About Us
Parallel Napa Valley is the only winery with a direct association between Park City, UT and Napa Valley, CA. In an homage to skiing, Parallel refers to the tracks first left after an initial run down the ski slopes. The label is creatively designed and abstractly reflects these “ski tracks.”
Established in 1999, Parallel Wines is marking its 26th anniversary under the guidance of Principal Winemaker Philippe Melka and now his Atelier Melka Team. The genesis of the winery traces back to the 1970s, when four couples, bonded by their intertwined lives in real estate and development in Park City, Utah, as well as their shared passions for skiing, Napa Valley wines, and culinary exploration, forged enduring friendships.
Central to our ethos is our unwavering commitment to philanthropy, a cornerstone since our inaugural wine release in 2005. Today, as we commemorate 27 years, we are thrilled to announce that our contributions have totaled nearly $1.7 million, benefitting 78 charitable endeavors nationwide.
We stand with immense pride, humility, and gratitude for the opportunity to support numerous deserving causes, and eagerly anticipate expanding our philanthropic endeavors in Napa Valley, Park City, and beyond.
However, it is with heavy hearts that in the autumn of 2020, we mourned the loss of one of our Founding Partners, Mike Doilney, after his courageous battle with brain cancer.
In February 2026 we lost a second Founding Partner, Ann MacQuoid, who passed peacefully at home after years of a brave and largely private battle with autoimmune disease.
Though deeply missed, the legacy of these two Founding Partner lives on through Parallel Wines, a testament to their enduring impact and spirit.
Meet Our Team
Mac and Ann MacQuoid
Founding Partners
As one gets to know the partners who created Parallel Wines – the collaboration of eight close friends – a shared love of four things emerges: community, each other, skiing, and of course, wine. Mac and Ann are no different. Ann, a native Texan, puts it best, “Mac and I met in Los Angeles in the early 1970’s, fell madly in love, and the rest is history.”
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The pair married and had a daughter, Katy, and in 1980 the three free spirits moved to Park City on a lark. Their obvious love of life fit right in with the rest of the Parallel group. So did their eclectic backgrounds: Mac, currently an environmental guru, is a former stock broker, ski resort general contractor and historic renovator. Ann was in public relations and owned a day spa before becoming a Realtor in the booming Park City/Deer Valley real estate market. As they continue to be dedicated to Park City and its nonprofit organizations, Mac and Ann set their sights on a new goal: winemaking.
“Wine brings to mind conviviality, community, well-being and of course, terrior, the soil,” Mac says. “I particularly like that wine is so connected to the earth and the sky, which ties in closely to our community work in Park City. It all seems so basic and natural. We are just carrying on the tradition.”
Reflecting on the Parallel partner group, Ann adds, “we’re dear friends who are risk takers, optimistic by nature, fun-loving, but serious about Parallel.”
“Parallel is a dream come true. It sounds trite, but it’s the simple truth. I believe that none of us ever imagined that we would be in the position we are today. We visualize ourselves one day dividing our time between Park City and our beautiful Napa Valley vineyard…what could be better?” – Ann MacQuoid
On Monday, February 2, 2026, we lost one of the great architects of community, and countless friends lost a mentor, champion and confidante. Ann Griffith MacQuoid passed peacefully at home after years of a courageous and largely private battle with autoimmune disease. She was — as so many knew her — a force of grace, grit and generosity. Ann leaves behind her soulmate, dance partner and husband of nearly 53 years, Mac; her daughter and best friend, Katy; her son-in-law and business partner, Josh; and the light of her life, her grandson, Bodie. Ann MacQuoid did not simply live in Park City. She helped create it. And her legacy will endure in its open spaces, its thriving arts, its spirit of enterprise — and in the countless lives she lifted along the way.
Steve and Val Chin
Founding Partners
“There is a ‘uniqueness’ about the members of the Parallel group, who moved to Park City in the 1970s, and it’s embodied in our partnership. We are an eclectic group of folks that is passionate about what we do and how we live. We are also risk takers that think outside the box. We constantly are looking for creative ways to make things better, whether it’s in the arts, open space, an educational system or our wine.” – Val Chin
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When they married, native Californians Steve and Val were on the fast track to highly successful careers in Los Angeles. Steve worked as a CPA for Kenneth Levanthal & Co. and Val was in college administration for Loyola Marymount University.
But something was missing – the pair had no time to indulge their passion for skiing. Throwing caution to the wind (a common thread among the Parallel partners), they packed their things and headed for Park City, telling everyone that they would be back after one ski season. That was 30 years ago and they “never looked back.”
Today, they can share credit for the Renaissance that has reshaped Park City. Maintaining his CPA, Steve made his mark in real estate, and has served on the board of the Chamber of Commerce and Kimball Arts Center, while Val owned a bookstore and became an activist for education. She went from starting the first pre-school in Park City to the President of the School Board. She currently is the VP of the Park City Performing Arts Foundation and is on the board for the Utah Natural History Museum and co-chair of the US China Peoples Friendship Association (Utah chapter).
The timing of their move couldn’t have been more perfect. In the early 1970s, Park City was a jewel of a small town with a rich mining history, but it had fallen on hard times. With the arrival of the group of Parallel friends, a commitment to the community was formed that continues to flourish today.
“The mid-70’s was a magical time in our ski town,” Steve says. “There was a convergence of young people who had a vision of what Park City could become. We rolled up our sleeves and all became involved in various aspects of community building. Our two sons, Joshua and Cameron, had the good fortune of being raised in a town with a terrific educational system coupled with a sports mecca right outside their front door.”
Now, after more than two decades of friendship, the group begins its next adventure, one that is also framed by one of their shared passions: great wine.
“The creation of Parallel is an embodiment of who we are as a couple, and as friends and partners,” Val says. “Our wine reflects the love, integrity, tenacity, thoughtfulness and patience that go into all lasting relationships.” She continues, “The most obvious parallel between Park City and Napa is the sense of community and the passion for life that exists in both places. Also, both communities are tied to the land that so generously gives to us.”
Bulent and Mary Pulak
Partners
“Bulent and I are the odd couple who joined Parallel partners in 2007 due to the great friendships we have made and the wine we fell in love with. It all started back in 1999 when we first set eyes on Park City, Utah flying from Istanbul, Turkey for a ski holiday with family. Not only did we get to experience the best snow in the world but also some of the nicest people to get to know, our first being Val and Steve Chin.
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Through the Chins we have enriched our list of friends, those especially a part of Parallel. Our first introduction to Napa Valley happened when our Parallel friends invited us to the Napa Wine Auction several years back when Parallel was a baby. We became fascinated with the life of winemaking. We were thrilled when the partners asked us on board and our pride in Parallel Wine truly matches theirs.
It has been 35 years of marriage for Bulent and I. We met in 1972 in Tucson, Arizona while Bulent studied for his Masters at the UofA and I was fulfilling my nursing career. Who would have thought while dancing with this handsome Turkish man at a disco that we would become an item and I would end up living in Istanbul all these years? It has been an adventure to say the least. Out of this union we have a daughter and son.
Due to Bulent’s success in business we have been blessed and are fortunate to travel the world. Most of our best memories, though, have been in Park City. We didn’t hesitate to make it our second home. We spend 4 1/2 months during the winter in our home in Deer Valley.”
“Our first introduction to Napa Valley happened when our Parallel friends invited us to the Napa Wine Auction several years back when Parallel was a baby. We became fascinated with the life of winemaking. We were thrilled when the partners asked us on board and our pride in Parallel Wine truly matches theirs” – Mary Pulak.
Adrienne D.A. Smith
MBA, CIA’15, Managing Partner
Adrienne grew up in the Garden State of New Jersey, where food – then wine – became the two biggest passions in her life. Prior to pursuing food and wine, she first had a successful 20-year career raising more than $50M in the nonprofit sector as a professional fundraiser in Virginia, New York City and California. In 2014, she left her position as an Assistant Dean at the University of California-Davis to pursue a culinary degree from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Napa Valley. There she excelled receiving numerous scholarships from the CIA and the National Restaurant Association, and graduated with awards for culinary and management achievements. Adrienne also passed the Introductory Exam from the Master Guild of Sommeliers.
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Following culinary school, Adrienne was “called” back to the nonprofit sector and became the first Vice President of Development for Napa Valley Community Foundation. Most notable during her tenure, she helped the staff and Board of Directors collect $18M+ (from more than 20,000 contributions) during the 2017 Napa County Fire Complex.
Although, her two abiding passions of food and wine never left her. Adrienne joined the team at Parallel Napa Valley in June, 2018 as their Director of Hospitality and Marketing, was promoted to General Manager six months later, and then invited to join as a Partner in December 2021. With the whip-smart, fun and ‘zest for life’ Founding Partners; amazingly beautiful wines; and a strong brand presence in Napa Valley and beyond, building on Parallel’s 25+ years of winemaking history with Philippe Melka and the Atelier Melka Team has been a priviledged and rewarding challenge.
More recently, Adrienne launched the Napa Valley Wine Study—a qualitative research project designed to uncover the motivations, values, and behaviors of high-end Napa Valley wine buyers. It is inspired by successful donor segmentation strategies Adrienne used in her 20+ year career as a professional nonprofit fundraiser and shaped by the book, The Seven Faces of Philanthropy. Just as that research revolutionized fundraising, Adrienne believes this study can do the same for the luxury wine industry—first for Napa Valley, and then nationally and perhaps even globally. Her goal is to create a luxury wine consumer segmentation to identify common profiles among buyers and their shared values, behaviors, and emotional drivers, which will complement the industry’s current quantitative data with rich, human-centered insights.
Adrienne is actively seeking participants for her study! Please join the study and pass it along to Napa Valley wine-loving friends.
Adrienne has BS in Business Administration and BA in Leadership Studies from the University of Richmond, VA; an MBA in Finance from Pace University in NYC; and an AA in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America-Greystone in St. Helena.
Adrienne lives in downtown Napa, loves running along the Napa River, gardening, and of course, cooking, eating and drinking wine.
