Wine industry's first integrity award

Wines & Vines, March, 1999

Patrick Campbell of Laurel Glen Vineyard is the first recipient of the Wine Industry Integrity Award. A selection committee of industry professionals pointed to Campbell's years of fighting for honesty and fairness as grounds for selecting the Sonoma County winemaker. The committee also elected to honor the late Louis P. Martini of Louis M. Martini Winery for a lifetime career of integrity.

"In our discussion about integrity and the need to select someone whose actions epitomize this award, Patrick's name kept coming up," said Integrity Selection Committee Chairman Gerald D. Boyd. "He may not be in the limelight or as well-known as some other industry personalities, but his tenacious work on a wide range of industry issues and the level of integrity with which he attacks those issues sets him apart."

Vintners, growers and industry professional from around the country were considered for the award, which was formally presented in November at an industry-wide banquet in Lodi, Calif.

Presented by the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission, the award was developed to provide the industry with a positive example and to motivate those individuals who personify integrity.

In selecting nominees and a winner for the 1998 Wine Industry Integrity Award, the Commission asked journalist Boyd to gather and chair a broad-based committee. The selection panel included: Dr. Richard Peterson, Folie a' Deux Winery; Karen Ross, California Association of Winegrape Growers; Allen Shoup, Stimson Lane Vineyards & Estates; Simon Siegl, American Vintners Association; Bob Thompson, wine journalist, and Debbie Zachareas, wine buyer, EOS Restaurant.

Each of the recipients received a specially commissioned bronze Integrity sculpture designed by renowned artist Carol Tarzier.

Comments from Patrick Campbell follow:

"As John Gillespie of the Wine Market Council has observed ad nauseum, 'If more Americans are ever to drink more wine, we must expand our marketing beyond the 11 percent of American adults who consume 88 percent of the wine.' In short, industry growth will come only from the sort of wines we make here in Lodi: delicious wines that regular folks and wine snobs alike can afford to enjoy on a daily basis. I underscore the 'We' in 'we make here in Lodi.' I'm proud that my label REDS, a Wine for the People, has been, from the inception, based on that terrific old survivor, Lodi Zinfandel; a grape of integrity.

"I'd like to recognize a couple of people in particular. One is a guy I've had my battles with over the years - one we've ALL had our battles with over the years, come to think of it - but one without whom I wouldn't be here today. Bill MacIver has been the relentless conscience of this business for the past decade and has defined the important issues of our time, from small winery representation in the world of wine politics to the tyranny of the giant, multi-state distributor network.

"The other is more personal. My wife, Faith, who stood by her man when the going got tough. These two have integrity. I began in the wine business 25 years ago with my gut. I liked to drink wine, and the first time I saw those old vineyards on Sonoma Mountain, I sensed my life's direction.

'I've since been sustained, intellectually and emotionally, by the business as well. I can't think of any profession that affords so many opportunities to practice one's fundamental belief in the value of personal freedom and the right of free speech as the wine business. For a product of the late '60s, speaking out on these issues comes easy!!

"Again, integrity comes in many forms. We all, in our own ways, live it, whether it's fighting the big distributors, championing the rights of the little guy, promoting the goodness of wine, supporting our families, helping some young fellas learn the craft and passing on a few nuggets of wisdom gleaned over the years, or just being a quiet symbol of strength and integrity in a business that oft times rewards form over substance.

"Anyway, thanks for the award. There's plenty more of us out there!!"