Michael Hirby grew up in a musical and creative family that had a deep love of food and cooking. At The Colorado College, he honed these skills and developed a serious interest in wine. After graduating with a degree in Philosophy, Michael worked as a Sommelier for a few years before deciding that winemaking was the next step; and after spending several months exploring the wine country in Spain and France, he made his way to Napa Valley.

There he worked in the cellar with Les Behrens of (Behrens and Hitchcock and Erna Schein) for 2 years, until he was hired to be the winemaker for Realm Cellars in 2002. Michael has since gone on to make wine for several different high-end projects, as well as his own brand Relic Wines, all of which have garnered consistently outstanding ratings.

Michael feeds his winemaking and vineyard skills through his insatiable appetite for information. His intimate knowledge of grape flavor development in the vineyard and individualistic winemaking practices are deeply entrenched within a naturalist philosophy. Michael joined D. R. Stephens Estate as the winemaker in May 2010.