Drew Huffine, Owner/Winemaker
Emily Virgil, Owner/CEO
Trail Marker Wine Co. is a small, family run winery based in Healdsburg, California. They source fruit from family owned, responsibly farmed and passionately cared for vineyards from the Santa Cruz Mountains, Mendocino Coast and Lodi. Their minimal intervention winemaking style allows us to make wines that are high acid, low alcohol — well balanced expressions of these excellent vineyards.
Drew Huffine is the owner and winemaker for Trail Marker. He is a purist who likes wines that are well-balanced and have a “certain something” about them that defies description. Over the years Drew has created wines for many well respected wineries but after he married Emily, she convinced him it was time they create their own wine. No mortgage. No kids. Let’s do it! Trail Marker was born.
Drew entered the wine world while attending UCSB, adjacent to Santa Barbara’s wine country. While pursuing a masters degree at Cal State LA, Drew worked at Colorado Wine Company. There he met Kent Humphrey of Eric Kent Wines. Kent encouraged Drew to head north to work a harvest. From there, Drew was off and running. He worked at Copain, DuMol, Kosta Brown and Wither Hills and was the winemaker for Tuck Beckstoffer Wines then R2 Wine/Roessler Cellars. In 2018, Drew became the head winemaker for LIOCO, in addition to Trail Marker.
Emily Virgil is the Chief Everything Officer. Emily spent years on set as a costume stylist in the film industry in LA. Through a twist of fate she met Drew, a winemaker dressed in what might seem like a costume but was actually his every day lumberjack attire. They met just weeks before Drew was to fly off to a harvest in New Zealand. The distance only made their hearts grow fonder and not long after Drew’s return, Emily exited stage left and they were married. They moved to the Bay Area where Drew discovered vineyards that lived up to his standards, on his home turf. Emily cut her teeth in the wine industry working in sales and marketing for Bluxome Street Winery in SF and LIOCO Wines in Healdsburg. Now, she runs Trail Marker, consults for social impact startups, and dreams of Halloween costumes year round.
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