Donkey and Goat Winery

A Donkey & Goat is a wife and husband owned and operated winery located in Berkeley California. Tracey and Jared Brandt, who own neither donkey nor goat, are the couple behind these naturally made wines, aim to emphasize their distinctive, soulful qualities, which truly represent the earth from which the vines are grown. They do not care about consistency; they care about character. That said, much of their wine is sourced (from organic and sustainable vineyards.) They do a lot of work from their apartment and a “garage” in the countryside. They entered the winemaking business after losing their jobs in the wake of the dot.com crash. They are scientists, having been through the winemaking program at UC Davis. However, it was their training in France under the auspices of Eric Texier, where they learned the art of crafting expressive wines. Their garagiste domaine in California is focused exclusively on Rhone varietals and Chardonnay. The couple love wine and are enthusiastic about the business. Tracy and Jared love to step on the soapbox and preach the virtues of minimum interference wine production. They make very small quantities of each cuvée.