My Dad was a member of Vineyard 29's wine club. This was because back in the early 1980s, my Dad would stop in San Francisco on his way to Japan. My Dad was the chief operating officer of Marion Laboratories in Kansas City. The company was licensing two drug compounds from two companies in Japan. Marion Labs had the facilities in Kansas City to make new drugs from the Japanese compounds, get them approved by the FDA, and sell them in North America.
Dad would have meetings with investors for funds to get the new drugs developed, approved, and sold for a profit. One of these investors was the owner of Vineyard 29.
The owner of Vineyard 29 and my Dad became friends. My dad liked wine back then. The owner of Vineyard 29 was a bit eccentric. He liked Nepal and Buddhism. The man built hospitals and schools in Nepal. I think he was a Vietnam War veteran, but I'm not sure.
In any event, my Dad would buy wine for my wife and me from Vineyard 29. My wife and I would drive over the hill to Napa from Healdsburg to pick up the wine. We usually picked it up at the winery, but this cold, rainy winter's day, we were to pick up the wine at the owner's house. This was just about 1/4 mile north of the 29 Winery on Highway 29.
I drove our 1990 VW Jetta up the driveway to the home. The owner wasn't there, but the wife was. She was a pretty blonde, slim, in her early forties, my guess, but looked younger as California women tend to do.
The wife was a bit flustered and wasn't sure which wine we were to pick up. She just wanted my wife and me outta there. She gave us a wooden box of wine in the hallway, and I put it in the trunk of our VW. As I was getting ready to drive away, the wife's "piano teacher" showed up. He was a handsome young blonde guy in a Porsche.
We left. When we got home, we discovered the wife had given us a case of the really good stuff. There were magnums of Cabernet Sauvignon in the box.
Brian, whilst I have not had the opportunity to taste their wines personally I know that Robert Parker, a.k.a. The Wine Advocate has given them very reasonable scores on their Cabernet Sauvignon. As I remember looking at his book, he gave the 1997 Cabernet fairly decent rating of 94 out of 100. However, I have not seen any other wine critics' comments on other vintages. I hope that helps.
As a comparison, the Arrowood 1997 reserve special Cabernet Sauvignon received 97 points from Mr. Parker.
Not that I would have a bias towards that, of course!
Brian, Mr. 29 was in Nepal. The yard/garden of Mr. 29's house was full of Buddhist prayer flags suspended from wires with party lights.
Mr. 29 made a lot of money off of Marion's stock. He invested at the beginning of Marion Lab's climb to a billion dollars in sales. When Dad was hired as COO, the stock was almost worthless. Everyone in the company who kept their stock, which was part of their pay every three months, became a millionaire when Merrill Dow bought Marion. Even the janitors.
Thanks, Brian, for the information. I could never afford the really good stuff, like Arrowood's Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.
The 2014 Aida Estate 750ml bottle of Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon is going for $400/bottle. I imagine a magnum would be up around $1,000 at a wine store.
Affordability and Availability stand between guzzling wine (Boone's Farm) and enjoying the "wine experience" (Arrowood et al). I 'couldn't afford' a '97 Arrowood today, either. But then there are semantics: colloquially, "can't afford" when it means "I just won't spend the money." Without bottomless finances, most are among the latter; it's about making adult decisions. I have dozens of great stories about drinking $$$$$ wine and one really horrible one. Next time Richard's on, I'll tell that one!
Brian, You are correct about "affordability." I call it "common sense."
I can tell you lots of wine stories. I met my wife at Belvedere Winery on Westside Road on May 6th, 1999. She worked there. Belvedere is no more. It was owned by another venture capitalist. He didn't know shit about making wine.
About 11 miles north of Healdsburg, where Dry Creek Road meets Yoakim Bridge Road, is the Raymond Burr Winery. My wife and I rode our bicycles out there years ago. Burr was already dead, but his gay partner was still there running the place. The winery produces Zinfandel wines, which are mediocre at best.
It was cool to see black and white photos of Raymond Burr winning his two Emmys for Perry Mason in the tasting room. His two Emmys are on display as well.
DCS, the best wine made in California, is the 29 Winery wines from Napa. My Dad was a member decades ago, and he'd buy my wife and me wine from the 29 Winery. These wines are expensive but delicious, and I would even say, take your mind to a very special and unique place. Once you've had a 29 Cabernet Sauvignon, you will remember it.
We had the Point Fire in June of 2024 by Lake Sonoma at the head of Dry Creek Valley. The vineyards in Dry Creek were affected by smoke. I don't know how badly. The local vineyard owners and wine makers keep that info close to the vest.
The best wines in Dry Creek (just north of Healdsburg. I used to ride my old Schwinn out there almost every day for years) are Preston and Raffaneli in my opinion.
Geez! Richard Arrowood has aged. My wife and I met him once while catering at his winery in the early 2000s. During our 7 years of catering in the SF Bay Area (1999-2006). I served cases of Chateau St. Jean at catering events over the years. It was, maybe still is, a very good mid-priced wine.
Above is the link to Vineyard 29 in Napa. These are the best wines made in California, maybe the world. They are expensive. The Cabernet Sauvignon is in a class of its own.
The vineyard sits on the west side of Highway 29 on some very special soil. The climate there is unique as well.
When I was in Belem, Brazil, for six months in 1990, my favorite restaurant was a pizza place run by an American. There was a ping pong table upstairs which was fun. They didn't sell beer at this pizza place, just wine. At first, I ordered Mateus and other wines from Portugal, but they were expensive due to tariffs. I decided to try the Brazilian wines which were 1/4 of the price of the Portugal wines. The Brazil wines were pretty good.
Okay, I'll tell my Vineyard 29 story.
My Dad was a member of Vineyard 29's wine club. This was because back in the early 1980s, my Dad would stop in San Francisco on his way to Japan. My Dad was the chief operating officer of Marion Laboratories in Kansas City. The company was licensing two drug compounds from two companies in Japan. Marion Labs had the facilities in Kansas City to make new drugs from the Japanese compounds, get them approved by the FDA, and sell them in North America.
Dad would have meetings with investors for funds to get the new drugs developed, approved, and sold for a profit. One of these investors was the owner of Vineyard 29.
The owner of Vineyard 29 and my Dad became friends. My dad liked wine back then. The owner of Vineyard 29 was a bit eccentric. He liked Nepal and Buddhism. The man built hospitals and schools in Nepal. I think he was a Vietnam War veteran, but I'm not sure.
In any event, my Dad would buy wine for my wife and me from Vineyard 29. My wife and I would drive over the hill to Napa from Healdsburg to pick up the wine. We usually picked it up at the winery, but this cold, rainy winter's day, we were to pick up the wine at the owner's house. This was just about 1/4 mile north of the 29 Winery on Highway 29.
I drove our 1990 VW Jetta up the driveway to the home. The owner wasn't there, but the wife was. She was a pretty blonde, slim, in her early forties, my guess, but looked younger as California women tend to do.
The wife was a bit flustered and wasn't sure which wine we were to pick up. She just wanted my wife and me outta there. She gave us a wooden box of wine in the hallway, and I put it in the trunk of our VW. As I was getting ready to drive away, the wife's "piano teacher" showed up. He was a handsome young blonde guy in a Porsche.
We left. When we got home, we discovered the wife had given us a case of the really good stuff. There were magnums of Cabernet Sauvignon in the box.
I asked...
Brian, whilst I have not had the opportunity to taste their wines personally I know that Robert Parker, a.k.a. The Wine Advocate has given them very reasonable scores on their Cabernet Sauvignon. As I remember looking at his book, he gave the 1997 Cabernet fairly decent rating of 94 out of 100. However, I have not seen any other wine critics' comments on other vintages. I hope that helps.
As a comparison, the Arrowood 1997 reserve special Cabernet Sauvignon received 97 points from Mr. Parker.
Not that I would have a bias towards that, of course!
Looks as if that was a Win-Win situation all around - with the possible exception of Mr. 29.
Brian, Mr. 29 was in Nepal. The yard/garden of Mr. 29's house was full of Buddhist prayer flags suspended from wires with party lights.
Mr. 29 made a lot of money off of Marion's stock. He invested at the beginning of Marion Lab's climb to a billion dollars in sales. When Dad was hired as COO, the stock was almost worthless. Everyone in the company who kept their stock, which was part of their pay every three months, became a millionaire when Merrill Dow bought Marion. Even the janitors.
Thanks, Brian, for the information. I could never afford the really good stuff, like Arrowood's Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.
The 2014 Aida Estate 750ml bottle of Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon is going for $400/bottle. I imagine a magnum would be up around $1,000 at a wine store.
Affordability and Availability stand between guzzling wine (Boone's Farm) and enjoying the "wine experience" (Arrowood et al). I 'couldn't afford' a '97 Arrowood today, either. But then there are semantics: colloquially, "can't afford" when it means "I just won't spend the money." Without bottomless finances, most are among the latter; it's about making adult decisions. I have dozens of great stories about drinking $$$$$ wine and one really horrible one. Next time Richard's on, I'll tell that one!
Brian, You are correct about "affordability." I call it "common sense."
I can tell you lots of wine stories. I met my wife at Belvedere Winery on Westside Road on May 6th, 1999. She worked there. Belvedere is no more. It was owned by another venture capitalist. He didn't know shit about making wine.
About 11 miles north of Healdsburg, where Dry Creek Road meets Yoakim Bridge Road, is the Raymond Burr Winery. My wife and I rode our bicycles out there years ago. Burr was already dead, but his gay partner was still there running the place. The winery produces Zinfandel wines, which are mediocre at best.
It was cool to see black and white photos of Raymond Burr winning his two Emmys for Perry Mason in the tasting room. His two Emmys are on display as well.
All the best,
Tim
"... Napa makes wonderful auto parts."
I'll try to remember that joke to seem much more high-class than I really am in polite society đŸ¤£
DCS, I only tried that Napa joke once while working at a catering job in Napa at a winery. The Napa wine people were not amused.
That means the joke worked! đŸ¤£
DCS, the best wine made in California, is the 29 Winery wines from Napa. My Dad was a member decades ago, and he'd buy my wife and me wine from the 29 Winery. These wines are expensive but delicious, and I would even say, take your mind to a very special and unique place. Once you've had a 29 Cabernet Sauvignon, you will remember it.
We had the Point Fire in June of 2024 by Lake Sonoma at the head of Dry Creek Valley. The vineyards in Dry Creek were affected by smoke. I don't know how badly. The local vineyard owners and wine makers keep that info close to the vest.
The best wines in Dry Creek (just north of Healdsburg. I used to ride my old Schwinn out there almost every day for years) are Preston and Raffaneli in my opinion.
Geez! Richard Arrowood has aged. My wife and I met him once while catering at his winery in the early 2000s. During our 7 years of catering in the SF Bay Area (1999-2006). I served cases of Chateau St. Jean at catering events over the years. It was, maybe still is, a very good mid-priced wine.
I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that...
Brian, I've aged a lot as well. At least Richard can still drink wine.
With a 5,000 bottle wine cellar, I suspect he's damn glad!
https://vineyard29.com/
Above is the link to Vineyard 29 in Napa. These are the best wines made in California, maybe the world. They are expensive. The Cabernet Sauvignon is in a class of its own.
The vineyard sits on the west side of Highway 29 on some very special soil. The climate there is unique as well.
When I was in Belem, Brazil, for six months in 1990, my favorite restaurant was a pizza place run by an American. There was a ping pong table upstairs which was fun. They didn't sell beer at this pizza place, just wine. At first, I ordered Mateus and other wines from Portugal, but they were expensive due to tariffs. I decided to try the Brazilian wines which were 1/4 of the price of the Portugal wines. The Brazil wines were pretty good.