Chris Carpenter views winemaking as a perfect combination of his years working in the restaurant industry, both in Chicago and Napa Valley, his love of the sciences, food and wine, and an outlet for his creative side. Graduating from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and the University of Illinois, Chicago with a Masters of Business Administration in Marketing and International Business his next step took him to the University of California at Davis.

As a result of that move Chris received his Masters of Science in Horticulture from the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis. He gained experience at Domaine Carneros Winery, at Domaine Chandon - California and at Tenute Antinori, Santa Cristina Estate in Montefiridolfi, Italy.

Chris joined the winemaking team at Lokoya in 1998 as Enologist. In 1999 he was promoted to Assistant Winemaker. He was named Lokoya Winemaker in 2000.

Chris lives in Napa Valley with his wife, Tina and daughters, Maggie and Sadie. He established the Napa Valley Convivium of the Slow Food Movement in 1998 and is currently the Convivium Leader and the Vice Chairman on the Slow Food USA Board of Directors, overseeing 12,000 members nationwide. He is an alumnus from Class 34 of the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation.