OUR
WINEMAKERS
Mick Drago and Jeff Lazenby have produced the wine from Vince
Ferragamo's vineyard since 2010. Mick founded Belle Marie Winery in 2000,
and Jeff is General Manager and Assistant Winemaker.
Mick Dragoo
Mick Dragoo's appreciation for winemaking began during the Vietnam War, when he served in the Army as a maxillofacial surgeon treating trauma patients arriving home from the war in Northern California. On his off-time, he would visit Napa Valley wineries to unwind, and was impressed to discover some parallels between the art and science of winemaking and surgical reconstruction. After retiring from a successful periodontal practice in Reno, Nevada, Dragoo returned to Napa Valley to begin his next career, as a professional windemaker. Twenty years later, Mick and Mary Dragoo relocated to Southern California and opened Belle Marie Winery, a micro-boutique winery in Escondido, California that produces thirty or more wines every year in a wide variety of styles, but with a particular speciality in full-bodied, blended red wines. With an inventory of up to 78 different grape varietals available each year, Dragoo travels up and down California to the best growing regionsand vineyards in the state from which harvest his grapes. In his spare time, Dragoo continues to develop and teach state-of-the-art surgical practices to surgeons worldwide.
Jeff Lazenby
Mick Dragoo's appreciation for winemaking began during the Vietnam War, when he served in the Army as a maxillofacial surgeon treating trauma patients arriving home from the war in Northern California. On his off-time, he would visit Napa Valley wineries to unwind, and was impressed to discover some parallels between the art and science of winemaking and surgical reconstruction. After retiring from a successful periodontal practice in Reno, Nevada, Dragoo returned to Napa Valley to begin his next career, as a professional windemaker. Twenty years later, Mick and Mary Dragoo relocated to Southern California and opened Belle Marie Winery, a micro-boutique winery in Escondido, California that produces thirty or more wines every year in a wide variety of styles, but with a particular speciality in full-bodied, blended red wines. With an inventory of up to 78 different grape varietals available each year, Dragoo travels up and down California to the best growing regionsand vineyards in the state from which harvest his grapes. In his spare time, Dragoo continues to develop and teach state-of-the-art surgical practices to surgeons worldwide.