Looking backward into the future

Wines & Vines, Oct, 1997 by Al Cribari

And there also is Jim Beckman, Bill Crowley and Randal Clifton, all getting promotions at Guild - just as I left the company.

John Parducci was shown posing with Nate Chroman, chief judge at the L.A. County Fair. John was voted "Winemaker of the Year".

"Hanns Kornell's 35th." Yep, after going through all that Hanns had suffered (prisoner at Dachau, hitchhiking across the U.S. to work in California wineries and finally establishing his own firm), it was sad to see all that toil and suffering go down the drain as he was forced to close his champagne winery a year or so ago. But not before he was voted a "Living Legend" by the Napa Valley wine industry.

"Ground-breaking took place this summer for the Murphy-Goode winery near Geyserville." Good to have a few more Irishmen in the industry.

"Is Pinot noir the wine of the future?" The article concludes that. "All in all, in the right hands, Pinot noir is viable, assuming the hands are sufficiently 'hand-son'." In my opinion, having grown a considerable tonnage at our Evergreen Winery, Pinot noir is best made as a medium light red wine; but such red wines do not seem to meet with favor in the Americas. And now we have a new darling - Merlot (which people can pronounce more easily).

"What's the outlook for Chardonnay?" by George Schofield, a professional research reporter. Mr. Schofield's article concludes with a very cautious prediction, as "All concerned in Chardonnay grapes and wine may have to watch emerging trends carefully to protect their interests". Always interesting to see how predictions turn out.

The industry did stumble a bit during these years but soon went on to bigger and better days. Now the worry is, how long can it last (the boom, that is). And that is a $64,000 question.

TRAVEL NOTES: Down to "the Coast" (for Easterners read "the Shore") to wander around in some salt air and wineries. First was the family of my old bench-mate (Larry) in chemistry at Santa Clara - the Bargettos. Wife Beverly was not in, but son Martin was and, by golly, so was the old brickmaker and buddy from San Jose, a Gus Gladding by name, and now a bartender (aka a Tasting Room docent). We had a good time reminiscing and tasting some of Bargetto's products, which incidentally have improved remarkably over the last several years when we had the Bargettos bottle some of our wine. So I guess we need to toast Paul Wofford, winemaker, for a job well done. Larry, my bench-mate, is honored by having their main brand titled "Lawrence Bargetto". Sorta brought a tear to me eye. Larry died a few years back, leaving Beverly with 11 (I think) children to raise, which she has done with dramatic aplomb. Anyway, they now have a wide assortment of fine wines, of which my favorites are their Dry Gewurztraminer and Chaucer's Apricot. If you don't like Mead, theirs is one that you'll rave over.

"Why can't we get across the truth that wine is a healthful, temperate, meal-time drink, a liquid food praised for 6,000 years. We have such an inferiority complex; it's about time we woke up."