John Franks

John has been involved in the real estate investment industry since 1978. In the early days he worked as a mortgage broker and founded his first company in 1981, in Newport Beach, CA. He then began syndicating larger real estate investment projects. Throughout the American west he built and renovated multi-family apartment complexes and industrial park developments for long-term cash flow holds.
    Over the course of his career John has been the managing partner of approximately $95M in total  real estate assets. Some of his favorite projects were commercial storage construction developments. His deep knowledge and expertise in real estate investment has led to many successes that have earned him the trust of his capital partners and colleagues alike. John enjoyed ranching and farming in San Luis Obispo, Ca. where he originally developed his palate for California wines. After moving to Napa Valley he wanted to combine his love of wine with his knowledge of long-term storage, which has resulted in the creation of Rutherford Wine Vault. John now enjoys daily life in Rutherford with his trusted sidekick, Tanner, at his side.

Trevor Mallett

Trevor moved from the beaches of Torrance, CA to the wilderness of Northern California to pursue his career as a baseball player at Sonoma State University. Trevor ended up transferring to Santa Rosa Junior College after a year at Sonoma State in order to provide himself with the chance to earn a scholarship to a Division 1 university. After his tenure at Santa Rosa Junior College, he got the opportunity to transfer to the University of Missouri where Trevor played catcher in the Southeastern Conference for the Mizzou Tigers. Trevor graduated from Mizzou’s Trulaske School of Business with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Real Estate. Trevor earned the accolades of SEC’s All-Academic team and Trulaske School of Business’s Deans List.

Trevor moved back to Northern California to be closer to his family after he graduated from Mizzou. Trevor was bitten by the wine bug during his time in Northern California while attending SSU and SRJC. The complexity of the wine industry is what intrigued Trevor to pursue a career in wine. Trevor decided to continue his education by earning his Master’s Degree from Sonoma State University in Wine Business.

Trevor enjoys spending his free time out in nature; fishing, hunting, mountain biking, and going on hikes with his furry companion, Taj. Trevor plans to continue to learn about the intricacies of the wine industry and plans to someday open his own winery back in Missouri.

Mario Sculatti

Mario grew up in the Napa Valley. He is the fourth generation of his family to live in St. Helena since the family came here from Italy over 100 years ago in 1901. Mario first began his career in the wine world by brokering rare & collectible wines to customers around the globe. Then after working in the commercial wine auction business for five years, in dynamic markets such as Asia, he decided to make wine of his own back home.
Over the course of three harvests he became a protege of his dear friend, the late Denis Malbec (who was the former Cellar Master of Chateau Latour) and today Mario carries on Mr. Malbec's exact wine-making techniques during each Napa Valley vintage. Mario's father Ron, was one of the cellar assistants who helped make the famous 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay. Mario is also an avid antique collector. Mario's involvement as a partner in Rutherford Wine Vault is the combination of his two favorite things: history and rare wine.