Dr. Madiaha Revana

Founded in 1997 by Houston Cardiologist and Sole Proprietor, Dr. Madaiah Revana. His vision has been to produce world-renowned, site-specific wines from exceptional vineyards. He has accomplished exactly that with three remarkable brands, each named on Top 100 lists and located in California’s Napa Valley, Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and Argentina’s Uco Valley.

When I started looking for a vineyard in Napa Valley, I wanted raw land to develop it from scratch and learn about grape growing. The desire to farm grapes is rooted in my upbringing on the family’s farm where we produced rice, sugar cane, mangoes, coconuts, bananas, jack fruit, papaya, and flowers. I still remember the mangoes and haven’t tasted one since childhood that can compare.

The homes in my village were modest and had no running water or electricity, but the villagers weren’t poor. It was just the way things were then. Farm life was filled with fun things to do. My ten siblings and I played in nature and napped under the trees. Operating a winegrowing estate is perhaps less tranquil but I get the same satisfaction from farming grapes as our family’s crops.

In retrospect, I accomplished much in life due to a nurturing and supportive family, self-discipline, and a determination to give maximum effort to everything I undertake.

It started with a commitment to learning and education. My circumstances didn’t feel easy, even in middle school. It was a mile from the farm, and I walked there every day. At night, I read my books under a kerosene lamp. I left the farm to go to high school in Nelamangala, a nearby town where my oldest brother lived, and moved in with him so I could focus on my studies. I was fortunate to live with another brother while in university so I could continue to study hard. My dedication and their sacrifice paid off, and I graduated medical school as Valedictorian in a class of 224 students. Looking back, it seemed so unlikely to be chosen for this honor as a kid from a tiny village.

While at university, I discovered a passion for cardiology and decided medicine would be my career. My oldest brother encouraged me to study medicine. I wanted to be an engineer, as I was not good in math or physics, but I was very good in chemistry. Based on my academic achievements, I received a scholarship to attend Mysore Medical College, one of the best medical schools in India. It was a pivotal moment.

My oldest brother had the most impact on my life. His support and encouragement proved to be life changing. Despite having four children to raise, he covered my expenses outside my scholarship. I also had help from my medical school roommate, who was one year older. He loaned me his books, so I didn’t need to purchase my own. Their kindness helped me get through medical school with few expenses.

Education taught me to focus, and I allowed little to interrupt my studies.

After graduating from medical school, I studied for the ECFMG exam to apply for residency programs in the United States and eventually practice medicine there. The USA is the best country for postgraduate training in the world. This rigorous exam is required of all international medical school graduates but wasn’t offered in India because the country didn’t want its doctors to immigrate. Kuala Lumpur was the closest location I could take the exam, and my family borrowed money so I could attend. I had just one chance to pass.

Based on my ECFMG test score and history of academic excellence, I was accepted for a three-year residency in internal medicine in New York. This was an uncommon accomplishment because international medical school graduates were required to spend four years in residency. I spent my first two years in New York and transferred to Philadelphia to finish. I then completed my cardiology training in Dallas at Baylor Medical Center.

I never drank alcohol until a group of us went to a bar to celebrate medical school graduation and a friend ordered everyone a beer. I remember feeling a bit tipsy and can now laugh at my worry that my inebriation was a sign I might be an alcoholic. When I moved to New York, I was introduced to wine by a resident who was a collector and I started learning about it. I also went skiing for the first time. I started to live a little. But that ended when I moved to Philadelphia to complete my residency.

Opportunity took me to Dallas to complete my cardiology training. When I was in New York City I met a fellow from the same state in India. We maintained a friendship throughout the years, and when I finished my Dallas training, he invited me to join him in a private practice in Houston. In Houston I met fellow physicians who were wine collectors. I started collecting first growth Bordeaux wines. I started learning about wine and this became my passion and hobby. Houston, I worked to develop my palate and discovered I truly loved wine.

I had been to Napa Valley just once, in the mid 1970’s, when I was a medical resident, on a bus tour from San Francisco. There were fewer wineries then, and I remember the bust took us to Mondavi.

In 1997, I went to a medical meeting in the area and stopped in Napa Valley again. This time I met a realtor introduced by a friend in Houston. The realtor showed me a beautiful place on the west benchland in Saint Helena and introduced me to Jim Barbour, now my vineyard manager. Jim strongly advised I purchase the property saying, “This is the last best piece of property left on the Napa floor. It’s going to make killer wine”. We planted the vineyard in 1998, and shortly after, it came time to think about a winemaker. Jim suggested Heidi Barrett, who was making wine for Screaming Eagle, Grace, and Dalla Valle. Our inaugural release of 2001 Cabernet was featured in the 2004 Cabernet issue of Wine Spectator for the very first time.

In creating Revana Estate, I wanted to make one of the best wines in the world, which remains my objective today. I felt that controlling every aspect of the winemaking process was crucial to meeting that goal, so we started construction on a winery which opened in 2004. My intuition was correct. Our 2007 Revana Estate Cabernet Sauvignon was named the #4 wine in the world by Wine Spectator.

Accolades and scores come and go. I never wrote a business plan for Revana Estate. I feel giving people a memorable experience is the best marketing. If we do that right and concentrate on quality, we will be successful. I had the same approach in my medical practice. Take care of patients and do the best for them, and the business will flourish.

I have many wine interests, and Revana Estate satisfies just one. My love for Burgundies led me to research where to go to make that style of wine. I met winemaker Lynn Penner Ash in Houston at a wine event in 2005, and asked if she would be interested in a project to produce Pinot Noir from Oregon. I traveled there to meet her, and she took me to some of the area’s best vineyards. I was impressed. I came across a property in its third leaf and purchased it in 2006, naming it Alexana after my daughter. We harvested the grapes that year and made a small inaugural vintage. I began an aggressive development project, completing the tasting room in 2010 and the winery in 2012.

I went on a wine country adventure to Argentina in 2008 to taste the local wine and visited The Vines of Mendoza in the Uco Valley. The region was intriguing – alluvial soils in high altitude, yet a temperate climate. This is a beautiful place with unobstructed view of the Andes Mountains. I fell in love with Mendoza and bought acreage, and I met Michael Evans and Santiago Achaval who helped design the winery. I became the first vintner to produce a GSM Rhone varietal from Argentina.

Development in Argentina is not easy. I needed just a few feet of pipe to connect the winery to electricity, but this took far longer and was more expensive than anticipated. For three years we ran the winery on a generator. We finally opened Corazon del Sol winery in 2014 and produced our first vintage. Our first three vintages were made elsewhere.

Within ten years, I created thriving wineries in three of the world’s most collectible wine regions. I continue to be inspired and contemplate the future.

I love the wine business. It gives you the opportunity to meet people and I am fortunate to have met many over the years. I haven’t met everyone I want to meet.

I continue to repay the generosity of my family and help the next generation start their own stories. And I visit India every year.