John Tudal, the son of Alma and Arnold Tudal, was raised on a truck farm in the-then rural San Francisco Bay island of Alameda, from where his father supplied many of the region's wholesalers and restaurants with vegetables. In 1971, the family bought a parcel three miles north of St. Helena in the Napa Valley and planted 10 acres of world-class grape vines. The first commercial release of Cabernet Sauvignon under the Tudal Winery label came with the 1979 vintage. Growing up exposed to the yearly harvest and crush resonated with John and though thrived in real estate he never got too far from the family business.

John, who characterizes himself as "a farmer at heart", is involved in commercial real estate development in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Napa Valley. John brings with him over 30 years of real estate financing and business expertise. John has arranged well over $1 billion in construction and permanent loans with over thirty institutional accounts for large, well established developers based throughout Northern California. He holds a California General Contractors License and Real Estate Brokers License and is a past director of the Northern California Mortgage Bankers Association. John holds a B.A. in Economics from University of California, Berkeley with a minor in Business Administration (Accounting/Real Estate/Business Law).

After formally taking over the winery in 2001 after his parents retired, John formed the Tudal Wine Group in 2009 - the parent company for Tudal Winery, LLC; and Cerruti Cellars, Inc. John is dedicated preserving his family's legacy as top quality wine makers while expanding the business into new markets.