Tim Conner was born and raised in San Rafael, just north of the San Francisco Bay in the heart of Marin County. He went across the Bay and earned a B.A. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, then headed south to complete an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Southern California. He has spent his professional career as a CEO, CFO and founder of several successful national companies. Tim is currently a partner in the investment firm, LBC Partners, LLC, providing capital and consulting services to emerging businesses, is a board member for several charitable organizations in the Sonoma Valley, as well as being a partner in his newest passion, Pedemonte Cellars.

In 1999 Tim and his family moved to Alameda and he became friends with his neighbor, Mark Pedemonte. They shared a love of wine, and many bottles of the wine that Mark's brother, Chris, was producing for friends and family. Tim's interest in wine grew and he took several classes related to wine from the UC Berkeley Extension program and traveled through the wine regions of California, Oregon as well as Burgundy, Beaujolais and the Rhone Valley in France and Piedmont in Northern Italy. Although Mark Pedemonte moved away to live in Oregon and Tim moved up to the Sonoma Valley, they stayed in touch. When Mark, his brother Chris, and Chris' wife, Lisa, decided to join forces with Gaspar Roby and realize their dream of making wine with grapes from the vineyards that Chris knew so intimately, they quickly realized that they needed some business expertise. With Tim's business background and interest in wine he was the perfect fit, and so Pedemonte Cellars was born.

Lisa was born and raised in Berkeley, the fifth of five children. After graduating from UC Davis Lisa worked as a coordinator for a counseling group and started a Masters program in counseling at CSU Sacramento. To support herself she worked at a fine restaurant in Old Sacramento and took the opportunity to expand her wine knowledge. It was during this time that she met Chris Pedemonte, a student at Davis pursuing his second Bachelors degree in Viticulture and Enology. Their meeting was serendipitous. Lisa had seen Chris in the grocery store and had a very strong feeling that they would meet some day. A few months later they passed each other several times in one hour, and he decided to ask her out for coffee. Needless to say, Lisa's interest in the wine industry took a major leap.

When Chris went to Tuscany in 1982 to work at a winery, Lisa joined him for two months of traveling in Italy, France and Belgium. They enjoyed exploring wine regions, and when they came home Lisa returned to school and started working at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars in the Napa Valley. There she developed a true appreciation for fine wine, especially cabernet sauvignon. Chris and Lisa were married in 1983 and moved to Carmel Valley to live on a 1,200 acre ranch where Chris planted vineyards. Lisa went to work nearby at Chateau Julien, and when their first son was a few months old they moved to Napa for Chris' vineyard management job. Lisa focused on raising their family until she started working at Chris' office in 2002 and came to fully appreciate Chris' dedication to quality in the vineyard. Chris and Lisa decided that it was time to make their own wine using grapes from the vineyards that Chris knew so intimately. A partnership was forged and Pedemonte Cellars was born.

Chris Pedemonte was born and raised in Oakland, California in an Italian family who appreciated wine as part of everyday life. His grandparents, Luigi and Marie, came from Italy in the early 1900's. It was not an easy time for the newly emigrated family, and they depended on the vegetable garden, the rabbit hutch, and the wine that Luigi made in the cellar. Their second son, Leo, graduated from UC Berkeley and worked as a wine chemist before attending St. Mary's College and Creighton University to become a M.D. He and his wife, Mary Ellen, settled in Oakland and raised eight children. As one might imagine, the Pedemonte household was a place of noisy confusion, good food, and always, wine with dinner.

Chris and his siblings grew up helping their Dad make the family wine, leaving before sunrise to pick grapes in Napa, drive them home, and crush them into a well-used redwood tank. After high school Chris graduated from Creighton University with a BS in biology. With thoughts of entering medical school, he returned to the Bay Area and worked at a hospital, trying to find his path in life. Although he found the work rewarding, he kept thinking about advice that a Chemistry professor had given him..."Think about where you want to live and the lifestyle you want to lead and let that help determine the career path that allows that lifestyle." Chris knew he didn't want to live in a city or work in an office. He'd grown up surrounded by winemaking, and the call of the vineyard was strong.

Chris decided to enter UC Davis and earn a second Bachelors degree in Viticulture and Enology. He wasn't sure if he preferred the vineyard or the winery, but after his first year he took a year off to work in the cellar for a winery in Oakville. It was then that he realized that he wanted to be in the vineyard, and he returned to finish his degree in viticulture.

Chris and Lisa met in Davis during Chris' first year, and Lisa joined Chris in Italy when he went to work at a winery in Tuscany producing Chianti Classico. They were married in 1983 and moved to Carmel Valley where they lived on a 1,200 acre ranch while Chris planted vineyards. Later they moved to Napa for Chris' job with a vineyard management company, and Chris eventually became a partner in the Colinas Farming Co.

Although viticulture was very fulfilling, Chris found himself missing winemaking. He had always made the wine from his father's small zinfandel vineyard in the Oakland hills, but now he started making cabernet, merlot, syrah and sangiovese for a client's personal use. The wine got very favorable reviews from all that tried it. Chris and Lisa decided that they should join with a few close friends and, using grapes from the vineyards that Chris knew so intimately, make a wine that he would be proud to have carry his family name. A partnership was forged and Pedemonte Cellars was born.

Mark Pedemonte was born and raised in Oakland, California, the middle child in an Italian family who appreciated wine as part of everyday life. While they were growing up, Mark and his brothers were always "enlisted" to assist their father with his home winemaking. They would leave their Oakland Hills home early in the morning and pick grapes in Napa, drive them home, and crush them into an old, well used redwood tank. For the next week or so, the boys would punch down the cap several times a day and eventually draw off the must into barrels. Although the early mornings and hard work were not always enjoyable for the boys, they did come to appreciate the feeling of pride and the winemaking tradition that was passed down from their grandfather and their father.

After completing an anesthesia residency in Boston, Mark married and settled in Alameda and become friends with his next door neighbor, Tim Conner. They shared a love of wine, and many bottles of the wine that Chris, was producing for friends and family. When Mark, his brother Chris, and Chris' wife, Lisa, decided to join forces and realize their dream of making wine with grapes from the vineyards that Chris had tended for so many years, they quickly realized that they needed some business expertise. Although Mark had retired and moved away to live in Oregon, and Tim moved up to the Sonoma Valley, they had stayed in touch and Mark knew that with Tim's business background and interest in wine he was the perfect person to join their venture. When Tim jumped at the chance a partnership was forged and Pedemonte Cellars was born.