About –– Narrow Gate Vineyards
A Story of Reinvention, Faith, & Perseverance
Meet Frank & Teena
Founded in 2004, by husband and wife team Frank and Teena Hildebrand, Narrow Gate Vineyards is a testimony to faith, perseverance and reinvention. In 2000 they traded fashion industry careers for a new beginning in El Dorado wine country and have never looked back.
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Farmer, Winemaker
Frank grew up in Woodland, California, an agricultural community just 11 miles north of Sacramento and is a University of California Davis graduate in Managerial (AG) Economics. He returned to Davis’ winemaking extension program to hone his skill. Today, Frank is both viticulturist and winemaker at Narrow Gate, securing Biodynamic® vineyard certification in 2010 and winery facility certification in 2013. His passion for stewarding the winemaking process, from vine to wine, without chemicals, pesticides or additives, is evident in the vineyard’s biodiversity and soil health and in the natural quality of the wines he makes. His work is his hobby – if he’s not farming wine he’s making wine and if he’s not making wine he’s enjoying wine!
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General manager, Culinary
Growing up near Portland, Oregon then moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in middle school, Teena, a University of Colorado graduate in Business Marketing, along with her hospitality team, oversees the business, wine club, marketing and food and wine pairing events. After their second child was born she resigned her fashion industry career and began teaching culinary arts in Newport Beach, California. Today she is also the winery chef creating menus and seasonal dishes for the food and wine pairings, educational vineyard walks/hikes, and seated multiple course lunches served in the cellar throughout the year. Teena also serves on the El Dorado Winery Association board of directors as President.
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Vineyard Manager
A local native, Kass plays an integral role in our biodynamic farming and processes related to soil, vine and land management, all throughout our 86-acre farm. Prior to coming to Narrow Gate in 2007, he worked for 6 years after high school as a wildland firefighter and was on the USDA Forestry Service Interagency Hot Shot crew. He’s also had a longtime passion for mountain bike racing. Currently, he is an ambassador for Specialized Bikes. Kass and his wife Dianna, a local realtor, stay busy raising their two grade-school age children.
The Winery & Cellar
In 2001 Frank & Teena planted 14 acres of wine grapes and in 2004 built a European style, small, intimate, boutique winery and cellar set amidst majestic Ponderosa pines at 2500 feet altitude.
Enter through the old barn wood doors into the romantic, candlelit cellar and taste Narrow Gate Vineyards’ biodynamic certified wines in the cellar amongst the barrels or in our outdoor spaces. Enjoy your wine tasting in the cool cellar, on the patio with a view of the Dunamis Vineyard block or at tables set under majestic Ponderosa pines.
Join the Club •
Join the Club •
Become a part of our Narrow Gate family and enjoy our small production, certified Biodynamic grown wines, as well as wines made from a handful of other select California vineyards. We have several Cellar Clubs to choose from that fit every budget and preference, each offering different quantity, benefits and options, but all clubs offer savings on wine purchases, access to limited production wines, and priority invitations to special food and wine pairing events.