People
About Our Team
Founded in 2019, Annulus is a small, family-owned wine venture focused on celebrating the finest heritage vineyards in Napa Valley. Winemaker Nigel Kinsman ushers our fruit from vine to glass, and Michel Rolland lent his extraordinary expertise as our Consulting Oenologist until his passing in 2026, leaving a lasting imprint on our wines and on all of us who knew him.
Luke Evnin & Deann Wright
Proprietors
Our passion for Napa Valley wines was ignited in the mid-’80s when we began visiting and exploring the area. In 2000, looking for an escape from San Francisco summer fog, we purchased our home in Rutherford and shortly thereafter began dreaming about one day making our own wine. For many years, busy with careers and raising kids, producing a wine remained a dream. Annulus is the realization of that dream.
Luke has devoted his life’s work to discovering and advancing groundbreaking medical research. After studying Molecular Biology at Princeton University, he received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at UCSF. He is Cofounder and Managing Director of MPM Capital and has served on more than 30 boards. He was a co-recipient of the 2017 Global Oncology Visionary Award and has devoted significant effort to his work with the Scleroderma Research Foundation, serving as its Chairman since 2002.
Deann is an attorney and former medical researcher. She has served on the Scleroderma Research Foundation’s Board of Directors since 1999 and has co-directed its Research Program for many years, connecting world-renowned researchers and physicians and catalyzing large-scale projects. As passionate about delicious food as she is about wine, Deann loves to gather family and friends to share a meal and raise a glass, especially for her annual osso bucco dinner during the holidays and her legendary taco parties.
Nigel Kinsman
Winemaker
Nigel began his winemaking career in his native Australia, working in the Adelaide Hills, Victoria, and at Margaret River’s highly regarded Cullen Wines before venturing to Tuscany and, finally, the Napa Valley. The former winemaker at Araujo Estate (for the Cabernet portfolio), he is now winemaker at Accendo Cellars and Bella Oaks. With his wife Shae, Nigel also produces the highly regarded Kinsman Eades wines. Stylistically, Nigel seeks to create wines that are classically proportioned, balanced, and deliberate expressions of time and place.
Alexandra Evnin
Director of Business Relationships
A passionate wine professional, Alex plays an active role in blending and in business strategy. After graduating from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration with a minor in Viticulture & Enology, she moved to New York, where she gained experience across the tech, media, and retail sides of the wine industry at SevenFifty, Leon & Son, and Flatiron Wines & Spirits.
A Certified Sommelier and Captain at Verjus, part of the Quince & Co. restaurant group in San Francisco, Alex is currently pursuing her MS in Viticulture and Enology at University of California, Davis. Her production experience includes harvests at Seavey Vineyard and Mayacamas Winery in Napa Valley, Hirsch Vineyards in Sonoma, and Coal Pit in New Zealand, and she has recently launched her own wine label.
Michel Rolland
Consulting Oenologist
In Loving Memory Since 2026
A native of Bordeaux, Michel was one of the world’s most revered wine consultants and master blenders. For five decades, he contributed his broad experience in winemaking to projects from Argentina to South Africa as well as France and the Americas. A pioneer in matching careful work in the vineyard to craftsmanship in the cellar, Michel guided Annulus in bringing its founding vision—for each cuvée to express the underlying terroir and vintage—to life.
Elena Evnin
Creative Director
As Creative Director, Elena designs the visual experience of Annulus, distilling our story and ethos into a cohesive identity rooted in place, family, and artistry. She graduated from Princeton University with a degree in History and minors in Environmental Studies and Archaeology. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in the History of Art and Archaeology at the Institute of Fine Arts in New York City, focusing on the Italian Renaissance and contemporary artists’ re-engagement with pre-modern art. From afar, she continues to oversee the creation and production of Annulus’s visual elements. In this work, she emphasizes analog craftsmanship, collaborating closely with expert Bay Area artisans to handcraft our materials, including the Annulus bottle labels.
Caitlin O’Connell
Head of Sales & Hospitality
Born on the East Coast, Caitlin worked in restaurants in New York and Boston before taking a wine-education year to visit destinations such as Bordeaux, France and Stellenbosch, South Africa. A certified sommelier and WSET Level 3, her experience ranges from a high-end Cabernet producer in Napa Valley to the premier sparkling wine château of Domaine Carneros to managing the entire guest experience for a family-owned Pinot Noir house on the West Sonoma Coast. When not working in wine, Caitlin is passionate about interior design, camping and hiking, and spending time with her family and pup Tucker. She joins the Annulus team excited to continue pursuing her passion for fine wine and incredible hospitality.