People
About Our Team
Founded in 2019, Annulus is a small, family-owned wine venture focused on celebrating the finest heritage vineyards in the Napa Valley. Winemaker Nigel Kinsman and Consulting Oenologist Michel Rolland usher our fruit from vine to glass
Luke Evnin & Deann Wright
Proprietors
Our passion for Napa Valley wines was ignited in the mid-’80s when we began visiting and exploring the area. In 2000, looking for an escape from San Francisco summer fog, we purchased our home in Rutherford and shortly thereafter began dreaming about one day making our own wine. For many years, busy with careers and raising kids, producing a wine remained a dream. Annulus is the realization of that dream.
Luke has devoted his life’s work to discovering and advancing groundbreaking medical research. After studying Molecular Biology at Princeton University, he received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at UCSF. He is Cofounder and Managing Director of MPM Capital and has served on more than 30 boards. He was a co-recipient of the 2017 Global Oncology Visionary Award and has devoted significant effort to his work with the Scleroderma Research Foundation, serving as its Chairman since 2002.
Deann is an attorney and former medical researcher. She has served on the Scleroderma Research Foundation’s Board of Directors since 1999 and has co-directed its Research Program for many years, connecting world-renowned researchers and physicians and catalyzing large-scale projects. As passionate about delicious food as she is about wine, Deann loves to gather family and friends to share a meal and raise a glass, especially for her annual osso bucco dinner during the holidays and her legendary taco parties.
Nigel Kinsman
Winemaker
Nigel began his winemaking career in his native Australia, working in the Adelaide Hills, Victoria, and at Margaret River’s highly regarded Cullen Wines before venturing to Tuscany and, finally, the Napa Valley. The former winemaker at Araujo Estate (for the Cabernet portfolio), he is now winemaker at Accendo Cellars and Bella Oaks. With his wife Shae, Nigel also produces the highly regarded Kinsman Eades wines. Stylistically, Nigel seeks to create wines that are classically proportioned, balanced, and deliberate expressions of time and place.
Alexandra Evnin
Director of Business Relationships
A passionate wine enthusiast and professional, Alex plays an active role in our blending sessions and business strategy. After graduating from Cornell University Hotel School with a minor in Viticulture & Enology, she threw herself into the wine industry, learning the hospitality side of the business in the tasting room at Silver Oak. She then moved to New York where she learned the tech and media sides of the wine industry at SevenFifty.com and worked in wine retail at Leon & Son and Flatiron Wines & Spirits.
A Certified Sommelier, she has since worked harvests at Seavey Vineyard in the Napa Valley, Hirsch Vineyards in Sonoma, Coal Pit Winery in New Zealand, and is currently back in the Napa Valley at Mayacamas.
Michel Rolland
Consulting Oenologist
A native of Bordeaux, Michel is one of the world’s most revered wine consultants and master blenders. For five decades, he has contributed his broad experience in winemaking to projects from Argentina to South Africa as well as France and the Americas. A pioneer in matching careful work in the vineyard to craftsmanship in the cellar, Michel is uniquely positioned to support the Annulus vision: for each cuvée to express the underlying terroir and vintage.
Elena Evnin
Creative Director
Elena has played an integral part in shaping the visual identity of Annulus. She is a multimedia artist and is the sole proprietor of Studio Mirage, a collection of functional art created by her and offered to the public with a goal of infusing the everyday with beauty and magnificence. Elena recently graduated from Princeton University with a major in History and minors in Archeology and Environmental Studies.
Caitlin O’Connell
Head of Sales & Hospitality
Born on the East Coast, Caitlin worked in restaurants in New York and Boston before taking a wine-education year to visit destinations such as Bordeaux, France and Stellenbosch, South Africa. A certified sommelier and WSET Level 3, her experience ranges from a high-end Cabernet producer in Napa Valley to the premier sparkling wine château of Domaine Carneros to managing the entire guest experience for a family-owned Pinot Noir house on the West Sonoma Coast. When not working in wine, Caitlin is passionate about interior design, camping and hiking, and spending time with her family and pup Tucker. She joins the Annulus team excited to continue pursuing her passion for fine wine and incredible hospitality.