At Model Citizen, we strive to make approachable and interesting wines that showcase vibrancy, energetic fruit and great tension across the palate. We work with cool climate vineyards throughout central and northern California to craft wines with lively acidity and exceptional freshness. The brand is rooted in the philosophy that wines should be enjoyed with great friends and family in special places.

Forster Meeks and Abner Wyman had spent over a decade chasing snow and stomping grapes before they used their shared expertise to craft the wines for Model Citizen. The friendship is rooted in experiences spent in the Mountain West, great cellars of the Napa Valley, and a shared love for food, wine and sport.

Forster fell into wine work at 18 years old as a matter of chance. In the summer of 2011 Forster was hitchhiking to the base of Mount Hood, to go skiing on the Palmer snowfield when he was picked up by a winemaker from Oregon's Willamette Valley. Stories of long days and camaraderie in the cellar peaked his interest and shortly after he was knee deep in grapes working his first harvest.

In 2015 after a long summer driving snowcats on Mount Hood, Abner was offered a harvest job in Napa. The excitement of harvest was what hooked Abner at first, but the intricacies of winemaking, access to world class vineyard sites and mentorship under an iconic Napa winemaker kept him coming back for more. These days Abner manages a cellar in the north end of Napa Valley and brings winemaking expertise and a detail oriented approach to the forefront of Model Citizen Wines.

Both partners at Model Citizen work closely, using their chemistry and deep network of growers and mentors to craft noteworthy and exciting wines.