Steven Rea is Acumen’s keystone, anchoring the top-notch wine making and vineyard teams and working closely with owners Eric Yuan and his family to build Acumen into a world-class Cabernet estate on Atlas Peak. Their vision for Acumen is to make Cabernet Sauvignon that represents the best of the Old World and New World in Napa Valley, and Rea, as president and estate director, has been central to this mandate from the beginning.

In addition to exceptional vineyards and vision, Rea notes that a key to their success has been to bring together a team of top-notch professionals who prize collaboration and a positive attitude. Rea’s focus at Acumen has been to combine individual skills and characters in a complementary way to make something that far exceeds the efforts of one individual

With a deep background in real estate, eco-friendly project management and wine, Rea put together a team that included acclaimed vineyard management professionals Steve Matthiasson and Garrett Buckland and highly-regarded wine maker Denis Malbecto work with the Yuan son the acquisition of an ideal Napa
Valley vineyard site.After acquiring the vineyard on Atlas Peak in 2012, Rea and his team under took not
just a significant vineyard development program, but the creation of the Acumen brand.

“Atlas Peak is the ideal location for what we are trying to achieve with Acumen,”says Rea. “The red, rocky soils, mountainside location and long growing season give us wines with fully mature flavors at moderate alcohol levels–a combination of elegance, complexity and structure. We have a very deliberate focus on making Cabernet with the finest qualities of the Old World and New World, and our team firmly believes we have the perfect vineyards to realize this goal.”

A native of LosAngeles, Steven Rea has enjoyed a successfu career in real estate and management consulting in the U.S. and internationally. Early on he began focusing on environmental sustainability in his practice, and he has worked extensively to promote social and environmental sustainability in business. His love of wine led him to study with the Court of Master Sommeliers. He believes that wineries can be both responsible and successful at the same time, and he notes that passion and commitment to these beliefs are the keys to success.

Steve lives in Napa and rides his horse daily through Acumen’s Atlas Peak Vineyards. He regularly travels in the U.S. and Asia to share the Acumen story and it’s wines.