About Us

The magic behind La Sirena and the vision of winemaker Heidi Peterson Barrett

Winemaker and Owner,

Heidi Peterson Barrett

Heidi Peterson Barrett is one of the world’s most renowned and respected winemakers. Since the 1980s, she has created some of the Napa Valley’s most famous wines, including Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, Grace Family, Paradigm, and many others. She started her own brand, La Sirena, in 1994, and began her collaboration brand, Barrett & Barrett, with her husband, Bo Barrett of Chateau Montelena, in 2008.

Heidi got her start at a young age. Her father, Dick Peterson, is a scientist-winemaker, and her late mother, Diane, was an artist. Heidi gravitated toward both fields, and found that the world of wine was an ideal place for her to explore and combine these passions. Growing up, she worked in numerous vineyards and wineries alongside her dad, and decided to pursue it as a career, attending UC Davis for Fermentation Science and going on to several internships and positions in the industry.

Her career took off in the late 80s when she began working for Dalla Valle as an “independent winemaker”. She began to develop a tiny project called Screaming Eagle shortly afterwards, and from there, things escalated quickly. With 5 perfect 100-point scores for her wines in the span of just a few years, Heidi skyrocketed to international fame, setting a world record for the highest price ever paid for a single bottle of wine ($500,000 for a 6L of 1992 Screaming Eagle at the Napa Valley Wine Auction in 2000).

Today, Heidi maintains a stable of ultra-premium client wineries, including Amuse Bouche, Au SommetFantesca, and Mars Estate, as well as her own brands La Sirena, Barrett & Barrett, and Aviatrix. She and Bo live among their vineyards in Calistoga. In her free time, she enjoys scuba diving, skiing, flying her helicopter, making art, and gardening.

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Heidi's Wine Archive

Winery History

La Sirena was founded by winemaker Heidi Peterson Barrett in 1994, and was born out of chance opportunity – a custom crush wine for a client that fell through.  The client had hired her to make Sangiovese during the 1994 vintage for a new brand, but ran into a conflict of interest situation with their family, who had other winery ties.  The wine was already made and quite delicious, but the client had to abandon the project.  They were going to put the wine on the bulk market and she thought, ‘Here’s my chance to start my own winery, maybe I could buy it!’ Once the decision was made, she needed to come up with a winery name, design a label and get approval and permits, within a 30 day time period. The wine was ready to bottle, so time was of the essence.

Heidi and her husband Bo found the name while looking through the playing cards of the Mexican card game called Loteria. All the cards are different nouns, and one was La Sirena- the mermaid. As avid scuba divers and ocean lovers, the name stuck out to them: here was a beautiful symbol of something magical, like wine, and a way for her to combine two great passions. Designer and friend Michele LeBlanc came up with a fun and fanciful mermaid label based on Heidi’s own likeness, and with that, La Sirena began in earnest in 1994 with 200 cases of Sangiovese. The flagship wine, La Sirena Cabernet Sauvignon, was first produced in 1996, and that vintage also brought a fresh, elegant new label, which is still in use today.

Today, La Sirena makes around 3000 cases of 8-10 different wines each year. The current lineup includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Pirate TreasuRed, Moscato Azul, Rosato, Chardonnay, Barrett Vineyard Syrah, and Studio Series, as well as sister brands Barrett & Barrett and Aviatrix. All the wines are small production lots made with great care and the highest quality in mind. Based in Heidi’s hometown of Calistoga, these wines are near and dear to her heart – literally. Heidi’s home vineyards provide much of the Cab and Syrah she uses in her wines, as well as one special acre of Muscat Canelli grapes to use in the now-iconic Moscato Azul. Heidi loves having her own brand because she gets to make whatever she wants – creating, experimenting, and being free to explore and play, while also giving her fans the delicious (and fun!) wines they have come to expect from her.

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Meet the Team

Remi Barrett

Director of Sales & Marketing Read Bio +

Remi grew up in Calistoga and began working at Chateau Montelena at a young age (during the summer and after school). She went on to attend UC Davis to study English Literature and Creative Writing, working in the Montelena tasting room during the summer. After graduating in 2009, Remi represented Montelena at Press Club in San Francisco before officially joining the La Sirena Winery team in Sales and Marketing in the spring of 2010. She lives in San Francisco with her husband Erich, and sings and plays synth in her synthpop band Vice Reine. She has previously worked in live music booking and event promotion, and enjoys all forms of art and music, playing disc golf, visiting National Parks, reading, snow sports, dancing, birding & collecting house plants. WSET Level 2

Laurie Wolfe

Business Operations Manager Read Bio +

Laurie is a third-generation Napa native, who grew up riding her horse in the vineyards of Napa Valley. She attended college in San Diego and then CSU Sacramento, where she graduated with a degree in Journalism and minor in Marketing. She eventually returned to Napa Valley to work alongside her father and grandfather in a family business. Transitioning to the wine industry was a goal and has been a passion for 20 years. Joining the La Sirena team in 2017 as resident “Details Director” was the next exciting chapter. Laurie lives in Napa with her husband, Marlon, and Pomeranian Foxie. She enjoys salsa dancing and the adventure of traveling the world.

David Schulze

Hospitality Director Read Bio +

Originally from Wisconsin, David has been in the wine industry in Napa since 2007. He worked for Joseph Phelps Vineyards in hospitality and sales for over 10 years, and has also worked with Wheeler Farms, Elizabeth Spencer Wines and BRAND Napa Valley. In his free time, he enjoys hiking and cycling, as well as SCUBA diving and snorkeling. Born and raised in Wisconsin, David is no stranger to the cold, but prefers the California “winter” to that of his home state. He graduated with a degree in Geography from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and enjoys the similar connection that wine offers tying people and places together. He joined La Sirena in the fall of 2020, and has been a treasured member of our team ever since!

Chelsea Barrett

Co-Winemaker, Aviatrix Wines Read Bio +

Chelsea grew up in Calistoga and began working in vineyards and wineries from a young age. She attended UC Davis and graduated in 2010 with a degree in Viticulture and Enology. After college, Chelsea interned at Mayer am Pfarplaz (Austria), Two Hands (Australia), and Opus One (Napa Valley). She started as Enologist at Joel Gott wines in 2012, where she was promoted to Assistant Winemaker a year later, then to Winemaker in 2017. In 2017, she also joined Heidi as co-winemaker for Amuse Bouche and Au Sommet. She is currently Winemaker at Materra. Chelsea lives in Calistoga with her husband, three daughters, a husky-german shepherd mix and 2 guinea pigs. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, home improvement, cooking, skiing, scuba diving, and reading.

Jeff Reilly

Broker, Reilly Wine Group Read Bio +

Jeff is originally from New Jersey. He started in the wine business at Chateau Montelena Winery in 2010, and then worked at Kenzo Estate Winery handling Northern California Sales. He started his own Wine Brokerage Company in 2016 (Reilly Wine Group) with the mission of helping smaller family owned brands, and started working with La Sirena in 2016. He now mostly lives in Hawaii with his wife, Cindy, and enjoys piña coladas, but is not into yoga (or getting caught in the rain).

Erica Nussen

Southern California Sales Read Bio +

Erica has been in the wine industry for the past 12 years. Her connection to the Barrett family dates back to 2011, when she worked harvest with Chelsea Barrett at Two Hands Wines in Australia. She spent 4 years working the LA market for American Wines & Spirits while also completing her WSET Level 3, CSW & CSS. In addition to La Sirena, Erica currently manages California sales for Winc Wines. Erica lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Justin, their two kids, and adorable goldendoodle, Brady.