Salvador Alonzo Galvan was born into a family with passion for cooking and entertaining. By the age of four he was busing tables and washing dishes (on a stack of milk crates) at his family’s Mexican restaurant in Sacramento by day, and learning how to prepare Chateaubriand & Caesar Salad tableside with his family at night.

In his early twenties, he discovered the Napa Valley, and realized that wine was the way he could best contribute to the experience of creating and enjoying great food. He began his journey in wine making working the tasting room, and washing barrels and tanks eight hours a day in a dank cellar in the hills of El Dorado County, a job he felt lucky to have. Taking what he had learned in that cellar, he pursued wine making in Napa Valley, working as a “cellar rat” in cool dark caves long enough hours sometimes to never see the day’s light.  Sal continued learning and working under great wine makers as Cellar Master, then  Associate Wine Maker for wineries he felt showed a unique style and interest in upholding family winery principles.

As part of the wine making team at Chateau Potelle Winery on Mt. Veeder, minimalist wine making led Sal to develop a newfound passion for unfiltered, native yeast fermented wines, which he continues to create for Galvan Family Cellars. Unfortunately, the mountainside property was sold, and Sal had to make a decision: try to move on to another boutique winery, or create something of his own that stood against the corporate philosophy of wine as strictly business. From here, he and his wife Claudia created Galvan Wine Services, a vineyard management and wine consulting company with personalized service and strong attention to detail.

Working out of a small facility in Solano County Green Valley, and making over 100 different wines for over twenty clients, adaptability is Galvan Wine’s first goal. The grapes Galvan Wine works with come from as far South as Santa Barbara and as far North as Mendocino County.  Galvan Wine  consults for and manages over 100 acres of vineyards, and continues to grow in the movement toward sustainable farming.