, working harvests with Julian Grounds at Craggy Range in New Zealand and Stonier in Australia, at Mending Wall Winery in St. Helena, and with Austin Peterson at OVID. She also worked in vineyards for Fruition Sciences and Lawrence Wine Estates.
At Spottswoode, Maija works alongside long-time vineyard manager and winemaker Aron Weinkauf to guide all aspects of our winemaking program, including lab work, fermentation management, pump-over protocols, élevage, blending, bottling, and more.
