Who We Are

We are winegrowers and winemakers.

Hello, my name is Danny Fay and I am the founder of Hill of Tara Wines, named after the sacred Hill of Tara in Ireland, land that my family proudly farmed and preserved from 1928 to 1974. My Great Grandfather and Great Uncles were the last private landowners of this magical and ancient land that I have visited many times over my life. Nan (my grandmother) always bragged about our family's lucky farming history; like how we were never affected by the Irish Potato Famine, which spread rapidly throughout Ireland from 1845-1852. We also enjoyed several years of success farming thousands of acres until we sold the land in 1974. ⁣So, I figured if I'm going to start my own winery, I should honor my family AND hone in on my family's farming luck for my project on Moon Mountain.⁣

Fast forward to 2015, I scraped together my life savings and began my journey farming my first vineyard and picking one-ton of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the Moon Mountain District. With 120 gallons in two french oak barrels, I had surely just taken first place for California’s smallest bonded winery amongst the dimly lit, far back corner of our friend’s warehouse in Sonoma.

Since the winery’s inception, our small but mighty team of family and friends has crafted several small lot Cabernet Sauvignon vintages from Moonridge Vineyard within the Moon Mountain District of Sonoma Valley. In 2018, we introduced Cabernet Franc from Cabak Vineyard to our portfolio which we’ve been organically farming since 2015. We will release our inaugural vintages of Cabernet Franc and “Mountain Cuvée” (Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc) in fall of 2022.

2022 will mark the first year we have two wine releases. The traditional Spring Release on St. Patrick’s Day will offer our 2018 Mound of Hostages Cabernet Sauvignon from Moonridge Vineyard. The inaugural Fall Release welcomes our 2018 Ode to Tormey Cabernet Franc and our 2018 Moon Mountain Cuvée Red, a delicious marriage of our Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

We are dedicated.

For the last seven years, we have been patiently crafting our wines and diligently farming our grapes. We have dedicated ourselves to creating an authentic brand that is a pure expression of our love, our passion, and our life. Our focus is quality before quantity in both the vineyard and the cellar. We believe in a long term vision, slowly increasing our production by one barrel each vintage.  Our goal with each wine is to achieve a harmonious balance of powerful elegance and complexity; wines that share a purpose and a story. We barrel age each wine for a minimum of 20 months and bottle age for a minimum of 20 months prior to release. We believe our patience will be rewarded.

We are a small family team.

Between Matt and Danny in the vineyard, Alex in the cellar, and Danny in marketing and sales, the three of us are Hill of Tara Wines. Proudly based out of Sonoma Valley, California, we have been blessed to be a part of the local wine community for the past 15 years. Our wine growing and winemaking dreams would not be possible without the wisdom and education from our mentors and our relationships with local wine legends. We are forever grateful and indebted to you all.

We have poured our heart and soul into Hill of Tara Wines, and are so thrilled to share our wines with you. We hope our story and wines inspire you to pursue your passion and dreams. Thank you so much for your support and interest!

Born in Oxford, England, Danny grew up in Ducklington, a small village with more ducks than people in the West Cotswolds of Oxfordshire. At nine years old, Danny immigrated to California with his family and settled in the Sonoma Valley in 1994. He attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and completed a Wine & Viticulture degree, inspired by Professors Phil Doub & Dr. Keith Patterson, founders of the Wine & Viticulture department. Upon graduation, Danny moved back home to Sonoma Valley and began working at Benziger Family Winery.

Spending time on Benziger’s certified biodynamic ranch, Danny was exposed to the teachings and inspirations of Mike Benziger and Alan York.  In 2009, Danny sold everything he owned and backpacked around the world to learn more about organic and biodynamic farming while attending Ecole de Management’s Wine MBA program in Bordeaux, France. Through an adventurous 22-month, global wine program, Danny lived, worked, and studied in dozens of wine regions all over the world. Inspired by farm visits, wine harvests, biodynamic workshops, and deep conversations with legendary organic and biodynamic farmers, Danny had found his passion for farming.

Upon graduation from Bordeaux’s  Wine MBA program in 2011, he formed "Envolve Winery" with two childhood friends and began organically farming and crafting wines from different Sonoma appellations. Focused on Sonoma grapes, philanthropy, and fun, Envolve was a great experience for Danny to build his winery management skillset, improve his organic farming experiences, and give back to his local, hometown community. From 2013 to 2016, Danny served as Vice President for Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance and Board Member and Mentor for Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance. In 2015, Envolve Winery sold to “Valley of The Moon Winery” and Danny took the leap of faith, purchasing 2 French oak barrels started his own wine brand. Hill of Tara Wines is a proud expression of love for farming, family, and connecting through amazing wines.

Alex grew up in Sebastopol, CA on the 15-acre Pinot Noir vineyard his parents Stephen and Lynda planted in 1996. While Alex’s first paying job at 16 years old was in vineyard management, and he’s technically a “second generation” member of the wine industry, he didn’t officially start his wine career until after graduating from University of Colorado with two liberal arts degrees (history and sociology) in 2008.

Not wanting to immediately start a career in education, he decided to join a winery team for harvest in 2008. It was there he found a love for the craft of winemaking. The 2008 internship in Sonoma Valley led to further harvest experience in Central Otago, New Zealand, Dundee Hills, Oregon and Russian River Valley, CA. Alex then polished up his academic winemaking at Santa Rosa Junior College while working as a cellar hand at Vinify Wine Services. 

First at Vinify, then later at Jemrose, VML Winery and Truett Hurst wineries, Alex worked his way from cellar-hand to associate winemaker while collaborating with amazing mentors like Michael Browne, Shane Finley, Russell Bevan and Virginia Lambrix. Alex took over winemaking for his family’s Kanzler Vineyards in 2010, growing the case production from about 200 cases to over 2,200 with the most recent 2021 vintage.

Matt is the newest member of our Fay family, marrying Danny’s sister, Colette, on December 26th, 2017. Part Macgyver, part McFarmer, Matt is a talented tradesman with a business background, a farming passion and a hell of a split finger fastball. Danny and Matt have been farming vineyards together since 2015 and he’s become more than just a brother-in-law, he’s now Danny’s close friend, a true brother, and hard working business partner.

Matt is a native to Sonoma Valley.  He grew up amongst the vines from a young age.  After obtaining a Business Degree from Menlo College, Matt returned to the valley and joined Enterprise Vineyards learning organic and biodynamic farming practices from legendary grape grower Phil Coturri. Matt's farming practices parallel Phil's visions of a purely organic farm where monoculture is a thing of the past. Cover crops, insectaries, natural fertilizers and love for microorganisms are all brought full circle in the ranches he farms. Through these farming techniques he seeks to farm only the highest quality grapes which in turn produce prestigious wines that reflect the terroir of respected ranches.  

A man who gives a lot and asks for little in return, Matt is an integral part of our success in the vineyard. Danny is so grateful Colette signed him up for life. You’ll find Matt in the vineyards most afternoons or fixing something in the shop. Without Matt’s talents we would not be able to farm our vineyards with the care and love that we strive to give. Matt currently lives in Sonoma with Danny’s favorite sister, Colette, and is the proud Father of Bailey and Banjo, their fur children.