Inspired by my great-great-grandfather and namesake, founder Giacomo Migliavacca, reviving the Migliavacca Wine Company was something I had long envisioned. Sure, it was a dream – but it also felt like my duty; five generations later, in the same city, the once successful wine company left untouched since its closing in 1919 and the story of an Italian immigrant whose entrepreneurial spirit marked the city of Napa, untold – if I didn’t try, I wasn’t sure who would.

I recognized the potential of resurrecting the brand from a young age. Throughout high school and college I continued my quest, researching both the historical roots of my family and their presence in downtown Napa in the 1800s, and the very early days - the beginning - of winemaking in the city of Napa.

In 2016 I met my business partner and winemaker, Vincent Traverso; flying into my life like a dove, Vincent helped bring my vision to fruition.

While wine has been the (very) obvious vessel to tell our story, wine also embodies the essence of our sentiments. The resurrection of the brand has been in the spirit of honoring a place, a time, the people – celebrating what was, and carrying it into the present and future. Vintages come and go, we lose people, belongings, places, but the ability to carry on and celebrate the legacy remains. 

- Katie Migliavacca

The caretaker of Migliavacca Wine Company‘s liquid legacy is both an accomplished winemaker and an ardent preservationist. Vin Traverso cut his teeth as the long-time right-hand to winemaker Kirk Venge, inheriting the ‘garden our grapes’ philosophy that guides the careful cultivation of wines that are ‘made in the vineyard.’ Crafting fine wines for dozens of elite cellars from hundreds of small-farmed blocks, Vin brings to Migliavacca the know-how of Napa Valley winemaking along with the know-where of California viticulture.

Born in Napa, raised in the Valley, and brought up in the Bay, he guards its heritage because it is his own. While Vin serves on both the Board of Directors for Napa County Landmarks and the Treasure Island Museum, he also practices preservation in his other business endeavors as a restorer of stained glass windows, as a revitalizer of the historic Kingfish Pub & Café in Oakland, and as a principal in his current preservation project, Kasper’s Original Hot Dogs, also in Oakland. Vin calls winemaking ‘his dayjob’; he calls historic preservation 'his vocation'.

Raised in the Christian faith, he studied at Westmont to become a minister, before switching gears and exploring other traditions as a Middle East Studies major at U.C. Berkeley. He went on to serve as a diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service, with posts in Afghanistan, Israel-Palestine, and Libya, before switching gears yet again to earn a Master’s of Science in Viticulture & Enology from Montpellier SupAgro in France and University of Verona in Italy.

When not bouncing between vineyards, cellars, and studios, Vin can be found paddling the Napa River, hiking the East Bay hills, sailing the San Francisco Bay, or simply picking up litter along Oakville Cross Road, the Valley’s “magnificent mile,” along which he fights blight and plants wildflowers.

The Migliavacca Wine Company is no longer merely part in Napa Valley’s history. It has been officially revived by Katie Migliavacca and her business partner, winemaker Vincent Traverso.