Winery Story

Memento Mori

Hayes Drumwright often describes his near-death experience at age twenty as the catalyst that shaped his life. Long before he co-founded the Napa Valley wine estate Memento Mori, he learned—in the most personal way—that nothing is guaranteed. The winery’s name, a Latin reminder that death is inevitable, is not just a marketing gimmick. For Drumwright, it is a literal autobiography.

Unbreakable

“I believe that names can have a certain kind of power, so I don’t choose them lightly,” Drumwright recalls. The story he tells is stark. During his senior year of college, then a Division I swim team captain, he went from feeling invincible to being told he needed immediate surgery for a cancer diagnosis. “I...