Our Team
Ron Benza, Founder
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Career #4 had Ron going to UC Berkeley’s Executive Coaching Institute where he became a certified executive coach. That’s where in 2012, he met Trish while she was there courtesy of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The two married in 2015 and Ron thought “Wait, maybe I could fulfill this vineyard dream in little Livermore, CA”, home to 62 wineries. Coaching turned into conducting workshops at both Berkeley and Cal State East Bay. In another strange twist, that led to becoming an adjunct professor at Cal State in Marketing & Entrepreneurship. Ron’s creation of a Design Thinking program for the MBA program was a first for Cal State East Bay.
Just when the wine dream seemed to be slipping away, fate intervened again. Trish was made an offer by Intel to run high performance computing (HPC) in Hillsboro, OR. The two looked at each other and said, “the Willamette Valley…Pinot Noir…we’re doing this.”
At the very end of 2016, they made the drive up from Livermore with the Three Tuxedos cats in the car. Life has been a bit of a rollercoaster with the creation and nurturing of the business, building-out of the winery and the repurposing of a new spot on their 26 acre property to be the future tasting room.
As folk like to ask Ron…”Is this your retirement job?” He chuckles and says “ha…some retirement…I’ve never worked so hard in my life”. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Trish Damkroger, Founder
Paden West, Consulting Winemaker
Jessica West, Director of Custom Winemaking
Over the past four vintages, Paden West has played a defining role in shaping Benza’s wines. As Ron is fond of saying, the Benza Winery is truly the “house Paden built.” He elevated Benza’s already successful sparkling program to new heights and led the winery’s expansion into Syrah through the highly regarded Rocks District Syrah program. Paden will continue to be closely involved at all critical junctures, including bottling, vintage planning, and long-term winemaking strategy.
While Benza may see one fewer West in the day-to-day rhythm of the cellar, we are delighted to welcome another. Jessica West—Paden’s partner and a highly accomplished winemaker in her own right—joins Benza as Director of Custom Winemaking. In this role, Jessica will oversee Benza’s growing portfolio of custom still and sparkling wine clients, including winemaking, tirage bottling, storage, and disgorging operations.
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And in the most practical sense of all, this means that Bowie—Jess and Paden’s Cavalier King Charles Spaniel—will be on property every day, happily supervising operations and frolicking with the rest of the Benza canine crew.
Alicia Kuehn, Operations Manager
Ivan Minuet, Assistant Winemaker
Ivan hails from Florida by way of Argentina.
His love for cooking took him to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA Hyde Park) where he graduated in 2019, trained in both classical French and contemporary American cuisines.
Ivan’s continuing journey took him to work in high-end country clubs as well as the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida. A chance meeting with Pamela MacClellan–a former neighbor of Benza Vineyards and veteran of Dusky Goose Winery in the Willamette Valley–led her to wonder if Ivan could be a Benza harvest intern. He had already expressed a strong interest in becoming a future winemaker to complement his culinary skills.
Pamela’s keen eye proved prophetic and Ivan’s work ethic did the rest. Ivan seems to fit right in at Benza Vineyards. In his words, “my first harvest at Benza was a romantic life-changing experience”.
Dylan O’Brien, Assistant Winemaker
An Oregon native, Dylan blends local roots with international winemaking experience. After earning a degree in Fermentation Science from Oregon State University, he broadened his craft through harvests in New Zealand and South Africa before returning home to Oregon.
With more than a decade of experience in Oregon’s wine industry, Dylan oversees Benza’s cellar operations, combining technical precision with a deep understanding of cool-climate winemaking to help every vintage express the character of the vineyard.
When not in the cellar, Dylan enjoys exploring Oregon’s outdoors, planning new travel adventures, and spending time with friends and family.
