As a boy growing up on the outskirts of Detroit, David Girard thought more about hockey, snow, and auto plants than vines and grapes. But after working in his father’s gas station through high school and college, a stint as an Army enlistee, a Ford manager and accountant, and armed with an MBA from Wayne State University and a law degree from the University of Michigan, a California perspective seemed like a good idea. With wife and daughter Rachael in tow, David moved to Berkeley where he earned his Ph.D. After practicing law briefly, he moved to Europe for a year where he studied and traveled. Upon his return, David accepted a position as a professor at U.C. Santa Barbara in the Graduate School of Education where he taught educational finance and law.

After three years, David returned to Berkeley where his second daughter, Yvette was born. He taught for some six years at U.C. Berkeley before returning to the practice of law, primarily representing schools and colleges. This is the work that brought David to the Sierra Foothills. Today he continues to practice law, yet feels the tug of the vineyard grow stronger with each passing year. As for other interests, David has been an avid runner for over 35 years and continues to run an occasional 10k and a rare half-marathon. He has abandoned marathons because they hurt too much. During the weekend, when he’s taking a break from planting flowers and landscaping at the vineyard, you can find him on the winery patio sipping a chilled glass of Viognier-Roussanne.