Two brands. Four friends.
one little spot by the river
Alli + Bertus of Belong Wine Co. and Kyle + Laura of Paper Planes became friends after meeting during the 2017 wildfires in Napa Valley (that’s another story).
A few years later, they found themselves making wine under the same roof, hosting pop-ups together, and dreaming about a place where they could pour their wines, welcome friends and neighbors, bring the kids, play good music, and do things a little differently.
In 2023 a friend called about a little space in the Tannery building that was tucked away, slightly unexpected, and right on the river.
The River Club was born.
Belong Wine Co.
The van Zyl Family
Alli and Bertus met during the 2010 harvest in Napa. He’s a winemaker from Cape Town, South Africa, she’s a California girl who’s always up for an adventure. They fell in love over a bottle of Domaine Tempier Mourvèdre and started Belong seven years later.
They’ve been building Belong, and a life around it, together ever since. When Bertus isn’t making Belong, he’s also behind the wines at Tank Garage Winery + James Cole.
Along the way came daughters Margo + Maddie and Peaches, their golden retriever and unofficial River Club employee.
Paper Planes Wine Co.
The Gabriel Family
Kyle and Laura met in film school in Boston in 2008 and moved to LA — until a single trip to Napa, where Laura grew up, had Kyle questioning everything. He started brewing beer in their apartment closet and taking wine classes. In 2014, things escalated fast: they got engaged, crowdfunded to launch Paper Planes, quit their jobs, and moved to Napa to dive into the wine business full-time.
Today, when Kyle’s not making wine, he produces animated TV shows. And when they’re not at The River Club, you can catch the Gabriels running around town with their two kids, Noah and Ella (with one more on the way!).
