People

MaryAnn Tsai

Growing up in a spirited Italian family in Boston, Massachusetts, MaryAnn spent summers helping her grandmother tend a verdant garden featuring rows of vegetables, herbs, and an especially precious vineyard. From the last of these, the family celebrated the rite of winemaking; a tradition that young MaryAnn did not fully appreciate until years later.

During her college years, MaryAnn found herself again ensconced in vineyards; this time in a study-abroad program at the University of Angers, France. Located in the glorious Loire Valley, the idyllic town of Angers epitomized French country living and was the perfect place to spark a willing palate for simple, but well-crafted wines and inspired cuisine. It was here that MaryAnn caught "the bug" that would fuel her interest in wines, and ultimately inspire her move to Napa Valley, her graduation from Harvard Business School, and the launch of a wonderful career in the wine industry.

Hired by Mike Moone to join Beringer Wine Estates in 1989, MaryAnn realized a long-standing dream to live and work in the legendary Napa Valley. During this time, and over the next 20+ years, she was involved with producing notable wines and brands, three of which earned the distinction of being named as "Wine Spectator's #1-rated Wine in the World". With the creation of Moone-Tsai wines in 2006, MaryAnn and Larry have set their sights on earning a fourth #1 rating...under the Moone-Tsai banner. Alongside their shared pursuit of this grand-vins endeavor, MaryAnn and Larry are especially proud to raise their two daughters in the fabled Napa Valley wine country that they are pleased to call home.

Larry Tsai

As a first generation Chinese-American boy growing up in the lively North Shore neighborhoods of New York's Long Island, Larry held a peculiar fascination for the "yin-yang" that one might confer upon the daily experience. Indeed, in an environment where conventions frequently compelled forced choices (Yankees v. Mets; Ginger v. Maryann; dim sum vs. lox & bagels; etc.), he often instead strayed to permutations of the many possibilities lying therein, and beyond.

While this fascination might have led him to distraction, he was able to synthesize this into a world view that would prepare him for the many opportunities that awaited him in college, and later, in his professional and personal life. After earning degrees at Princeton and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Larry embarked on a variegated career that enabled him to indulge his intertwining interests in wine, food, and the arts.

By way of his experiences across Fortune 500 companies, and atop emerging gourmet/food/lifestyle enterprises and Napa Valley non-profits; Larry has combined his management skills with a calling to create and deliver extraordinary wines and experiences that support the Moone-Tsai credo.

Since taking the winery's helm in 2010, Larry has moved Moone-Tsai from its single-cabernet-infancy to the brand's current annual production of seven acclaimed wines across 3,000 cases, with distribution in selected U.S. markets and abroad. Along the way, he has found that the simple pleasure of connecting with people who enjoy well-crafted wines is nothing less than divine. Teaching and tasting with the newly impassioned to the more studied and discerning; from Baton Rouge to Bali, Seoul to Sun Valley, Jackson Hole to Jakarta, and Manhattan to Mumbai; he is reminded of the axiom that posits how adept that Napa Valley wines can be in bringing together people over good times and fine conversation.

Philippe Melka

Bordeaux-bred, and mentored by the world's most revered wine masters, Philippe brings to winemaking a philosophy that is elegant in its simplicity and bewitching to its beholders.

Charming yet humble, straightforward but genteel, Philippe is quick to credit the masterful influences of Delmas and Masclef from Haut-Brion; Moueix and Berrouet from Petrus; Paul Draper from Ridge; and Michel Rolland from Chateau Le Bon Pasteur. Notwithstanding Philippe's disarming modesty, the imprint he has left wherever he has applied his "touch" is unmistakable.

Having put the likes of Dominus, Hundred Acre, Bryant Family Vineyards, and Dana Estates on the map for discerning cabernet enthusiasts, the fact that Robert Parker named Philippe as one of the world's top nine consulting winemakers is no coincidence.

Philippe is creating extraordinary wines for Moone-Tsai that bear the imprimatur of his celebrated winemaking style and the winery's core artisanal values, all revealed in the classic combination of distinctive vineyard, terroir and fruit. From this, Moone-Tsai proudly presents exceptional wines of concentrated elegance and finesse...beguilingly balanced with strength, power, and subtle exuberance.