Our Team

Stephanie Putnam is the Vice President of Winemaking at Raymond Vineyards, where she oversees all aspects of winemaking for this iconic Napa Valley winery.

Before joining the Boisset Family Estates team, Stephanie spent eight years as winemaker at Far Niente Winery, where she contemporized their house style. Prior to that, she was part of the team at Hess Collection, where she began as a cellar worker and rapidly progressed to winemaker. While there she also worked with the winery’s South American partners. 

Throughout her tenure at these highly acclaimed Napa Valley estates, Stephanie has focused on producing high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Her wines have won acclaim, including recognition in the Wine Spectator’s Top 100, Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100, and being named The Wine News Cabernet of the Year. 

A Northern California native and graduate of U.C. Davis with a B.S. in Fermentation Science, Stephanie developed her passion for winemaking at an early age thanks to her family’s appreciation of gourmet food and wine. She fondly remembers many childhood trips to the Napa Valley where her parents would come to enjoy and collect wine. Stephanie currently resides in Napa with her two large, lovable Labradors.

Once named by Robert Parker as one of the top nine wine consultants in the world, Philippe works alongside Stephanie Putnam, lending his rich history and expert guidance on Raymond winemaking.

Philippe hails from one of the leading terroirs in Europe, Bordeaux.  He has the rare combination of talent and fortune to be a winemaker who started at the top, Château Haut Brion.  He traveled to the Dominus Estate in Yountville to study soils in 1991, then, followed by years of travel, divided his time between soil study and winemaking at world-renowned wineries in Chianti and Australia.  He returned to France in 1993 to deepen his expertise at Chateau Petrus.

Philippe has been fortunate to have been trained and influenced by some of the most notable personalities in the wine business such as Jean Delmas and Jean Philippe Masclef from Haut-Brion, Christian Moueix and Jean Claude Berrouet from Petrus, Paul Draper from Ridge, Daniel Baron from Silver Oak, and the globetrotting wine consultant Michel Rolland with whom he continues to work with on consulting projects.

He returned to Napa full time in 1994, founding his company Atelier Melka with his wife Cherie the following year.  For the past 20 years he has consulted for some of Napa’s most highly regarded properties.

Thane Knutson is the Winemaker for Raymond Vineyards and is involved in all aspects of wine production.

A country boy at heart, Thane was born and raised on the plains of Oklahoma, always surrounded by ranching and agriculture.  He graduated with a degree in International Business from the University of Oklahoma, where he played saxophone for the Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band, made wine in his dorm room closet, and worked in the cellar of a local winery in Slaughterville, Oklahoma.  Slaughterville will always hold a special place in Thane's heart.

After spending a couple of harvests making wine and graduating from OU, Thane interned at Cakebread Cellars where he decided Napa Valley winemaking was his calling.  Although Thane thought his winemaking adventures would take him briefly to Australia or New Zealand, his plans changed when he met the love of his life, his wife, Sarah.  After deciding to stay in Napa, Thane spent two years at Hess Collection Winery as the laboratory technician before joining Raymond Vineyards just two weeks before the current owner Jean-Charles Boisset made his grand entrance.

Thane currently lives in Napa Valley with his loving wife, three children, and Miniature Australian Shepard, Izzy.  In his spare time, you can find him in the great outdoors, hiking and admiring the plentiful flora and fauna of Napa Valley.  He finds the winter season with the rolling green hills of Napa Valley and cleanly pruned vines to be the most beautiful time of the year.

Sophie Drucker did her undergraduate studies at UC Davis in viticulture and enology and then worked in the wine industry doing cellar and vineyard work in Napa Valley, Portugal, and New Zealand.

She originally worked at Raymond in Summer 2011 as a viticulture intern and then was hired full-time, eventually becoming the viticulturist/grower relations representative. She left at the end of January 2016 and returned a year later to manage the vineyards and work with a team that she deeply respects and admires.