About Us

In 2015 the company decided to move all of it’s winemaking operations to the thriving Scottsdale, Arizona market. Here, they opened The Desert Rock Urban Winery, Tasting Room, and Wine Education Center. The goal was to utilize 16 years of winemaking experience and bring the wine country feel plus educational efforts to the nation’s fifth largest metropolitan area.

Paul Hoffman has always had a passion for fine wines and the wine business. Having over sixteen years experience in hospitality, sales & marketing, distribution, winemaking/production, and business ownership, he has experienced the world of wine through many facets. Paul began his career in the hotel industry with Stouffer, and then Renaissance Resorts, gaining a great understanding of sales and marketing. In 1995 he took a position as Director of Sales at Bellows International in St. Thomas (USVI) and expanded his skills in profitably managing a diverse product portfolio and preserving strong partner relations. 

Paul left the Caribbean in 2000 and joined Robert Mondavi Corporation. He moved up quickly through the organization assuming responsibility for wine education programs, developing a new sales function for private label wine, and enhancing and developing worldwide sales, marketing and educational programs for fine wine accounts, including duty free. His organizational contributions in national accounts and wine education resulted in his selection of the prestigious Michael Mondavi “Inspiration and Leadership” award.

In 2002, Paul teamed up with three other partners to follow their passion and start producing wine. The partners began Medusa & Spellbound Wines. Paul took the helm and established these two new brands nationally and in key international markets. In a two year period, he grew the brands to impressive levels, won several wine quality awards, received “outstanding” scores from periodicals, and managed the company to a profitable position.

In 2006, Paul had the opportunity to partner with a few renowned winegrowers and harvest grapes from their vineyards to make wine of his own. These wines represent unique parcels of pristine vineyards in Sonoma County farmed with A+ quality in mind. In addition to the vineyard and winery influence, Paul believes a large part of wine’s magic is due to your surroundings while enjoying a bottle, therefore he named the program, Atmosphere Wines. Knowing these vineyards could only produce a small amount of wine, Paul decided to create Curveball. These highly acclaimed wines are focused on putting different appellations, varietals, winemaking techniques and taste profiles together to represent the best of the vintage. The Rock n Roll infused brand, Headbanger, launched in 2010 followed by 401K in 2011. In 2014, the Headbanger brand expanded into spirits with it’s American Gold Whiskey selection.

Distributed wine brands, 401K and Headbanger, led the charge while the company opened tasting rooms on the famous Sonoma Plaza and historic Treasure Island. The company continued to expand with strategic partners joining the efforts which enabled the launch of Headbanger American Gold Whiskey.

In 2015 the company decided to move all of it’s winemaking operations to the thriving Scottsdale, Arizona market. Here, they opened The Desert Rock Urban Winery, Tasting Room, and Wine Education Center. The goal was to utilize 16 years of winemaking experience and bring the wine country feel plus educational efforts to the nation’s fifth largest metropolitan area.

In addition to the nationally distributed wine and spirits programs, Paul recently opened the Desert Rock Winery & Distillery – a tasting room and educational center in Scottsdale, Arizona. He splits his time between quiet wine country setting of Sonoma Valley and energetic surroundings of Phoenix, Arizona.