Today we’d like to introduce you to Alisa Jacobson.
Hi Alisa , we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Raised in California’s Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, she spent her childhood picking cherries and making jam in her family’s orchard, raising livestock through 4-H, and running through cornfields and century-old Zinfandel vineyards in Contra Costa County. The land was never abstract — it was something you tended, protected, and passed on. That same sense of responsibility, and a deep respect for California’s role in feeding the nation, became the foundation for everything that followed.After graduating from UC Davis in 2001 with a degree in Viticulture and Enology, AJ began her career in sparkling wine production before traveling to Australia to make Shiraz — and dive along the Great Barrier Reef. Back in California, she joined Joseph Phelps Vineyards, where she met Joel and Sarah Gott. In 2003, she became the first employee of Joel Gott Wines, helping grow the brand from a small startup into a globally recognized label. Rising to Vice President of Winemaking, she led a team of 35 and oversaw winery and vineyard operations across California, Oregon, and Washington, as well as international projects in Argentina, Chile, Italy, France, and New Zealand.In 2018, after more than two decades of global winemaking experience, and many accolades including 2 top 100 wines, AJ founded Turning Tide Wines — a women-owned winery built around one core belief: the best wine comes from the healthiest land. She relocated from the North Coast of California to San Luis Obispo County in 2021 to be closer to the ocean and the Central Coast AVA she felt deeply inspired by, establishing her winemaking home in the Santa Ynez Valley. The winery, formerly Bridlewood Estate Winery, is now CCOF certified organic under her leadership — a reflection of her conviction, and her responsibility to the land.Turning Tide wines are sourced from vineyards across California’s Central Coast AVA — from Santa Barbara County and the Santa Ynez Valley to Paso Robles — each shaped by the reach of the Pacific. Ocean fog rolls in overnight, cool winds moderate the afternoon heat, and temperatures drop in the evening, giving grapes the slow, extended ripening that builds real complexity. Harvesting at naturally lower sugar levels, with good natural acidity intact, produces wines with lower alcohol and a liveliness that carries through every sip — wines that feel complete on their own and truly come alive at the table. In 2021, AJ expanded her portfolio with Rare North, highlighting her work in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, including grapes from Halona Woods Vineyard in the Mount Pisgah–Polk County AVA alongside several California-based brands under the Wines by Alisa Jacobson umbrella — including Distinctive by AJ, a collection of Central Coast AVA wines; Avec Moi, focused on certified organic farming; and Bait & Switch, a non-alcoholic wine for those who want to be part of the moment without the alcohol.Through decades of winemaking across four continents, AJ has arrived at one essential truth: wine is made in the vineyard. The healthier the soil and ecosystem, the more alive and vibrant the wine in the glass. That conviction carries into the cellar, where every yeast, nutrient, and additive is non-GMO, organic, and vegan, and where winemaking follows strict CCOF certified organic guidelines from vineyard to bottle. Every wine she produces is expressive, authentic, and deeply connected — to the vineyard, the fruit, and the craft behind it.AJ is an active voice in the broader wine community. She has served as Co-Chair of the Unified Grape & Wine Symposium Program Development Committee (2023–2024), chairs the Research Committee for the West Coast Smoke Exposure Task Force, and sits on the Stakeholder Advisory Committee for the Winegrape Smoke Exposure SCRI Grant as well as other industry boards. She is a strong advocate for sustainability, mentorship, and unifying the wine industry around climate-forward solutions.Through Turning Tide Wines, AJ is working not just to make exceptional organic, sustainable, Central Coast wine, but to help move the industry toward a more connected, climate-conscious, and inclusive future — one vintage at a time.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Being a female in a male dominated industry with no real leaders to look up to means forging your own path and lots of trial and error – but that also means lots of learning along the way!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Wines by Alisa Jacobson?
I set out to make something that felt connected — to the soil, to the coast, to a point where everything converges. Turning Tide Wines is what that looks like.
I started working in winemaking in 1998. By the time I founded Turning Tide in 2018, I had spent twenty years working across four continents and understood the craft at every scale.
At the heart of it is one core belief: the best wine comes from the healthiest land. Our home winery in Santa Ynez Valley is certified organic, and every vineyard I source from is organically farmed or Certified Sustainable. That’s my conviction, and my responsibility to the land.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Authenticity – my desire to farm organically and make wines in a sustainable manner is not marketing, it’s a belief I have that it’s my responsibility to do so.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://turningtidewines.com
- Instagram: @turningtidewines.com
