PETER STEINFELD
Head Winemaker / General Manager / "German Hunk"
Peter joined the Naked team in 2010 after serendipity introduced him to Dave and Jody Barringer, owners of Naked Winery. At the time, the Barringer’s were looking for a winemaker when Dave and Peter met on a ski lift at Mt. Hood. Originally from Germany, Peter learned wine-making and distilling at a young age from his German uncle -- the rest is history! When asked about what he enjoys most about his role at Naked Winery, Steinfeld states, "We all work as a team, and I enjoy most that I’m part of such dynamic group of smart and like minded people. We all share the love of getting better at the work we do at Naked Winery.”
ALAINA WALLER
Winemaker /"Girl in Charge"
Helping harvest grapes in her family’s Hood River valley vineyard, Alaina Waller at age 10 couldn’t have dreamed that she herself would one day be turning grapes into wine. After enrolling at Oregon State University to pursue engineering, she found her way to the Food Science department and graduated with a focus in Enology and Viticulture. That's where the dream of becoming a winemaker became reality. Following harvest at Hogue Cellars (in Prosser, WA) and Gallo Winery (in Modesto, CA), Alaina joined the team in February 2014. Since then she has moved up to oversee white winemaking in Hood River and always finds new ways to improve our reserve program and develop new wine club exclusive blends.
MARK CHARGIN
Winemaker /"Mad Scientist"
Mark was born and raised in San Jose, CA and comes from a family of winemakers. His grandfather, a fourth generation winemaker, immigrated to the US with his family in 1959 from Croatia. In 1976, his grandfather started his own winery in Gilroy, CA. This is where Mark caught the “wine bug” and worked many harvests there in growing up. Mark graduated from Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo with a B.S. in Fruit Science in 2001. He spent the next 7 years perfecting his craft at Canyon Winer and Golden State Vintners before coming to the Pacific Northwest, where he became Head Winemaker at Duck Pond Cellars and Desert Wind Winery. He was able to craft both cool climate varietals, like Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris grown in Oregon, and hot climate Bordeaux and Rhone varietals from Washington. In his free time, Mark enjoys spending time with his wife Susan, and young sons, Jackson and James.
TRACY THOMSEN
Winemaker /"Dungeon Master"
If you'd asked him 20 years ago if he dreamed of making wine, Tracy may have said something quite different. Tracy graduated from Universal Technical Institute in 1995 as an Auto/Diesel Mechanic and has worked for several General Motors dealers in his career. He then moved to Hood River, OR to follow the snow. Like David Barringer and Peter Steinfeld, Tracy also shares a passion for snow sports. What brings Tracy to Naked Winery...well...upon his arrival to Hood River in 2010, his roommate asked him if he’d like to bottle some wine as someone had called in sick on the bottling line. The rest is a story, that will require a glass of wine and hopefully a few laughs. Tracy now oversees cellar operations Hood River.
