If not for God and grapes, sun and terroir, we wouldn’t be here.
Meredith and I met the old-fashioned way. She, a then pharmaceutical sales executive attended a wine tasting I was hosting at a prestigious Napa winery. It was alchemy: the wine, the stunning scenery and our Midwestern roots. We had our first date two days later and spoke of our dreams of becoming vintners and making our own mark on Napa. The rest, as they say, is history.
We founded Flint Knoll in 2016 and Meredith and I, two Midwestern transplants, set out to pursue our passion to produce elegant, timeless, single vineyard Napa Valley wines. To say we are deeply committed to the pursuit of our dream is an understatement. Meredith and I make our wine one bottle at a time. Flint Knoll wines are the work of our hands from grape to glass and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Our approach to being vintners and stewards of our brand harkens back to the early days of making wine in this beautiful valley. So much has changed since Napa became Napa, yet we actually have a lot in common with the winemakers of the late 1860s because our approach is hands-on and traditional. We are a very small team. Our wine is the result of our blood, sweat and tears and our relentless attention to the most intricate of details. We pour everything we have into Flint Knoll because this brand is our life’s work.
For this and many other reasons, we believe Flint Knoll stands alone in the prestigious Napa Valley wine space. To create our wines, we harness the brilliance of Philippe Melka who brings more than 30 years of winemaking expertise from wineries in Bordeaux and Napa Valley to our brand. And our relationships within Napa give us access to fruit from some of the most coveted vineyards on Spring Mountain, Diamond Mountain, Howell Mountain, and Pritchard Hill. Our belief in our wines is so strong that you will only see Meredith and me representing our brand. In this, we’re bringing back the old days of Napa when vintners knew their clients by name.
We spare no expense whether with vineyard sources or in the cellar. Our focus with Flint Knoll is on producing primarily hillside grown Cabernet Sauvignon wines showcasing the pedigree of place. Flint Knoll bottlings are site expressions true to their terroir. And with that philosophy in mind, including in the cellar, our wines are distinguished by a judicious use of premium French Oak barrels.
We have created Flint Knoll to be a true boutique wine brand created for discerning connoisseurs who demand uniquely distinguished, prestigious wine without pretention. We believe in breaking down barriers to wine and we forge personal connections to the people who purchase and savor Flint Knoll. It is this unique approach that distinguishes us.
Named after the famed rolling Flint Hills of my home state of Kansas, Flint Knoll is an ode to the Midwest and the values that guide us. Our brand is driven by FAITH – we wouldn’t be where we are today without our belief in Jesus Christ; HARD WORK – we strive to craft the most exquisite wines from the most sought after Napa Valley vineyards, and FRIENDSHIP – our customers become like family to us and drive our passion for crafting classical wines from this incredible region we are so fortunate to call home.
We are grateful for your interest in Flint Knoll and are committed to exceeding your expectations at every turn.
~ Aaron Michaelis
1 Chronicles 29:11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.
“My journey into the wine business is far from typical, if there’s such a thing as typical. It was either destiny or a series of zigs and zags that brought me to Napa. Then again, maybe it was both.
I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Midwesterner, born and raised in Kansas. And I’m living the American dream as a vintner in Napa. How did I get there?
It all started when the wine bug bit me in college.
Back then I worked for a respected tobacconist in my hometown of Wichita. Next door to the cigar shop was this great wine shop. During my breaks at work, I would pop into the wine shop, admire the selection of wine from around the world and pepper the store owners with questions about varietals and countries of origin. To their credit, they shared their insights freely with me and to this day, I’m grateful to them.
The wine bug soon blossomed into a full-blown obsession for me. In my early 20s, I founded a wine tasting group for budding oenophiles called The Young Vines. A few years later, I moved to Kansas City to get into all the wine-related action the Midwest had to offer; I began working for a distributor. Never one to rest on my laurels, I simultaneously ventured into the restaurant business where I was co-owner of two successful Kansas City restaurants. The lessons I learned during those years about wine and hospitality still serve me to this day.
The vinous siren call proved too much for me to resist and in 2013, I made my journey out West to Napa to work in sales, marketing and product development for respected vineyards and boutique wineries. That’s when my knowledge of wine grew exponentially. I soon branched out to become an independent wine consultant. It didn’t take long for me to realize that while I was investing my passion for wine into others, my own dreams were on hold. This was around the same time that I met my wife, Meredith.
When I look back, everything just gelled once I met her. With Meredith’s love, support and prayers fueling me, I worked tirelessly until my dream became reality. The first vintage of Flint Knoll was harvested in 2016, nearly 23 years since I first set foot in that Wichita wine shop.
Flint Knoll represents my relentless pursuit of perfection. I strive to make each year’s bottlings better than the last, which is a challenging proposition, given that God’s hand decides the fate of Napa’s harvest each year. It’s an honor to get to do what I love and to be able to share my work with people who appreciate a vintner-driven, artisanal wine.”
~Aaron Michaelis
“You could say that I inherited my passion for wine.
My father had an exceptional palate. He helped to form my appreciation of fine wine in early adulthood. One of my first and most memorable experiences was the 1996 Chateau Lafite Rothschild he shared with me. The experience was nothing less than sensorial and I remember wondering at the time why all wine couldn’t be that amazing.
That’s how I’m wired. My brain went right to the science of wine after one memorable experience.
I have Master’s degree in Molecular Biology and spent much of my career in pharmaceuticals. Growing up in Illinois, I was never a fan of the harsh Midwestern winters, so when the opportunity to came to relocate to California in 2010, I jumped at the chance.
I attended a wine tasting in Napa with friends and listened with rapt attention as Aaron shared his impressive knowledge of wine. Almost suddenly, the trajectory of my life took an amazing turn.
The next thing I knew, it was Aaron and me, dreaming of our own wine brand. He took the leap to create Flint Knoll, while I continued to work in pharma, helping him to build the brand with every spare ounce of time I had. It came to a point where I simply could not resist the desire to put everything I had into working alongside Aaron to grow Flint Knoll. Leaving my corporate job to work on Flint Knoll was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
I wear a lot of hats at Flint Knoll and this is exactly how I want it. I love to show up at early morning picks during harvest, as much as I love helping to blend every vintage of Flint Knoll.
Aaron and I are very hands-on so we’re in the thick of things in Napa, at harvest, blending, bottling, you name it. That, and I handle many of the day-to-day activities that come with running a brand and making sure we deliver to our customers.
One of the best parts of my job is sharing our wines at events across the country. This is what fuels me every single day, the ability to enjoy Flint Knoll with people who appreciate everything that goes into making our wine. I feel so blessed.”
~Meredith Michaelis
Like the celebrated wines on which he’s built his reputation, Philippe Melka’s career has been influenced by soil. A native of Bordeaux, Melka grew up intrigued by the intricacies of the land around him. He earned a degree in Geology at the University of Bordeaux and a Master’s degree in Agronomy and Enology.
Melka’s first job out of school was at Château Haut Brion. From there, he took a position with the reputable Moueix Company and was sent to Dominus Estate in Yountville to study soils in 1991. Napa Valley soil proved to be a revelation for Melka. He began dividing time between soil study and winemaking at world renowned wineries Badio O Coltibuono in Chianti and Chittering Estate in Australia. He returned to France in 1993 to deepen his expertise at Chateau Petrus.
Melka has been trained and influenced by some of the most notable personalities in the wine business such as Jean Delmas and Jean Philippe Masclef from Haut-Brion, Christian Moueix and Jean Claude Berrouet from Petrus, Paul Draper from Ridge, Daniel Baron from Silver Oak and the globetrotting wine consultant Michel Rolland with whom he continues to work with on consulting projects.
In 1994, Melka returned to Napa full time and has served as winemaker for some of Napa’s most highly regarded brands.
Maayan Koschitzky has amassed an impressive winemaking resume spanning from the vineyards of Israel to Screaming Eagle and Dalla Valle here in the Napa Valley, working alongside some of the top winemakers and among the most coveted terroirs in the world. In 2014 Maayan joined Atelier Melka and he brings a dynamic array of talents to the Melka team. With a background in Engineering and years of experience in both wineries and vineyards, Maayan plays a multifaceted role at Flint Knoll in both winemaking and operations.
