Our Friendship

The Envolve Winery story begins with boyhood friends with a dream of making delicious wines from their beloved hometown, Sonoma. Mike and Ben first became friends in the 6th grade, where they astonished classmates with the weeknight sleep over.

Danny and Mike met in the 7th grade, when Mike’s dad accidentally clipped Danny in the chin with a baseball during batting practice. They’ve been great friends ever since.

After adventurous, adolescent years filled with sports, laughs and ATV accidents, the three young men later went their separate ways; Mike moved to White Plains, New York to pursue degrees in Business & History. While playing 4 years of college basketball, Benziger scored over 1,000 points, almost setting the school’s 3 point record. Ben attended University Of Arizona, where he continued his love for music, and even created his own major, Music Production. On the side Ben became passionate about other crafts such as microbrewing and winemaking. Danny set off on a two year wine adventure, couchsurfing and camping through more than 50 wine regions, while completing his executive Wine MBA at Bordeaux Ecole de Management.

Drawn back to Sonoma through family events, holidays and a desire to escape the hectic world called “Reality”, all 3 friends returned to Sonoma. Satisfied with their worldly adventures, and with the help of some great mentors in the wine business, they set about entering into the wine world.

Mike and Ben decided in 2008 to finally grab the proverbial bull by the horns and launch their own wine brand following years of working for others. “I had worked selling wine for years and had performed an extensive internship at my family’s winery in Sonoma, Benziger Winery,” Mike explains, “That gave me a unique understanding of viticulture, all facets of production, and also, market work. I was fortunate to learn the business from the ground up, and was enjoying working for others, but this notion of making wines with Ben just kept rearing its head. You get to a point in your life where you can no longer deny a dream. Ben and I reached that point in 2008. That’s when we decided to launch.”

With a few successful vintages under their belt, and a growing local demand for their wines, especially the Sauvignon Blanc, the two friends decided to expand and invited Danny Fay to join Envolve. Fay brought a wealth of marketing and brand development experience to Envolve, as well as another friendship. From there, the three realized their dreams evolved into the same passion……….wine.