Memento Mori

Memento Mori was founded in 2010 by Adriel Lares, Hayes Drumwright, and Adam Craun, three friends who met as teenagers: Hayes and Adriel as swimmers in Alvin, Texas, and Hayes and Adam on the swim team at Boston University. The name is taken from an ancient Latin phrase reminding of mortality, which the founders interpret as 'Remember to Live.' Adriel Lares was the first of the three to become a serious wine collector, spending time in Napa through the early 2000s before the trio decided to start a label together. Winemaker Sam Kaplan translates each site into balanced, terroir-driven wines, a partnership the founders describe as central to the project's identity from the start.

• Founded 2010 by Adriel Lares, Hayes Drumwright, and Adam Craun
• Name taken from the Latin phrase Memento Mori, interpreted by the founders as 'Remember to Live'
• Adriel Lares was the first of the three to become a dedicated Napa wine collector
• Sam Kaplan, the project's winemaker from the start, translates each vineyard site into terroir-driven wine

All three co-founders remain active in the business alongside other ventures. Adriel Lares, a Stanford Economics graduate who began in investment banking at Morgan Stanley, later served as CFO at 3PAR (through its IPO and acquisition) and at Fastly (through its NYSE IPO), and is now CFO of Chelsea Football Club in London; he also serves on the Napa Valley Vintners Grants Review Committee, as a board member of the Vida Valiente Foundation, and as a board member and Audit Committee chair of The Duckhorn Portfolio (NYSE: NAPA). Hayes Drumwright founded the technology company Trace3, which he grew to more than $500 million in revenue, and later founded the investment firm InstantScale; with his wife Susana he also founded Vida Valiente Winery, a 17-acre estate winery in St. Helena, and the Vida Valiente Foundation, a charity supporting first-generation, low-income students with college scholarships. Drumwright has written columns for Forbes and Entrepreneur.com, authored Management vs. Employees: How Leaders Can Bridge the Power Gaps That Hurt Corporate Performance, and in August 2026 published a second book, The Empty Center, which reached number one in its Amazon New Release category within days of preorder. Adam Craun, a classically trained artist, designed Memento Mori's gold label logo and oversees the brand's creative direction; he also co-founded The Business Beverage Company with Nicholas Lutz, whose first release was El Negocio Tequila. Winemaker Sam Kaplan, who grew up in Oklahoma and studied Religious Studies at Lewis and Clark College before working at Pine Ridge and ZD Wines, is also Winemaker and General Manager at Arkenstone Estate, makes wine for the Nine Suns project on Pritchard Hill, co-founded the MAXEM label with his wife Nancy in 2015, and is a winemaker and partner in Vida Valiente. Decanter has described Kaplan as consultant and co-owner across several Napa wineries including Arkenstone, Memento Mori, and Vangone. Genevieve Echavarrie joined Memento Mori in 2015 as General Manager and Director of Client Relations and led the winery's 2023 transition into its own estate home.

• Adriel Lares: CFO of Chelsea Football Club; previously CFO at Fastly and 3PAR; board roles at Vida Valiente Foundation and The Duckhorn Portfolio
• Hayes Drumwright: founder of Trace3 and InstantScale; co-founder with wife Susana of Vida Valiente Winery and the Vida Valiente Foundation; published author, most recently of The Empty Center (2026)
• Adam Craun: designed Memento Mori's label artwork and leads brand creative direction; co-founder of The Business Beverage Company and its El Negocio Tequila
• Sam Kaplan: Memento Mori's winemaker since 2010, also Winemaker/GM at Arkenstone, a partner and winemaker at Vida Valiente, and co-founder of MAXEM
• Genevieve Echavarrie: General Manager and Director of Client Relations since 2015; led the 2023 transition into the winery's own Calistoga estate

Memento Mori sources Cabernet Sauvignon from Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard, Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard, Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard, Weitz Vineyard, and Oakville Ranch Vineyard. The Memento Mori block at Beckstoffer Dr. Crane, on the western border of St. Helena, was planted in 1998 on Cortina soil, sand, and rock. Beckstoffer Las Piedras sits a few hundred yards west of Dr. Crane along Sulfur Creek on alluvial rocky sand; the winery's own tasting notes trace the site's history to the original Mexican land grants of the late 1830s. Oakville Ranch is farmed by Phil Coturri, an organics pioneer, while Vine Hill Ranch, sourced from the western Oakville bench north and west of Yountville, has a vineyard history dating to the late 1880s. In April 2023 Memento Mori purchased a 17-acre Calistoga property on Azalea Springs Way, formerly known as Stonescape and previously owned by the late Bay Area art collectors Norman and Norah Stone. The estate's own four-acre vineyard, planted on volcanic soils, became the newest source in the portfolio and produced its first Memento Mori fruit in the 2023 vintage.

• Beckstoffer Dr. Crane: Memento Mori's block planted 1998 on Cortina soil, sand, and rock
• Beckstoffer Las Piedras: alluvial rocky sand along Sulfur Creek; the winery's tasting notes trace the site to 1830s Mexican land grants
• Oakville Ranch farmed by organics pioneer Phil Coturri; Vine Hill Ranch dates to the late 1880s
• 17-acre Calistoga estate purchased April 2023 (formerly Stonescape, previously owned by the late Norman and Norah Stone)
• Estate's four-acre vineyard, on volcanic soils, produced its first Memento Mori fruit in the 2023 vintage

The flagship Memento Mori Cabernet Sauvignon blends fruit from the winery's named vineyard sites and has been released in every vintage since 2010. Alongside it, Memento Mori bottles single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Beckstoffer Dr. Crane, Beckstoffer Las Piedras (including a 2023 'Duo' bottling from a single block within the vineyard), and Vine Hill Ranch, plus a barrel-aged Sauvignon Blanc. The 2023 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, the first release grown on the winery's own Calistoga vineyard, joined the lineup that year. Wines are released via allocation in extremely limited quantities to mailing list collectors with an active purchase history; Wine Spectator's August 2022 review of the Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard bottling noted a total of 125 cases made. According to the Napa Wine Project, the inaugural 2010 vintage totaled 150 cases from a single block of Rutherford fruit, with the portfolio expanding over time to add further Beckstoffer sites and Vine Hill Ranch.

• Flagship Cabernet Sauvignon released every vintage since 2010
• Single-vineyard bottlings: Beckstoffer Dr. Crane, Beckstoffer Las Piedras (plus a 2023 Duo block bottling), Vine Hill Ranch
• 2023 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon: first release from the winery's own Calistoga vineyard
• Sold via allocation in extremely limited quantities; Wine Spectator noted 125 cases made of the 2022 Dr. Crane bottling
• Inaugural 2010 vintage: 150 cases from Rutherford fruit, per the Napa Wine Project

In 2016, a pair of wines Sam Kaplan made from the 2014 harvest earned two of the top three bids, at $130,000 each, at the Napa Valley Vintners' Premiere Napa Valley futures auction, one of them a Memento Mori lot, a result that helped put the winery on the international map. Forbes reported in November 2025 that Kaplan went on to earn three separate 100-point wines in a single vintage. James Suckling's May 2025 reviews scored the 2022 Vine Hill Ranch bottling 97 points, the 2022 Beckstoffer Dr. Crane bottling 96, the 2022 flagship Cabernet Sauvignon 95, and the 2022 Beckstoffer Las Piedras bottling 95; the publication's coverage of the 2023 vintage described the Memento Mori flagship as a perfect-scoring wine and the Vine Hill Ranch bottling as on the cusp of perfection. In May 2025, for its 15th anniversary, Memento Mori unveiled new label artwork designed by Adam Craun, giving each wine its own butterfly design symbolizing transformation. In March 2026, Hayes Drumwright purchased the historic Edge Hill estate in St. Helena from Joel Gott for $21.5 million, joined in ownership by his wife Susana and a group of about 20 investors who are private clients of his other wine labels. Edge Hill, renovated by the late Leslie Rudd, includes 27 acres (six planted to a field blend of red grapes) and a three-story stone winery built in 1876; winemaker Sam Kaplan and general manager Genevieve Echavarrie round out its leadership. The estate will first serve as a temporary home for Vida Valiente while a winemaking facility is built there, work not expected to be complete until 2030, after which Drumwright plans to launch a new Cabernet-focused label called Ultra Mortem, which he has called 'a nice finish to our trinity of the wineries.'

• 2016 Premiere Napa Valley auction: a Memento Mori lot was among two wines that earned $130,000 bids
• Forbes (2025): winemaker Sam Kaplan earned three separate 100-point wines in a single vintage
• James Suckling scored four 2022 bottlings 95 to 97 points in May 2025 reviews
• May 2025: 15th-anniversary label redesign with butterfly imagery by Adam Craun
• March 2026: Hayes Drumwright bought the Edge Hill estate in St. Helena for $21.5 million, with a new Ultra Mortem label planned once its winery is complete around 2030

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.mmwine.com/story/, https://www.mmwine.com/wines/, https://www.mmwine.com/vineyards/, https://www.mmwine.com/experience, https://www.mmwine.com/visit/, https://www.mmwine.com/press/, https://www.mmwine.com/. Secondary sources: The Napa Wine Project, Wine Business (via SF Chronicle reporting), Shanken News Daily (March 16, 2026, recapping Wine Spectator), Yahoo Lifestyle (2026, citing Wine Spectator). Last verified 2026-09-14. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.