Updated posts August 2026
Oceano Wines: A Love Story Rooted in Terroir and Craft
Oceano Wines is a joint venture between Rachel Martin and Kurt Deutsch. The two randomly met at the Middleburg Film Festival in October 2014. They happened to be seated across from each other at a dinner prior to the screening of Kurt’s feature film, The Last Five Years.
Prior to Oceano, and shortly after completing her academic wine education with a degree in Viticulture and Enology from Napa Valley College and a diploma from the prestigious Sensory Evaluation program at the University of Bordeaux School of Enology, Rachel was tasked with jump starting the winery of her stepfather, John Kent Cooke, former owner of the NFL’s Washington Redskins football team. As Executive Vice President of Cooke’s Boxwood Estate Winery, Rachel took Boxwood from being a purely local presence in Virginia’s wine country to a 5,000 case, internationally awarded and distributed brand.
Not only did Rachel impact Boxwood’s position in Virginia’s wine hierarchy, she also spearheaded the effort to gain American Viticultural Area recognition for her region. The Middleburg Virginia AVA was approved by the TTB, the federal agency responsible for determining whether certain areas merit their own AVA designation, after consideration of Rachel’s petition. Attaining that coveted AVA status immediately enhanced the value of all wines and wineries coming from this part of Virginia. Her efforts have been praised by internationally recognized wine experts, including Hugh Johnson, Jancis Robinson, who has lauded her marketing savvy, Oz Clarke, and Steven Spurrier, among others. Boxwood’s wines have earned numerous scores above 90 from some of the most esteemed wine writers both in the United States and abroad.
A Broadway Innovator’s Second Act
Grammy Award winner and founder of Sh-K-Boom and Ghostlight Records, Kurt Deutsch is credited with reinventing the musical theater recording landscape by preserving countless shows in high quality albums through close partnerships with Broadway’s top producers, while also working hand in hand with a new generation of theater artists and composers to merge their work with popular culture at large.
In 2017, Deutsch joined Warner Music Group and currently serves as Senior VP of Warner Music Entertainment and Theatrical Ventures. At WMG, he has been part of the producing team behind Broadway and West End productions including Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, The Cher Show, Beetlejuice, and David Byrne’s American Utopia. American Utopia was honored with a special Tony Award, and the subsequent film directed by Spike Lee earned both Emmy and Grammy nominations. Deutsch is also a lead producer of the Broadway bound musical adaptation of The Notebook.
Where Wine and Partnership Took Root
In 2016, after Rachel’s initial visit to Spanish Springs Vineyard, she and Kurt founded Oceano Wines. From my first visit to the vineyard, I knew exactly what I could make, Martin says. I love minerality and the savory qualities of wine. I knew I could produce a wine like the one I dreamed of in my mind. Their collaboration resulted in both their marriage in 2018 and the release of their first wine, the 2016 Spanish Springs Vineyard Chardonnay.
What makes this origin story particularly fitting is how closely the partnership mirrors the wine itself, two distinct crafts, viticulture and music, coming together through genuine chemistry rather than a calculated business plan. That organic beginning, born from a chance dinner seating, continues to shape the brand’s identity as something built on authentic collaboration rather than pure commercial strategy.
Spanish Springs Vineyard is the sole source of fruit for the chardonnay and pinot noir made by Oceano Wines. Located near the western edge of the newly established San Luis Obispo Coast AVA, Spanish Springs stands out as a rarity within it, since it sits closer to the Pacific Ocean than any other vineyard in this coastal appellation, and arguably closer than any vineyard in the state itself. Spanish Springs proves ideally suited to growing chardonnay and pinot noir. The vineyard also produces a number of other grapes, both white and red, all embodying a signature balance and elegance.
Not surprisingly, given the unspoiled nature of the site, the vineyard is SIP Certified. This Sustainable in Practice designation is arguably more stringent than what’s mandated by the USDA’s Organic program or biodynamic practices, since it touches every part of the grape growing and winemaking process, from planting all the way through how the finished wine is packaged and shipped. The water used to irrigate the vines is delivered via a natural aquifer.
Expanding Into Non-Alcoholic Wine
In Fall 2023, Oceano will launch its first non-alcoholic wines. Oceano Zero was founded on the idea that non-alcoholic wines can be created with the same artistic intention as traditional bottlings. We want to prove that wine lovers wanting to reduce their consumption of alcohol don’t have to lower their standards when it comes to non-alcoholic wine, says Martin.
I’ve been a part of the wine industry for decades and I saw that there was a white space within the market that was left totally untapped, said Rachel Martin, Oceano Wines Founder and CEO. Not wanting to drink alcohol doesn’t mean you don’t want to drink delicious wine or take part in the rituals that come with drinking. That’s why I worked with skilled winemakers to bring Oceano Zero to life and offer consumers a non-alcoholic option that is as luxurious and premium as any of our other fine wines.
Oceano Wines is a WBENC certified women owned business. Rachel is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier’s New York and Washington, DC chapters and was the first woman inducted into the Washington, DC chapter of the International Society of Wine and Food. She and her wines have been featured in The Washington Post, The San Francisco Examiner, Forbes, Food and Wine, and Edible, among many others.
