JOHN MORSE GANTNER — 8th generation San Franciscan. His great, great, great grandfather, Ignacio Vincente Vallejo was present at the founding of the San Francisco Presidio in 1776. His great, great grand-father was Salvador Vallejo, brother of Mariano G. Vallejo (General Vallejo). Salvador had a warehouse in San Francisco for the sale of furs and other California products. John’s grandfather John Gantner married Salvador Vallejo’s grand-daughter Adela Frisbie, John’s grandmother. All were San Franciscans. John was educated at Stanford followed by a law degree from the University of California. In the year of John’s birth, 1940, his father, John O. Gantner, Jr. bought School House Vineyard. John has worked the vineyard all his life and continues to spend all his time to further its production.

NANCY WALKER — Her family moved from Oklahoma City, to Newport Beach, California in May 1951. Quite a change in environment; she is grateful to this day for that move. The family left Newport in 1957 and moved to Berkeley, another big change. Her first “adult” job was a reservation agent for United Airlines beginning in 1960. For the next 15 years her work was primarily in the travel business. Another big change in 1968, while working for the Asia Foundation, she became interested in politics culminating in election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1979. She stayed on the board until deciding to not seek re-election in 1991. By that time she had met John Gantner through mutual friends in San Francisco and determined that her future was with him and restoring School House Vineyards while making a life in the Napa Valley. That was a happy and rewarding choice which continues to this day.

TIM MOSHER- He came to Napa in 1981 to learn about wine, working the crush at Beringer, followed by 6 years as a bartender in Calistoga at the now defunct Silverado Restaurant and Tavern. They had the best wine list in the valley, and they organized tastings every week attended by the winemakers. At this position, I was able to taste 50-60 wines a week and learn about how and why wine tastes as it does. In 1987, I opened Trilogy Restaurant in St. Helena with two friends and was in charge of buying and selling wines. In 1991, sold my share in Trilogy and went to work at Domaine Chandon for 6 years as a server and wine buyer. In 1997, I became the manager and wine director at Terra in St. Helena, where I served for 12 years.  I retired in 2008 to Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro, Panama,   lived there for 4 years, then moved to the mountains of Ecuador, at the city of Cuenca, living there for a year. In 2014, I returned to my hometown of Milo, Iowa, to help my mother continue to live in her house for as long as possible. I was there for about 8 months. Then I traveled to China, Europe, Colombia, Caribbean, and Napa Valley visiting friends all along the way. When Nancy emailed me and said they would need a little help, I could not think of a better place to be for awhile.

Join Tim in 2023 for a Cruise on the Danube River

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