A Shared Vision for a
About Us
We are a fearless foursome of siblings who, as co-founders, have a shared dream of contributing and giving back to the local community where our family has lived for over a century.
Carol Franzia
CO-FOUNDER;
WINEMAKER & FOOD PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Our generation’s only winemaker and UC Davis graduate, when Carol isn’t making wine she can be found gardening, making preserves and soap, teaching Master Foods Preserver courses at the local agriculture extension office or on gopher patrol on the farm. The mother of triplet girls, Carol is also the head of Zinc House Farm’s egg operation with over 30 happy hens. She is responsible for sourcing and making our delicious and memorable handcrafted wines. Currently, Carol has a 2018 Amador County Zinfandel and 2019 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that she sourced and crushed, aging in oak barrels.
Michael Franzia
CO-FOUNDER;
FINANCE & OPERATIONS
Michael would prefer to be in the garden all day long and actually does get to spend much more time outside nowadays. He is responsible for the “West Garden” of Zinc House Farm which is the source of our organically-grown fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers sold at our seasonal farm stand. When Michael is not at Zinc House Farm, he can be found traveling to some exotic place or rambling about his own garden a few miles north. Michael also manages and directs the operations of the family office.
Paul Franzia
CO-FOUNDER;
ENGINEERING & PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Never at a loss for ideas, Paul is our chief engineering and innovation officer. Whether it’s designing a sustainable winery with an R-factor over 130 or fabricating a row crop bed-builder, Paul is able to solve problems. Paul’s vast experience in environmental and construction affairs provides us the advantage to anticipate problems and solve them before they become an impediment. Paul is responsible for the project development and build out. In fact, Paul has been working stealth on this project since 2016.
Brian Franzia
CO-FOUNDER;
AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS
Brian can be found on any given orchard, vineyard or road (paved or unpaved) at any given time of the day or night. Brian’s boundless knowledge from soil science to water management provides us the competitive advantage of knowing we have ‘boots on the ground’ managing the health of our soil and crops. Brian manages our agriculture innovation including the development in 2016 of our super-high-density almond planting, a concept ahead of its time proven to reduce water and particulate matter. When Brian isn’t in the field, he can be found with his family in the mountains or on the lake skiing – both water and snow.
A Lasting Commitment
We exist to educate and promote healthy human connections to earth, agriculture, and community by creating memorable experiences in a friendly and respectful environment celebrating and honoring our roots.
Collectively, we possess over 100 years’ varied experience in the California wine industry. This experience has provided us with the ability to transcend obstacles and limitations to envision our dream and make it a reality. By far, our soundest role models remain our parents, whose encouragement, enthusiasm and unconditional love and support of this project knows no bounds. Indeed, none of this would be possible without their faith in us.
The achievement of a dream is borne by determination, resiliency and hard work, that’s how we came by our logo of a wheelbarrow. As we embarked on this journey, we have been fortunate to have coalesced a community of like-minded people. Together with our project partners, a California wine and agritourism experience awaits all those who become guests and friends of Zinc House Farm.
