OUR WINEMAKING
ARTISANS

MEET THE TEAM

SONOMA’S FINEST

Inspired by Sonoma-Cutrer's Grand Cru roots, our winemaking artisans are passionate about creating quality experiences for our patrons and wine lovers alike.

CARA MORRISON DIRECTOR OF WINEMAKING

As a steward of Sonoma-Cutrer’s winemaking tradition, Cara brings deep expertise and a passion for preserving the estate’s signature style while thoughtfully evolving it for today.

ZIDANELIA ARCIDIÁCONO SENIOR WINEMAKER

Zidanelia’s depth of experience plays a vital role in crafting Sonoma-Cutrer’s wines with balance, precision and character.

SAM PARSA ASSOCIATE WINEMAKER

In her role as Associate Winemaker, Sam
contributes her expertise to the thoughtful craftsmanship behind Sonoma-Cutrer’s wines.

CARA MORRISON

DIRECTOR OF WINEMAKING

BIO

When it comes to crafting wine, Cara brings an uncommon wealth of knowledge and passion to Sonoma-Cutrer. As a native of San Jose, Cara chose to attend the University of California at Davis, initially declaring as a pre-med major. But fate has a way of intervening. By chance, she attended an intro to winemaking class and knew immediately that she had “found her people”. On the spot, she followed that professor back to her office, changed her major and she has never looked back.

After college Cara spent a year traveling the other winemaking regions of the world, working at wineries in Australia, Chile, and New York while also studying the craft in New Zealand, Eastern Europe, Italy, Germany, and France.

Out of money but full of energy, Cara joined the Jekel Vineyard winemaking team in 1998. In 2000, she was selected as the Winemaker/White Wines at Fetzer Vineyards. During that time, she particularly enjoyed working with a variety of grapes including Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Viognier and, of course, Chardonnay.

Cara often talks about the first time she tasted Sonoma-Cutrer and in that moment, she knew that this food-friendly, well-balanced style was the Chardonnay that she wanted to make. She got that wish when she joined the Sonoma-Cutrer team in 2005 and immersed herself in crafting Chardonnay in our classic, Burgundian style.

She considers Chardonnay a special grape that allows the winemaker more versatility than any other. Sonoma-Cutrer’s intense focus on Chardonnay gives her the opportunity to uphold the traditions of the brand while still being innovative. Today, Cara loves that her role allows her to experiment with juice fermentation and barrel maturation techniques of both of Sonoma-Cutrer’s Burgundian grape varietals – Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Winemaking is often a family profession and, true to form, Cara is married to another Sonoma County winemaker and they live with their two children near the winery. When Cara isn't busy making wine, she enjoys skiing, hiking, and volunteering with local nonprofit organizations.

ZIDANELIA ARCIDIÁCONO

SENIOR WINEMAKER

BIO

Born in Texas, Zidanelia and her family moved to Mendoza, Argentina when she was just three years old. Since winemaking is the main economic industry in that region, she grew up surrounded by winemakers and listening to their wonderful stories. The passion they expressed for their life’s work made a deep impression on her at a young age, and she decided that winemaking was her true calling.
Zidanelia – her friends often call her Z – began her career working in the lab at Bodega Cruz de Piedra while attending university in Mendoza. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in winemaking, she traveled to the south of France to the Cave cooperative Les Vignerons du Pays d’Enserune, working in the cellar for a harvest. Upon returning to Mendoza, however, she realized she wanted to keep traveling and her next destination should be California.

Zidanelia arrived in the US in 2007 and soon learned of Sonoma-Cutrer, where she applied for and was hired as an Enologist for that season’s harvest. She loved the experience and region so much that she decided to stay, moving on to the same position at Fetzer winery. There her skills, experience, passion, and hard work helped her move quickly through the ranks, and she became the Winemaker for Sanctuary, Fetzer Reserve Wines, and Little Black Dress within a few years.

Returning to Sonoma-Cutrer in 2015, Zidanelia is happy to be back where her California adventure first began. Her experience working on reserve wines made her the perfect fit for the role of crafting Sonoma-Cutrer’s outstanding Pinot Noirs. Zidanelia says that she loves nurturing the wines throughout the process and, even more, seeing others enjoy the results of her work.

Zidanelia enjoys living in Sonoma County with her husband and two sons.

SAM PARSA

ASSOCIATE WINEMAKER

BIO

Saman Parsa, Sam for short, left her native country of Iran to study Plant Biology at the University of California, Davis. From there, she began research at Stanford University before ultimately trading laboratory work for the hands-on experience of winemaking.Sam spent several years making Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at various wineries in the Russian River. She first met and worked with the winemaking team at Sonoma Cutrer in 2015 as a seasonal Lab technician. She loved it so much, she came back the following harvest as the Chardonnay harvest enologist. Sam then gained experience at E&J Gallo working with larger, corporately structured facilities as an Associate Winemaker focusing on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.The Sonoma-Cutrer team was thrilled to welcome Sam back in 2023 as Associate Winemaker with her primary responsibilities for our Pinot Noir production and sustainability initiatives. Sam lives in Santa Rosa, California, with her husband, who is a winemaker as well, and their son.