2009. Clos de la Tech Rodgers began winemaking in 1996 on a one-acre vineyard surrounding his house in Woodside. Later he bought two additional vineyards and, along with his wife Valeta, Rodgers established the winery Clos de la Tech in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Silicon Valley. Clos de la Tech uses old French winemaking techniques of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti to make five Pinot Noir wines. This includes stomping the grapes with feet and siphoning the wine by hand. Also, no mechanized pumps are used. Clos de la Tech combines these old techniques with high tech monitoring and measures to optimize the conditions for the crops and to handle grapes and wine as gently as possible. Clos de la Tech's Pinot Noirs have been rated up to 96 points by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. As winemaker, Rodgers invented a patented wine press and computer monitored fermenters. He also designed and built the first wireless wine fermentation network, comprising 152 fermenters, and donated the system worth US$3.5 million to the UC Davis winery. Comments on diversity In 1996, Rodgers made headlines when Sister Doris Gormley, the Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, sent him a form letter encouraging him to hire women and minorities on the Cypress board. He replied with a long letter defending his hiring practices and philosophy. In 1999, he wrote an editorial in the San Jose Mercury News denouncing Jesse Jackson's attack on Cypress Semiconductor on what Jackson claimed was discriminatory hiring practices. Personal life Rodgers is an avid jogger and wine enthusiast. He is a supporter of several charities, including Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, and served as a trustee on the Dartmouth College Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2012. He is the husband of Valeta Massey. Awards and recognition 1986: Entrepreneur of the Year by City of Santa Clara, California 1988: ENCORE (Entrepreneurial Company of the Year) Award from the Stanford University Business School 1996: "CEO of the year" – Financial World 1997 Outstanding Individual Entrepreneurship Award from the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship 2000: Award from the Healing Institute for his support of the Carver Scholars Program 2001: Cited as one of the "100 People Who Changed Our World." by Upside Silicon Valley Capitalism Award for "exemplifying the virtues of capitalism and defending capitalism with ethical principles in the media." Angel Award by the