Two lifelong friends, Kevin Healey, and Sherman Smoot, founded Bella Luna Estate Winery in 1998. They met playing t-ball on the Central Coast and then went on to become the quarterback and center of their High school football team in Atascadero. After serving their country in the Vietnam War, their lives took very different directions, ultimately reuniting them later.

Bella Luna was born from a night of reminiscing and catching up on lost time. In the morning, it still sounded like a good idea to become partners in a winery, and at the young age of 50, they planted dry-farmed Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Ruby Cabernet.

They both had children. Sherman had a daughter named Carly and a son named Jimmy. Carly was the only 8-year-old on the planet who didn’t want a pony, and instead, Sherman named the vineyard after her. Kevin has a daughter named Nichole, who was often grounded in high school and made to work with him either in the vineyard or winery as punishment. Well, she enjoyed being in the vineyard and winery, and she went to Fresno State and got a BS in Enology and Viticulture.

Nichole ended up making wine in Australia after college. Her three-month internship turned into 7.5 years after she met and fell in love with Lukas, a local in the wine industry in Margaret River, Western Australia.In 2018 Lukas and Nichole immigrated back to California to help her dad expand Bella Luna and be close to family as they raise their kids, Stevie and Zephyr.