Our Story
Cross over the iconic Freeport Bridge, the historical visual over the Sacramento River in the heart of the Delta and make a left, then straight on the river road until you see the majestic brick building in the horizon. It’s easy to navigate your way to Elevation Ten, our boutique winery inside Clarksburg’s historic Old Sugar Mill, where friends and family come to gather over a great glass of wine and a beautiful setting.
Just 15 minutes from Downtown Sacramento, our little town of Clarksburg, in Yolo County invites you away from the city life and into a thriving agricultural community ready to welcome you home; even if just for an afternoon. Our three founding families – the Clark, DiMare and Wallace families – have come together with winemaker Marco Cappelli to cultivate our artisanal and approachable wines. With a bottle that equally belongs on the porch on a Tuesday as it does for a toast at a celebration, Elevation Ten wines are made to enjoy paired with close friends, great times, and lifelong memories.
Our name is a little nod to our roots in Clarksburg, which is located ten feet above sea level. We love life in our pastoral town, but every now and again we’ll catch a bit of wanderlust as we venture to other California elevations to find a new varietal or an exciting new vineyard from places such as Napa Valley, Alexander Valley in Sonoma, to bottle up and bring home to the Elevation Ten collection. We’re known for proprietary blends including our Proprietor’s red blend and Proprietor’s vin Blanc, but also the finest small blocks of Cabernet Franc and Fiano from Clarksburg.
Partners
Our partners work together at the heart of the business, bringing a collective depth of experience, creativity, and strategic insight that shapes everything we do. United by a shared vision, they lead with a strong focus on quality, collaboration, and delivering meaningful results. Each partner contributes their own expertise and perspective, allowing the team to approach projects with balance, clarity, and a well-rounded understanding. Their collaborative approach ensures that every idea is carefully developed and every detail thoughtfully executed.
They remain actively involved across all stages of a project, providing guidance, consistency, and a high standard of work from concept through to completion. Their leadership fosters a culture built on trust, accountability, and continuous improvement, encouraging both innovation and precision. By working closely together, they create a seamless experience for clients while maintaining a clear and consistent vision.
As a partnership, they are committed to building long-term relationships and delivering work that is not only effective, but also considered, refined, and impactful.
Marco Cappelli, Winemaker
Marco Cappelli is the amazingly talented and dedicated wine maker for Elevation Ten. Marco has had a passion for wine from his early days in college, and continues to develop and perfect his winemaking talents on a daily basis.
With formal training at U.C. Davis, Marco acquired a Bachelors degree in Enology and set off for Europe for more practical training. Marco spent the next year in Italy, followed by six months in France learning the magic of winemaking. While his formal education at UC Davis had given Marco a solid theoretical foundation in winemaking, Europe helped refine his palate and gave him a deeper understanding of what wine is and how to enjoy it. While in Italy, Marco learned that wine is food, as important a part of the daily meal as bread and pasta. France taught him to recognize how soil, climate and human factors influence the character and personality of wine.
After returning to the US, Marco decided to embark on a winemaking career in Napa Valley. He landed his first job at Saintsbury Winery in Carneros as a cellar worker and soon had the good fortune to meet and become friends with Andre Tchelistcheff. It was Andre who, one year later, introduced him to Clarke Swanson, who later hired Marco to make wines for Swanson Winery, where he worked for 17 years.
Marco lives in the Fair Play region of El Dorado County with his wife, daughter and son, where he operates a small production vineyard selling Zinfandel and Syrah fruit to local wineries. Marco also serves as a consultant wine maker for several wineries in the region. In his free time Marco enjoys playing with his kids or taking a daily walk through his vineyard with his dog Peto. He is also an avid cook, often experimenting with unconventional food and wine pairings and always up to the challenge of putting a dinner together with what he finds in the fridge and pantry. Living on a vineyard and farming grapes is a constant reminder of the singular importance of fruit quality in the pursuit of his craft. As he often says “My job is to preserve the fruit in the form of wine, Mother Nature provides the magic.” Elevation Ten is honored and very proud to have Marco on their team!
Elena Thrower, Director of Business and Hospitality
Elena grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where her family was in the food and wine business. She has a love for how food and wine can bring people together, tell a story, and create experiences. Elena thrives on being part of creating those experiences and memories.
She began her career working with start-up companies in the Bay Area and achieved a Bachelor’s in Communication and a Master’s in Business before moving to Sacramento and starting a family. Elena has two children and worked as a consultant and with community organizations before deciding that the wine industry was where she felt at home and where she wanted her career. She looks forward to creating exemplary hospitality and experiences while sharing our award winning wines.
Elena makes our wine club members and customers feel like part of the family and never lets someone come into the tasting room without greeting them. When she is not in the tasting room Elena is working behind the scene Elevation Ten’s wine club, our communication programs special events and business needs.
Elena brings her love of wine, food, people, and community to Elevation Ten. When you join our wine club, you join our family, come see us today.