Mary Ann Tsai grew up in a close-knit, working-class Italian family in Massachusetts. So, it’s not surprising that her first exposure to wine was through her grandfather — a home winemaker.
Later, while studying in France, “I discovered how wine and food enjoyment were an essential part of that enviable culture,” Tsai recalled. “These early experiences helped spark my dream of one day living and working in the Napa Valley.”
Following business school, Tsai worked for Beringer Wine Estates as brand vice president of marketing. After 12 years at Beringer, she was president at Luna Vineyards for another 12 years.
Eventually, with her husband, Larry, they launched Moone Tsai Wines, “and we’ve never looked back,” she wrote.
“While at times challenging, we have been able to build a business perfectly aligned with our values, interests, and lifestyle. It really is a dream come true.”
1. What was your childhood ambition?
To become a translator at the United Nations. With that in mind, I pursued French through high school, and during college, I spent a year in the Loire Valley.
Note: My (well-meaning) parents’ early ambition for me was that I become a hairdresser!
2. What was your first job?
After college, I headed west for my first full-time job in marketing for the Carnation Co. in Los Angeles. I then moved to Boston to pursue an MBA at Harvard Business School. My dream was to work in the wine business in Napa Valley, so we moved back to California in 1989. My first job was at Beringer Vineyards in marketing.
3. What’s the worst job you ever had?
When I was a teenager, I had a summer job working on an assembly line in a smoke-detector factory in Quincy, Massachusetts.
4. What do you love or like best about what you do?
We love living on Howell Mountain. It is a very beautiful and peaceful place.
We also love sharing our wines and story with people who appreciate the wonderful (and sometimes unexpected) connections that can occur while enjoying well-made wines, delicious cuisine, and good conversation. We have made many lifelong friends through our wine connections.
5. What is the biggest challenge your industry has faced?
On top of the worldwide pandemic, the 2020 Napa wildfires that turned our valley upside down.
6. Who do you most admire in thebusiness world?
Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia (and environmentalist, philanthropist and alpinist): His groundbreaking commitment to environmental activism is inspiring individuals and businesses the world over.
7. What’s one thing Napa could do to help local business?
Napa could do a better job of helping small businesses, including family-owned wineries which are so much a part of the fabric of our industry and our community. I think the extensive and costly permitting process and tasting restrictions currently in place make it especially difficult for small wineries to grow and succeed.
8. If you could change one thing about the wine industry, what would it be?
A better job could be done to balance the interests of wineries of all sizes, including the small, privately owned, family businesses that not only are the backbone of our industry, but allow Napa Valley to stand apart from other key wine regions.
9. What’s your favorite charity or nonprofit?
Among the nonprofits that continue to receive our support: our local fire department and efforts to protect Las Posadas State Forest.
10. What’s something people might be surprised to know about you?
I intentionally jumped out of airplanes during my college years as a member of the skydiving club. I enjoyed nearly 100 freefalls!
Moone Tsai Wines is located at 3111 St. Helena Highway North, St. Helena; 707-913-7913; moonetsai.com
