Chanela Winery is owned by Gary and Cindy Ellis.  The Ellis name is well known in Las Vegas as owners of a hotel casino, a chain of pub/restaurants, a brewery and mountain resort. The Ellises are also involved in a great number of philanthropic efforts throughout the city.   In the late 1990s Gary had the opportunity to purchase some land in the foothills of the Pine Valley Mountains in Southern Utah.  The property, located in the Dixie National Forest, was only a two-hour drive from Las Vegas, so he decided to drive up to Utah and take a look.

What Gary discovered was 55 acres of fertile land that boasted spectacular views and an altitude and climate perfect for farming.  The previous property owner had planted many different varieties of fruits and vegetables.  Crops like squash, pumpkins, corn, melons and apple trees had proven to be excellent; all ripe and delicious.  Gary also discovered that grapes were growing wild, irrigated only by the natural precipitation of the area.  Having always been interested in the art of winemaking, this discovery planted the seed for the direction he would take with this property in the years to come.

Gary quickly acquired the property, and in 2006, planted grapes on the farm to help supply his casino and growing chain of restaurants.  After a few years, they began producing their first vintages. Unfortunately, the demands of expanding his Las Vegas businesses, a bad streak of weather and a struggle to find qualified employees meant the vineyard would be put on the back burner for a few years.  Gary told his team to keep the vines alive, but everything else would have to wait. Then in 2018, Gary decided the time was right to get the winery back on track. He hired professional vineyard managers and relocated them to Utah to get his vineyards back in shape.  Next, he hired a professional winemaker that knew Utah grapes. Together the new team brought the vineyard back to production.

With a little TLC, the vines bounced right back.  The vineyard was pruned, trimmed and the fruit production managed. In so doing, the vines began producing excellent fruit in the very first year. The winemaking team produced the 2018 vintage and were reporting amazing results from harvest onward.  Even these seasoned winemakers were scratching their heads about how such high quality juice was possible in only one year of recovery.  With this harvest, the time was right to introduce the world to Chanela Wines.  The vineyard and winery are still family-owned and the vineyard has grown from 7 acres to 11 with plans underway to put 20 total acres under vine.  They have also planted a fruit orchard with over 130 trees in dozens of different types of fruits.

Gary and Cindy Ellis birthed this project out of a love of wine and a desire to share with others the quality of wine from their vineyard.  They invite you to come and try these small lot, handmade wines and see for yourself why they believe their wines are something special.

What’s In A Name?

We get a lot of questions about how our name ties into the Ellis Family and how it came to be the name of our wines. Gary and Cindy have three beautiful daughters who all now take part in the business, and the word Chanela is a mix of the three Ellis daughters’ names.

The names CHristina, ANamarie and MichaELA are mingled together to make the name CHANELA.  It is really just that simple.   

We are proud that the name Chanela has come to represent the finest wines in Utah.

Chanela Vineyards and its wine production are managed by Doug McCombs, an Utah winery owner himself, working with Sonoma based wine consultants Pete Seghesio and Bryan Kwamme and vineyard consultant Tyler Klick.  Together these men are working to reimagine and re-engineer what a winery in Utah can accomplish.

Doug began making wine with Utah fruit over a decade ago and as a result brings extensive knowledge of Utah winemaking and the things that make this state special. While Doug has been producing Utah wines for many years, he freely admits there are still many secrets to be revealed.  Doug is our in-state and on-site general manager overseeing the daily operations of our winery, winemaking and vineyards.  Seasonally he also brings in expertise from his daughter and son-in-law Austin and Caitie Sorrels (the latter who also holds the unique title of Utah’s first professional woman winemaker).

Pete Seghesio (formally of Seghesio Family Vineyards and present owner of San Lorenzo Vineyard) grew up in wine business in a multi-generational Sonoma wine family.  Having sold Seghesio wines in 2011 Pete retains ownership of San Lorenzo Vineyards as well other businesses based in Sonoma California.  Few wine producers in the nation can match the extensive experience, knowledge and credibility that Seghesio brings to this project and he uses those talents to help set direction, innovate our processes and expose us to the larger US wine community.

Bryan Kvamme, another long time resident of Northern California wine country, is a 20 year veteran of wine production for Martinelli Winery.  Bryan earned his B.S. degree from the UC Davis, and started his career with time at the Napa Wine Company, then cellar and enology internship positions at Gloria Ferrer and Benessere wineries. Bryan first started working with Helen Turley at Martinelli Winery in 1997.  Today Bryan brings that knowledge to Chanela Vineyards in an effort to modernize our winery, its processes and equipment. 

Tyler Klick is a professional viticulturist and partner in Redwood Empire Vineyard Management Company in Geyserville, CA.  A graduate of UC Davis Viticulture and Enology program and St. Mary’s College in Health Science, Tyler has been involved in vineyard management for 20 years.  Tyler has joined our consulting team to evaluate vineyard management techniques at Chanela Vineyards and in so doing, work to improve the health and productivity of our vineyards. 

We invite you to try all the varietals produced by Chanela Vineyards and experience for yourself these incredible wines.