N A PA VA L L E Y W I N E L I B R A RY R E PORT

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Saturday, August 13, 2011 – 21st Winemakers SeminarCool Whites, Hot Pinks and a Bit of FizzCulinary Institute of America at Greystone, St. Helena

Sunday, August 14, 2011 - 49th Annual TastingA Celebration of Napa Valley White WinesSilverado Resort and Spa, Napa

Also of interest:

August 3 – 21, 2011Music in the Vineyardswww.musicinthevineyards.orgGorgeous chamber music concerts in matchless winery venuesthroughout Napa Valley

Saturday, August 27, 2011Harvest Stomp!www.napagrowers.org/harveststomp/harveststompdetails.htmlHarvest honky-tonk, rock-n-roll, chef chow-off fundraiser for Napa Valley Grapegrowers’ education programs in the midst ofCharlie Hopper’s daughter Missouri’s home ground

Sunday, August 28, 2011The Barn Tour–2011www.preservationnapavalley.orgA celebration of the agricultural heritage of Napa Valley withbarns to visit in Rutherford and Oakville as well as music, art,victuals, and conversation

Calendar of Events

President’s Letter...............................................................................1

Interviews.....................................................................................2-16The interviews in this REPORT are with Napa Valley winemakers of white, rosé and sparkling wines, the wines to be featured at the 49th Annual Tasting under the oaks at Silverado and in the Winemakers Seminar the day before, when seven winemakers discuss their wines in detail at CIA-Greystone.The candid portraits and cover shot of Los Carneros in May were taken by Priscilla Upton.

Andrea “Buck” Bartolucci......................2Madonna Estate

Richard Grant “Dick” Peterson............5Richard Grant Wines

Jan Krupp...................................................8Krupp Brothers

Rudy von Strasser.....................................11von Strasser Winery

John Williams............................................14Frog’s Leap Winery

Organization and Membership Information Inside Back Cover

Table of Contents

MADONNA ESTATE, CHARDONNAY BLOCK, LOS CARNEROSCOVER PHOTOGRAPH: PRICILLA UPTON

Napa Valley Wine Library REPORTEditor-in-Chief Diana H. StocktonPhotography Priscilla UptonDesign Magnum Wine DesignPrinting MSI Litho

Comments and questions are encouraged:editor@napawinelibrary.com

Dear Members,

It is not often that a person is given thechance to participate wholeheartedly in anorganization whose mission and methodsparallel so completely his or her own: wineand books; education and the wineexperience; history and the beauty ofNapa Valley, my “home town.”

With Internet access to all sorts ofinformation, the roles of libraries arechanging. The Napa Valley Wine Librarywas founded to provide a comprehensivecollection of all the fine materials published on wine and the industry. The founders’ intention was to provide an exhaustive collection for anyone desiring to research wine, particularly wine of Napa Valley. Not only is this avery expensive undertaking, it is no longer used in a way that would justify the expense—everyone just Googles.

But Google can’t bring you a Saturdaymorning with like-minded people testingtheir tasters with wonderful wines in blackglasses. Or a morning with winemakers expressing their own personal desires and

President’s Letter

sharing their treasures. Or an afternoonwith 100 wineries, many with their principals pouring, showing off their best,their classics, under classic California oaks.

Napa Valley Wine Library is a window tomore than a winery tour. It’s a window tothe history, the characters and the beautyof the Valley. We hope to bring youglimpses of all of this, not just wineries,but wineries that are their creators’ art, notjust wine, but winemakers’ expressions oftheir art, their love. And not just the Valley, but the Valley on a misty springmorning, wildflowers dotting the hills andvines wearing their brand new tidy greensuits, or later in fall, when the grapes areheavy and lanky canes are turning colors,or in winter, when the vineyards are asleepand the rest of us are celebrating anothersuccessful vintage.

Join us then!

Carolyn MartiniPresident

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Andrea “Buck” BartolucciWinemaker and PartnerMadonna Estate5400 Old Sonoma Road, Napamadonnaestate.com12,000-15,000 case production

“The 1970’s were the beginning of a newregeneration of the Napa Valley wineindustry,” Buck Bartolucci states emphatically,and he has a very good vantage point. His familyis one of the oldest winemaking families in NapaValley and as a kid, Buck worked in the familyvineyards and winery every week-end and summeruntil he graduated from Fresno State in 1967.Then Buck went to work for his family full-time.When asked if he grew up with wine on the table,Buck says his family worked six days a week andhalf a day on Sunday, so, ‘no, they really didn’tdrink wine at dinner.’ But he can remember beingasked to go bring down a bottle of wine for a bar-becue every once in a while.

Buck’s grandfather, Andy (Andrea) came to NapaValley from Italy via Ellis Island and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 in SanFrancisco, where he had worked as a brick mason.Andy bought a vineyard and winery in Oakvillein 1922, but in 1924, the winery burned down.It took a few years for Andy and Buck’s dad,Louis, to rebuild. Their new Madonna Winerywas bonded in 1932. Buck says Louis and Andyalso distilled wine in the 1940’s and 1950’s undera Mont St. John Cellars label for Beaulieu Vine-yards, Charles Krug and a host of other fortifiedwines then popular. From 1955 to 1965 the

family bought additional acreage, 275 acres in all.

After college, Buck worked alongside his dad forthree years as assistant winemaker, helping to turn14,000 to 15,000 tons of fruit, their own andpurchased from all over Napa Valley, into250,000 gallons of wine. But, Louis’ generationwas getting older and wanted to cut back, so theproperty was put up for sale. A group of investorsbought the winery and vineyards in 1970.Unfortunately, this Oakville Vineyards deal fellapart in 1975 and the Bartoluccis had to find newbuyers. Heublein’s Inglenook then bought thevineyard and winery piece at the corner ofOakville Cross and Highway 29, where NapaWine Company is today. Buck says Markhambecame the owner of the 88-acre parcel north ofNapa Nook and the 110-acre piece in OakKnoll, west of Laird Family Estates.

When the family first sold its property, Bucklooked for acreage of his own. He says the goodland on the Valley floor was already taken. Therewere small parcels for sale, but not of best qualityand hillsides were not developed in vineyard yet.Buck bought 160 acres of gently rolling pasture-land on Duhig Road in Napa from a Duhigdescendant. The land was catty corner toBeaulieu’s Vineyard #5. Confident of itspotential, Buck planted his Madonna Vineyard to30 acres of Chardonnay on St. George rootstockwith budwood from Oakville with UC Davis ori-gins and 22 acres of Pinot Noir with a budwoodfield selection from a vineyard off Oakville Cross-road. When the sale to Oakville Vineyards failed,Buck approached the Federal Land Bank (Farm

Interviews

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from the rest of a cattle ranch belonging to theCrivelli Brothers when the new highway was putin. The Crivellis had gone to high school withLouis and they were glad to make a deal to ridthemselves of the bother of the little bit of hay-field. Louis had carefully chosen the acreage forits location for a winery. He and Buck built MontSt. John Cellars themselves, opening a tastingroom in 1981. Buck then undertook to buy outhis father and had acquired half the property in1986. Then Buck’s mom wanted to be boughtout of her half, so Buck’s kids became his partnersand Buck changed the name of the winery fromMont St. John to Madonna Estate. The name notonly honored his grandfather but also Buck’svineyards, which had an excellent reputation inthe Valley. He had sold vineyard designated PinotNoir to Acacia Winery (until Diageo boughtAcacia in 2004) and fruit for a vineyarddesignated Reserve Chardonnay to RobertMondavi Winery for its spotlight program.

Since 1922, the Bartoluccis have farmedorganically and used water sparingly. Buck’s ownvineyards were certified organic in 1991, but hesays his family’s traditional practices were alwaysorganic, because there weren’t the herbicides andinsecticides back then that there are today, andthere wasn’t any money for them if there hadbeen. Napa Valley viticulture back then was alldry-farming. Vines were planted 8x8, meaningeight feet between each vine in a row and rowseight feet apart, which allows cross-rowcultivation. When the Valley changed to trellisingand drip irrigation, Buck says it over-watered, andthen it went the other way, withholding water to

Credit Bank, today) for a loan. The bank not onlyloaned him money, it recommended he runfor its Board. Buck’s given name is Andrea Louis.He thinks he got elected because the bank’s stock-holders figured they were getting either his fatheror his grandfather, but he is most appreciative ofthe window he got onto the workings of finance.

Buck planted 25 to 30 acres a year for severalyears, doing all the work himself. Gewürztraminerbudwood came from Sterling; the Muscat Canelliplanted around the winery came from a formerfamily vineyard, as did later hillside plantings ofCabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Buck also addedDijon, Swan and Pommard clones of Pinot Noirand Dijon clones of Chardonnay. He doesn’tbelieve there is any one “best clone.” It’s really amix of clones that makes the best wine. AlthoughBuck now has help maintaining his vineyards,with a vineyard foreman and year-round crew(some a second generation), he figures he’s putabout every fifth stick in the ground of his vine-yards, which now total 146 acres planted to tenvarieties. To improve on his farming, Buck joinedone of the focus groups Robert Mondavi Winerysponsored among winemakers and growers, wentto monthly meetings and took field trips as nearas Sonoma and as distant as Burgundy forChardonnay and Pinot Noir growing techniques.He also took part in a tour his barrel-maker puttogether to several châteaux in Bordeaux. But mostof all, Buck learned from the family.

In 1977, Buck’s father Louis had bought four anda half acres on the corner of Old Sonoma Roadand Highway 121. The small parcel was cut off

cause a dramatic stressing of the vines. “A littlebit of water is OK,” counsels Buck, “but don’tdilute flavor. Nature itself is the bestmonitor.” Once Madonna Vineyard vines areup and established they are dry-farmed forconcentration of flavor. Buck says soil is like asponge filled with water and nutrients—youdon’t want to overload it. He crops his vineyardthree tons to an acre for quality. “What I’velearned is that style should be set by the vine-yard—-what it can do.”

For Chardonnay, Buck says fruit maturity is key.The fruit is harvested at night, its sugar on theriper side of the pick, crushed and destemmed.The winery uses a programmable Willms press;free-run juice is kept separate. After settling instainless steel tanks, must is racked off andinoculated with yeast. ”Once we know it’sfermenting at 50°, it’s transferred into French oakbarrels of three separate years: new, 1 year-old and2 year-old,” recounts Buck. The new wine is in-oculated with a malolactic culture and barrels arestirred and topped-up twice a week. Buck saysleaving the wine sur lies and stirring give it a creamyand yeasty character, more Montrachet thanChablis. After nine months, the wine is filteredand bottled. Buck wants his Chardonnay to be inbalance with no one character overpoweringanother; he wants the wine to be a food wine withthe benefit of oak—softening but not over- pow-ering the wine. Los Carneros Chardonnays tendto be acidic with the regional coolness im-parting citrus-y rather than tutti frutti flavors,citrus with a hint of tropical. Buck’s first releaseof Chardonnay was in 1980.

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Pinot Grigio has been in production for tenyears. Buck describes it as a fruit forward, single-dimension wine, less complex than Chardonnay.It, too, is harvested at night under lights. Berriesgo into the press seven or eight tons at a time tobe crushed and destemmed. After settling for oneor two days, must is racked off and its acidsbalanced. The wine settles and ferments to dry instainless steel, is racked-off and bottled in earlyFebruary. If Pinot Grigio is picked on the lowerend of the ripeness scale, Buck says the wine willbe more like Sauvignon Blanc, with grassy andherbaceous flavors. He prefers to pick on thesweeter side, for a more melon flavor. Gewürz-traminer, Muscat and Riesling are all madevirtually the same, according to Buck, and are onlyavailable at the winery. The fruit is picked cool,crushed and destemmed. After the must isanalyzed and balanced, Épernay yeast is added.Buck wants slow fermentations, at 40° for at leastfour weeks, and then stopped at a sugar level thatmaintains a little sweetness. Finished wines arefiltered twice before bottling in February or March.

Besides Pinot Noir, Buck’s first wine released in1979, Madonna Estate makes several other redwines including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot andthe newest, Dolcetto. All these and the whitewines described above are estate grown andbottled. About 600 cases of each variety areproduced. Buck says the winery also gets Barberafrom Lincoln, California and two decades agoinitiated a national sales program, PremiumBrands Marketing Company, which distributesPoppy Hill California Cabernet Sauvignon made

from fruit from the Sierra foothills.

Although Madonna Estate produces about a fifthof what the winery in Oakville used to produce,in addition to its own wine, it has custom crushclients and does a little bottling for others. TheBartoluccis have always had their own bottlingline. Buck put a lot of the one at Madonnatogether himself. A bottle sparger whisks out theair, the bottle is filled with a blast of nitrogen,then with wine, corked, encapsulated (by a three-head foiler), and labeled. Buck’s line can handleone thousand cases in an eight-hour day with fivepeople. He says it makes all the difference havingyour own bottling line, “You can bottle when the

wine needs to be, on your own schedule.”

What most distinguishes Madonna Estate is itssuccess with groups of visitors from SanFrancisco who come by bus from their hotels tovisit the the winery and the tasting room. Bucksays the winery’s wine club has thousands ofmembers—mostly from out-of-state, with whomthe winery has great relationships and fromwhom it has great loyalty. For instance, severalmetal sculptures dotting the winery property aregifts of the artist, a wine club member inMassachusetts who spontaneously ships one outevery now and then.

Buck says there are so many facets to his work,outside in the vineyard, inside at the winery, outon the road selling his wine, that it’s been a goodlife. He’s been able to enjoy what he does and berelatively successful. He has worked so that hischildren could get a good education, but thedoors to the winery have always been open tothem. After college, his daughter Brette joined thewinery staff in 1997 and his daughter Taylor, in2005. His wife Susan, a retired school teacherwho lends a hand wherever and whenever it isneeded, drew the spiral image used on labels, signsand packaging inspired by the four generations ofBartoluccis in the wine and grape business. Whenasked what he usually does to relax, Buck chuckles,”Pretty much, work.” �

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out in 1954 in San Francisco, where he took afriend’s advice and went back to college, choosingnearby UC Berkeley to study chemicalengineering, biochemistry and food technology.Dick says biochemistry was a terrific field then(his favorite professor was Linus Pauling), as wasfood technology—salting, freezing, dehydration,canning—with which Dick was already familiar.His mother had preserved far more than grapejuice each year.

All the food the family needed had come from3.34 acres of orchard, vegetable garden, pigpen,and even a cow in pasture alongside the houseDick’s Swedish grandfather had built, his fatherwas born and raised in, and Dick and his threesiblings grew up in. Dick’s father was a coal miner,mining Iowa coal thirty feet underground on hishands and knees, working seams just three feethigh. The kids all had regular farm chores, butDick remembers the taste of fresh buttermilk best.

He got a Masters degree in Food Technology in1956 and a PhD in Agricultural Chemistry in1958 under Maynard Joslyn, studying wine butwriting his thesis on the chemistry of redpigments in garden beets. Dick and Maynard alsostudied and wrote on copper cloud (casse) in whitewines. Their work led to the replacement of brass[also bronze] fittings with stainless steel through-out the wine industry.

E & J Gallo first hired Dick to head up newproduct development and gave him the chance tomake some terrific wines. After ten years, however,Dick was ready for a change and got it:

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Richard Grant PetersonOwner and WinemakerRichard Grant Wines1120 Darms Lane, Napa richardgrantwine.com500 case production

At the start of his freshman year in 1948 at IowaState, Dick Peterson decided to make some homewine. His family had a few Concord vines nearbyand his mother no longer canned its grape juiceto make into jelly the rest of the year. The emptyChampagne bottles she once used were hangingaround, Dick’s father had made wine from grapebricks during Prohibition, and Dick had read theonly two books in the whole Des Moines publiclibrary on winemaking. The grapes were ripe andhe felt ready. Dick vividly recalls two mistakes hemade: the wine was bottled before it was dry, soan unplanned second fermentation provided aConcord ”Champagne” Dick called gushy and alittle sweet, but that the Peterson family certainlyall liked; and he left a bottle of it in the sun onthe back seat of his second-hand 1937 Ford. Thebottle exploded, totally, leaving only pieces ofglass and a spot on the seat, but then it was sogood smelling and pleasant inside the Ford, Dickwas happy every time he got in.

He made wine for a couple more years, graduatedin 1952 on an NROTC scholarship with adegree in Chemical Technology, and went off tolearn to fly in the Marines. But the Marine Corpsassigned Dick to an artillery battalion and senthim to Korea. Truces were signed en route andDick took part in mopping-up. He was mustered

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Although Heublein wanted Dick to oversee alltheir winemaking operations from their head-quarters in Hartford, Connecticut, Dick knew heneeded to be making wine in a more direct andhands-on manner. In 1973 he left to head up TheMonterey Vineyard in a pioneering project,especially with late harvest wines. As he helpedfellow vinesmen take advantage of south- ratherthan north-facing slopes he saw the 1,000 acresthen planted to vines in Monterey Countyincrease to 24,000 by 1974. That same yearSeagram’s bought the winery and Dick intro-duced his laborsaving invention, the steel barrelpallet that allows pairs of barrels to be moved andstacked by forklift, rather than by hand. Becausea barrel nestles down in the pallet, it is also morestable in an earthquake. Dick presented his designat the annual Wine Industry Technology Sym-posium as a gift to the industry. His steel racksimplified and improved moving barrels—exhausting work at Beaulieu, and the pallet orversions of it are now in use throughout thewinegrowing world.

While still at Beaulieu, flying to Lisbon viaLondon for Lancers, Dick had gotten to knowAnton Massel, the founder of the annualInternational Wine and Spirit Competition heldin England. Anton invited Dick to help judge thecompetition which he did as a board member forten years. It was at Anton’s suggestion in 1980that Dick went to visit a 200 year-old grapevineon a cottage wall in Wrotham, Kent. On hisreturn, Anton served him a sparkling wine madefrom the Wrotham fruit. Its wine, Dick says, waspink, delicate and unusually good. Anton’s friend

president. In 1969, Heublein bought Beaulieu. Italready had a stake in Inglenook and Lancersthrough its majority position in United Vintners.Dick was put in charge of new product develop-ment and, in a joint venture with the Portuguese,created Lancers White Wine that went to the topof the charts. Then Lancers wanted a carbonatedred, which is very tricky to do. Dick says you haveto make this kind of wine sweet to cover itsnatural bitterness. The red was never as popularas Lancers White but Dick loved working withthe Portuguese and his trips to Portugal.

Beaulieu Vineyards. Beaulieu’s winemaker, AndréTchelistcheff, told him it had taken a yearto decide, but, “Dick, I put my finger onyou.” They worked closely throughout André’sretirement year, 1968-1969. Each day began atsix o’clock sharp with a visit to each of Beaulieu’sfive major vineyards and its crew. André left atNoon and Dick would get on with the wine-making for André to taste the next day (the tworemained collegial until André’s death in 1994).Dick also found time to teach classes for NapaValley Wine Library and even serve as a vice

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Ed Hyams had researched the grapevine and inthe absence of any formal informationdetermined that the vine came from a wildseedling of Pinot Noir dating back to theRomans. Pinot is the most mutating of winegrapes with more clones than any other variety.Dick got two canes of Wrotham (the English sayRoot’em) Pinot Noir that he packed and took backto Monterey. He budded over the canes and tookexamples to Harold Olmo at UC Davis forquarantine and to have the DNA identified. Aftertwo weeks of research, Carole Meredithconfirmed the material as a clone of Pinot Noir.In its fuzzy appearance the Wrotham more closelyresembles Pinot Meunier, but it grows differ-ently and ripens earlier.

In 1986, Atlas Peak Vineyards hired Dick toestablish vineyards and a winery and make itswines. He was with Atlas Peak until 1990,developing 450 acres of vines including the thenlargest planting of Sangiovese in the state.Tending a rose garden in his Napa back yard,where he had also planted the Wrotham PinotNoir, Dick noticed that while his rosebushes gotpowdery mildew, the grapevines did not. No onehad ever noticed this attribute in England, butHarold Olmo agreed it must have been resistanceto powdery mildew that contributed to thesuccess of the clone, a most fortuitousmutation—tasty as well as healthy. Little by little,Dick increased his stock to about half an acreaccommodated at a colleague’s vineyard nursery.

In 1992, contemplating retirement, Dick boughta derelict Christmas tree farm on Darms Lane in

Napa, planted to pine and fir, with a large pondreservoir. Dick pulled out the two acres of pineand doing his own budding and grafting, plantedone half acre to Wrotham on SO4 rootstock in1995. This was the first-ever vineyard planting ofthe clone in the United States. A more carefulanalysis of soils suggested a change in budwoodas Dick planted another half acre, and then asecond and final acre. For the first couple of yearshe farmed with a green idea—no till, and mowedthe resulting lawn between the rows. Alas,Bermuda grass harbors Xylella fastidiosa, thebacterium that carries Pierce’s Disease. As mowerwash blew onto the vines, it felted them withclippings that included Bermuda grass. TheWrotham Pinot Noir proved susceptible toPierce’s Disease, which does not occur in theBritish Isles.

Over the next few years Dick invented a screw tocarry the antibiotic Tetracycline, fatal to Xylella,into the vine. He has special screws of cast nylonmade for him in the East Bay. Tiny wads ofdental cotton, having absorbed the antibiotic andbeen packed into a slot in the screw’s tip, areself-tapped into a vine, as low as possible, evenbelow the graft, just one per grapevine. A fin onthe hexagonal head facilitates lining up the slotwith the direction of sap flow, so xylem carriesthe drug right up through the plant; any surplusantibiotic beads up on the leaves’ outer margins.(Simply injecting a vine doesn’t work; osmoticpressure squirts what’s shot in right back out.)Dick’s successful method of delivering a 20mgdosage allows bacteria time to feed and succumb,and one treatment lasts years.

The first vintage of Wrotham Pinot for Dick’sRichard Grant Blanc de Noir MéthodeChampenoise was 2000. It was made at Folie àDeux, a winery Dick acquired with some fellowinvestors in 1995 and sold in 2004. His nextwines were made at Domaine Carneros. NowDick is intent on making a non-vintage MéthodeChampenoise wine, to get the cost down for theconsumer. He plans to blend his 2010 with earliervintages, using a unique transfer process rentedfrom Bronco Wine Company in Ceres, Californiawhere Dick regularly consults in winemaking (aswell as at numerous other wineries of all sizes).The process does away with the need to riddleeach individual bottle while retaining all thedesirable qualities a natural fermentation in thebottle with extended yeast aging achieves.

In 2006, Dick made a still Pinot Noir from theWrotham. The English had never made a still redwine from it because in Southeast England, wherethe climate is more like Champagne, it is too coldfor the fruit to ripen fully. His still wine has adistinctive spice flavor. Dick certainly didn’t knowwhat to expect and it has taken time to pin itdown. He first thought his Pinot Noir had aholiday spice taste, maybe clove, but a chef inMonterey has set him straight: the taste iscardamom. Dick says the wine goes perfectly withChristmas fare–the perfect pairing on a Christmastree farm.

A chairman of Beaulieu, Leigh Knowles, oncesaid to Dick, “If you stick a pin in someone, youexpect blood, but put a pin in you, Dick, andwine comes up.” �

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Jan KruppCo-Proprietor Krupp Brothers LLC3267 Soda Canyon Road, Napakruppbrothers.com6,500 case production

When Jan Krupp graduated from Yale hethought he’d have more fun going to medicalschool out in California than on the East Coast,so he applied to Stanford, got in and says itreally was more fun the first couple of years inthat sunny and relaxed atmosphere. Once hiscourses changed from scientific to clinical,though, Stanford Medical School was exhaust-ing. Jan had a professor of oncology, however,who was also a home winemaker anddetermined to teach Jan how to make really greatwine. After his clinical rotation was done, theprofessor took Jan and his lab partner back tohis house and commenced hands-on instructionin winemaking most successfully.

Not only did Jan thoroughly enjoy the processand begin visiting wineries like MirassouWinery in the Santa Clara Valley and RidgeVineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains, andtasting well-known wines, with Ridge MonteBello and Château Margaux as his bench-marks, but he also made home wine for fifteenyears as a hobby. Besides establishing a medicalpractice, Jan pursued various wine-relatedclasses at UC Davis while constantly askinghis friends and colleagues about wine. Inaddition to Cabernet, Jan tried his hand at

Petite Sirah, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir, evena Chardonnay and won several awards alongthe way. In the mid-1970’s he began tastingfruit in Napa Valley after buying grapes fromWine and the People in Berkeley sourced fromthe Fay vineyard in Napa. He next boughtfrom Teldeschi in Sonoma and then Stag’sLeap Wine Cellars in Napa.

Eventually, Jan began looking for a backyardvineyard to call his own. Although he grew upin suburban New Jersey, he loved rural life.Each summer, when he was 8, 9 and 10 yearsold, Jan took the train down to stay with anuncle who had a farm in Virginia and helpedtend crops of vegetables and flowers. Later,Jan went to summer camp in Vermont. He justthought country life was much more pleasant.One day during a grape-sourcing trip, hefound himself at lunch at Chateau Souverainoverlooking its vineyard and said to himself,“Someday, I want to live like this,” thinking itwas a most unlikely dream. After looking atproperties all over Napa Valley, an ad in theSan Francisco Chronicle for land on Soda CanyonRoad caught Jan’s eye. He said it seemed toogood to be true, but decided to check it out.He conferred with several consultants wholiked the area but had reservations about itsaccess. Water was also an issue. Severalprospective buyers had looked at the propertyand given up. Unfazed, Jan bought 41 acres ofbrush and rock in 1991. He called in a welldriller, and he and the realtor picked a spot forthe well. So much water came in, Jan says, thatthe well driller was knocked off his seat!

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more legal documents. Although thepermitting took a year, the road was built in amonth, and then hundreds of thousands oftons of volcanic rock were removed.

Jan’s brother Bart handles the financialplanning and any supply challenges for Krupp;Jan oversees its wine programs and vineyarddevelopment. For five years, Krupp plantedalmost 100 acres a year. Jan would be out inthe field at six, then come in to shower off thered dirt, change, and drive to his practice in

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making a plan and developing strategies. So,Jan together with his father and his brotherBart bought Stagecoach Vineyard. The wellsites a geologist selected for Stagecoach gaveno water at 300’ down, but a douser found anunderground stream at 400’, and when theengineered wells were deepened to 400’ they,too, brought in water. In order to plant the400-acre heart of the site, Krupp needed 26mutual easements with abutting properties tobuild an access road and further maintenanceand construction permits necessitated 135

There were still traces of old vines on theproperty. After many consultations with“several really smart farmers,” twenty-threeacres of Krupp Vineyard was planted toCabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. (Jan’sfarmers included Peter Nissen of Nissen Vine-yard Services, Armando Ceja with Will Nordof Nord Vineyards and Peter Murphy of AgTech Services; initial grape stock came fromSunridge Nursery.) Jan had undertaken theproject thinking to sell most of the fruit, butin 1993 there was such a tremendous amountof new Cabernet on the market it took him50 cold calls to get three offers to buy. Hesold it all except what he needed for his annualhomemade wine. And when WarrenWiniarski came and tasted that, he said it re-minded him of Nathan Fay’s, that he was asinspired as he had been by Nathan’s home-made wine. Krupp Vineyards steadily addedmore grape clients to its roster and started awaiting list.

In 1995, 750 acres of an adjacent untamedwilderness came up for sale. 40 of its acreshad been in vines in the 1800’s but the vine-yard had been let go during Prohibition anddeer had since had the run of the land. Jansays several knowledgeable vintners hadalready turned down the piece despite its redsoil. The lunar landscape was rock strewn,with an apparent dearth of water but,invoking The Winemaker’s Dance, Jan saysStagecoach has the same soil as Oakville andthat the “all rocks and no water” challenge wasequivalent to saving patients—consulting,

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Pinole while telephoning Napa with whatneeded to be done next to develop the vineyards.Evenings he’d go out on the back balcony of hishouse to check on the progress of the D-9Caterpillar tractor and confer with his brotherin New Jersey. When there were 500 acres ofgrapes in 1998, Jan retired from his medicalpractice. The next year, Krupp added anadjacent 50-acre vineyard, Krupp BrothersVineyard, to its holdings. 1999 was also the yearof Krupp’s first vintage under its Veraison label,a Cabernet Sauvignon made with Joe Cafaro atMiner Family Vineyards. Jan says, “Finally therewas light at the end of the tunnel.

Currently, Krupp has sixty clients that buyninety percent of its fruit from all three vine-yards, which stretch from Atlas Peak toPritchard Hill. Jan says Krupp owes its successtoday to Dick Peterson who really opened upthe region to the south of Stagecoach whenhe established the reputation of Atlas PeakVineyard, and to the Chappellets to the northon Pritchard Hill. Because of their altitude,the vineyards are above the fogline. Area days

said to plant Syrah. “And Marsanne,” Josh hadinsisted, as well as Viognier, so 3.8 acres ofMerlot vines were grafted over with ENTAVand Tablas Marsanne budwood in 2003 thatJan calls “fabulous.” In 2004, Krupp graftedover its Sangiovese to Viognier with budwoodfrom Pride Mountain Vineyards and theformer Sonoma Grapevines. Viognier andMarsanne together with Chardonnay go intothe blend, “The Bride,” a popular whitewine unique to Krupp. In addition to itsChardonnay, Marsanne, and The Bride, Kruppalso offers a number of single red varietiesas well as unique red blends.

Currently, all Krupp wines are made at LairdFamily Estate, but the permitting process isunderway for a winery of its own in Napa onthe Silverado Trail. Jan says Krupp has beenvery successful, especially with its vineyard.Wine, on the other hand, follows a bumpierroad and is a business one really has to workat. In pursuing that road, Jan has studied manyof the ‘doctors with vines and wineries’ anddetermined that those who have done it righthave been both hands-on and informed bytheir consults—all those “smart farmers.” Janalso continues to confer with his Kruppcustomers and wine and business associates.Like medicine, winegrowing must bepracticed. Jan has had to relinquish playingclarinet and saxophone and give up tennis tolive his “unlikely dream,” full-time, but hecouldn’t be happier and has even learned totake the occasional sales trip on the road awayfrom Napa in his stride. �

are generally cooler with less heat but moresunlight than on the Valley floor and, sincecold air generally sinks and rolls away, nightsare warmer. After the frost of 2001, however,wind machines were installed in both Kruppand Stagecoach Vineyards—in time to dispelsevere frosts in 2002 (and 2008). EstebanLlamas is Krupp’s vineyard manager withviticulturalist Amy Warnock consulting andthe participation of Bob Gallagher of CropCare Associates, Inc. Krupp farms sustainably,practicing no till, its cover crops a mix ofnative grasses, fescues and clover. Raptor polesare in place throughout the vineyards as wellas owl boxes. Irrigation is by drip and is wellfed; there is no reservoir.

Tres Goetting is winemaker with Aaron Pottconsulting as well as Jan. The vineyards areplanted to 13 wine grape varieties includingtwenty-two clones of Cabernet Sauvignonthat make up slightly more than half theplantings. The other half is devoted toCabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot;Petite Sirah; Syrah; Chardonnay, Marsanne,Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier; Sangiovese; Tem-pranillo; Zinfandel; and a recent planting ofGrenache. Dave Miner is responsible for therebeing Krupp Chardonnay—he really twistedJan’s arm, and Jan’s late son, Joshua, was re-sponsible for its Marsanne and Viognier. Joshhad gone to UC Davis and spent three yearsat Fisher Vineyards as well as interning at M.Chapoutier in the Rhône before joiningKrupp. He advised adding another white tothe Krupp portfolio when Chapoutier had

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Rudy von StrasserOwner and Winemakervon Strasser Winery1510 Diamond Mountain Road, Calistogavonstrasser.com5,000 case production

On a clear, warm day in early February onDiamond Mountain, three men were movingthrough vineyard blocks pruning grapevinesduring this interview. Napa Valley was in needof more rain, but Rudy von Strasser counseledenjoying the beautiful morning. “Whatever weget, we get, so let’s enjoy the sunshine because itcertainly beats cold and uncomfortable,” andRudy is no stranger to cold and uncomfortablewinters. He grew up in New York City, wherehis parents met after World War II—his fatherhad come from Austria and his mother fromHungary.

Rudy went off to college at University of NewHampshire (UNH) for a degree in Pomologybecause of his interest in fermented beverages—fruit wines. This was the 1970’s, after all, hedryly observes. Rudy grew up with wine on thetable, usually white, and usually rather sweet butcalled “dry” by his father who knew what heliked and liked being known as someone whodrank dry white wine, as he advised his son toalways do. After UNH, Rudy came out to UCDavis to learn to make wines so he could goback home and make hard cider. While at Davishe worked at Robert Mondavi Winery in 1980.Then, with his degree in enology, went toChâteau Lafite Rothschild in Bordeaux as its

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first intern from California. He spent the nexttwo years at Trefethen Family Vineyards withPeter Luthi and David Whitehouse, and thentwo years with John Kongsgaard at NewtonVineyard. After that, Rudy felt ready to go outon his own.

He and his wife, Rita, bought their property onDiamond Mountain in 1990. 2010 was vonStrasser Winery’s 21st harvest. As the vonStrassers modernized and diversified the all-Cabernet plantings and added to their vineyardland, for a total of fifteen planted acres, Rudytook an active part in the formation of Di-amond Mountain District AVA. He came toknow a variety of small vineyards on the moun-tain as he grew to appreciate the specificity ofthe area and later embarked on leasing or buyingfruit from a few neighboring vineyards. Ulti-mately, Rudy estimates he had ten percent ofthe appellation, or about 50 acres, under con-tract in the late 1990’s.

Two of the vineyards were in Chardonnay, therest were red. In the 1970’s UC Davis hadadvised against planting red wine grapes onDiamond Mountain and recommended whitewine grapes, so a lot of Chardonnay, SauvignonBlanc and Riesling got planted. Still in disbelief,Rudy recounts Al Brounstein of DiamondCreek Vineyards being told he was crazy notto plant Riesling. Rudy did make two Chardon-nays from grapes under contract, and one ofthem, a 2004, was Wine and Spirits Magazine’stop Chardonnay in California, but that vineyardwas pulled because of phylloxera and then plantedP

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color). He says, “Rosé is so personal: its color,its crispness, alcohol.”

Rudy prefers a light color with crisp fruit for hisrosé and is not about to make a wannabe winewith big color and alcohol. At first the rosé wascomposed of juice drained off the red winemusts to increase their ratios of skins to juice.Then the winery decided to ferment a blend offree-run from both red and white musts. Eye ofthe Diamond is predominantly Cabernet, but itis also Sauvignon Blanc as well as Malbec, PetiteVerdot, and Merlot. Yeast is added andhydrations and sugar adjusted during itsfermentation in the caves at 55° for an optimum12% to 13% alcohol. Von Strasser makes 100to 150 cases of Eye of the Diamond. SinceRudy likes to start a tasting at the winery withsomething crisp and cold, he is quite partial tothe rosé and may also enjoy a sip or two whilecooking.

Along with continuing improvements to thephysical plant, Rudy realized something morethan “five Cabernets” was needed for tastings atthe winery, for a better progression of wines.Rudy’s choice was to plant alternatives toCabernet or go outside the appellation, whichhe wasn’t about to do. The von Strasser winelabel is in the shape of a diamond; itsbackground squiggle is the topo-line of themountain. Rudy had to stay within theappellation. He knew there was already plentyof Chardonnay in California. Given his Austrianheritage and his taste in white wines, Rudydecided on Grüner Veltliner.

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comes up. Vines are watered sparingly by a wellfed drip irrigation system rather than reservoir.An extensive array of solar panels is in its fifthyear of operation producing electricity for theproperty, and the winery caves Rudy drew thefootprint for are now ten years old.

Von Strasser has always produced a rosé wine.Rudy is very proud of his “Eye of theDiamond” (its name a play on that ‘eye of thecrow, eye of the partridge’ description of a rosé’s

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to Cabernet. One cannot dictate to a growerwhat to plant if there is a 40% difference inreturn, Rudy cautions, since a provider wantstop dollar. He says the writing was on the wall.Von Strasser production went to single vineyardZinfandel and Cabernet and the 50 acres undercontract to 40.

The von Strasser vineyards are largely no till. Ayear-round crew practices sustainable agriculturewithout specific cover crops, per se, just what

still less than 100, but now the winery is up to270 or 280 cases. When asked what to servewith it, Rudy says he doesn’t believe in all thosefood-pairing rules, that the wine goes great withsalad, with soups, appetizers—especially crabcakes and sushi, even cheese.

Rudy bemoans trying to price domestic GrünerVeltliner, especially from a single vineyard onDiamond Mountain, because there is so muchAustrian Grüner Veltliner available on themarket for less than twenty dollars a bottle. Hedefinitely does not recommend planting anymore of the variety in the state. Rudy says mostof the visitors to the winery have nevereven heard of it. At $30 to $40 a bottle,experimentation isn’t going to happen in themarketplace; von Strasser Grüner Veltliner isonly available at the winery. Rudy did submit his2009 to the AWC International Wine Chal-lenge in Vienna (Austria being the fatherland ofGrüner Veltliner) and it won the silver medal.He hopes to take gold with the 2010.

During the week, Rudy puts in a long day thatincludes not only work in the winery but alsohelping with his kids’ homework and puttingthem to bed at night. Rudy also likes workingout in the gym; weekends and vacations he is aptto snowboard or go hunting or fishing. He alsoenjoys bow shooting and teaches archery for 4Hin Calistoga. Rudy really likes working with kids.He wants his own to grow up knowing how tocare for vines and make wine because when theygo off to college and someone hears they grewup in a winery, they better have something to say.

Napa Valley old-timers told him Grüner Velt-liner was planted in the Valley way back when,but he could find no documentation. He wentto John Caldwell (“Obscurity being John’sforte”) of Caldwell Nursery in Napa forbudwood. John just happened to have somefrom a client in the South Atlantic, about 300canes that had been deemed too short. This wasa great start and Rudy is credited with being thefirst to formally grow this variety in California(he thinks there may be a dozen today). Johnhad found an acre of Grüner Veltliner at UCDavis that had been successfully propagatedfrom two vines Harold Olmo had brought infrom Professor Moog in Germany in 1939.Rudy admits to planting the Grüner Veltliner onless than great rootstock, just what was avail-able from the nursery at the time, Riparia Gloire.Another block is on 101-14. Both types areshallow rooted and need weekly waterings.Grüner Veltliner has a fairly big berry and canbe a heavy bearer. Rudy prefers to crop it fourtons to an acre. It ripens very early, in August,followed by his Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot,Cabernet, Petit Verdot and Zinfandel.

The von Strasser Grüner Veltliner is fermentedcold, in the mid-50°’s F in stainless steel. Afterfermentation and fining it is bottled. Rudywants a taste of fruit, freshness and character.He calls Grüner Veltliner a fun variety, sexy. Hesays it tastes like a cross of Pinot Grigio withRiesling. It is not as fruity as Riesling, it doesn’thave the same terpene profile and should bedrunk young. The first vintage of just two orthree cases was in 2006. The 2007 vintage was

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In addition to his winemaking for von Strasser,Rudy also derives a great deal of satisfactionfrom consulting as a winemaker. He says it iswonderful to make something that you don’thave to sell. He believes there is no right orwrong with wine, just choices, choices of sourcesof fruit or different styles of wine. Each brandhas a philosophy, a style and it must have focus.Rudy describes the von Strasser wines as long-lived, not too tannic, elegant—not a block-buster, easy to understand. �

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John WilliamsWinemaker and OwnerFrog’s Leap Winery8815 Conn Creek RoadRutherfordfrogsleap.com60,000 case production

When Frog’s Leap Winery began to buy grapesfrom the Rossi family in St. Helena many yearsago, among their blocks were two of old vineValdiguié (once known as Napa Gamay), plantedin 1949 and 1955. In the course of his wine-making career, John Williams, Frog’s LeapWinery founder, owner and winemaker, spentsome time touring in the south of France and avisit to Domaines Ott, known for its rosés, hadstuck in his mind. When John saw the veteranhead-trained vines of Valdiguié in the Rossi Vine-yard, he immediately thought: rosé, and a rosémade intentionally rather than as an afterthoughtderived from the making of some other wine.

Frog’s Leap thus initiated its rosé, choosing aname and label design to acknowledge John’sinspiration for the style of the wine, and aprogram to fit the vines. “La GrenouilleRougante,” the blushing frog, also known as“Pink,” is pale salmon in color, low in alcohol,and meant to be enjoyed on a warm summer day.“How delicious,” reflects John on the gloweringMarch morning of the interview. He says a greatdeal of Napa rosé is made saignée: a portion ofnew wine is drawn off fermenting red grapes thatis probably 14 to 14.5 percent alcohol in Napa

Valley. Such a profile doesn’t fit John’s idea ofrosé. The old Valdiguié vines struggle to ripen andare usually picked at 21 to 22° Brix to keep acid-ity, fermented to dry at 12 percent alcohol instainless fermenters, with an addition of a littleZinfandel but no additional yeast, filtered andbottled with a polymer cork. John says Pink has alittle petulance, a bit of sparkle. 400 to 500 casesare made each year.

After Louise Rossi died in 2007 (her family’son-site winery was bonded in 1907; its lastvintage was 1949), John bought the Rossi Vine-yard, and, in John’s words, “its absolutely beautifulvines,” from Louise’s estate. In addition to itsactive blocks of Cabernet, Merlot and SauvignonBlanc as well as Valdiguié, a large block that oncehad been in Riesling was idle. John somewhatmournfully recalls that Frog’s Leap had made aRiesling, “Leapfrögmilch” with beautiful acidity,just 11 percent alcohol. But the variety’s popular-ity waned and there were no other buyers for thefruit, so now that Riesling block lay fallow. Asmaller one of just a couple of acres planted in1978 was not going to produce enough for a tablewine, but John thought it might make a dessertwine. Riesling is John’s favorite white variety, andthe small block near the highway ripens late. Itwas harvested when fully botrytised with sugar inthe high 30°’s, low 40°’s B, direct pressed (notdestemmed), inoculated with special Germanyeast and fermented in little stainless barrels. Johnsays it is tricky to keep the wine cool yet fermen-tation going, and stopping fermentation is an art.Frog’s Leap “Frogenbeerenauslese” has proven agreat success and production from the small vine-

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yard block has grown from 80 to 200 cases of375ml bottles.

How did Riesling come to be John’s favoritewhite variety? John was able to graduate fromCornell University thanks to a work-study pro-gram in which he alternated semesters at Cornellwith Taylor Wine Company. John grew up on adairy farm in Upstate New York. His first sip ofwine was at Taylor, where he worked in every de-partment and fell in love with wine. Spring Breakof 1975, John took a bus to Napa Valley for thewine scene. Bothe State Park was too expensive,so John camped out nearby in what he took to bean abandoned farmhouse and hopped a parkfence to shower. The owner of the house turnedout to be a long, tall (and compassionate) guywho had just bought the farm from W.W. Lyman.Part of the property had been used for a com-mercial frog farm and the guy was Dr. Larry Tur-ley. Larry was most supportive of John’s intentand lent him a truck to check out UC Davis.John took a bus back to finish Cornell, thenhitchhiked out to go to Davis, was introduced byLarry to Warren Winiarski at a Napa Valley WineLibrary tasting at Charles Krug in 1975, andworked the bottling line at Stag’s Leap Wine Cel-lars bottling, as it turns out, its 1973 CabernetSauvignon that won the Paris Tasting.

That fall, John and Larry managed to make threegallons of Frog Farm Chardonnay from StagsLeap fruit described as “three bins we snuckout.” Chardonnay gave way to Zinfandel, whichled to Cabernet as John finished his master’sdegree at Davis, and then became the first wine-

maker for Glenora Wine Cellars in Finger Lakes,New York, where he learned to make Riesling.But California lured him back, and John becamehead winemaker at Spring Mountain Winery forMike Robbins in 1980, while he and Larry mademore wine. Soon blown away by their success, thepair sold their motorcycles to found Frog’s LeapWinery in 1981. They fixed up an old barn onLarry’s property, installed tanks in 1984 and by1994 were producing 30,000 cases of wine withvisitors trooping by Larry’s front door. It was

time to change things around. Larry founded Tur-ley Wine Cellars and John took Frog’s Leap toRutherford.

In buying grapes all over Napa Valley, John hadeyed an old red barn on Rutherford Cross Roadthat had been an active winery from 1884 to1896, until Phylloxera hit and its acreage let gountil a group of owners bought it in the late1960’s. Chuck Carpy was on the board of theWine Service Cooperative with John and was oneof the Red Barn Farm owners. A deal was struckin 1994 and Frog’s Leap Winery in Rutherfordmade the first wine the red barn had made in 99years: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot,Sauvignon Blanc, and Zinfandel, just as it doestoday. Production grew to 50,000 cases andFrog’s Leap really began cultivating its vineyards,paying attention to vine health, soil health androot depth.

Since 1988, all Frog’s Leap vineyards have beencertified organically grown, a first for Napa Valley.Today, in addition to the 40 acres of CabernetSauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel surroundingthe winery in the old Red Barn, Sauvignon Blancand Petite Sirah are grown on 50 acres offGalleron Lane in Rutherford in addition to the52-acre Rossi Vineyard in St. Helena. John thinksthe vineyard director for Frog’s Leap Winery,Frank Leeds, is probably the best grape grower inNapa Valley. The vineyards he manages are alldry-farmed, a practice that is at least 150 yearsold in Napa Valley, and involves more than justnot adding water. As Frank describes it, covercrops are incorporated into the earth in the spring.

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The objective is to achieve and maintain a toplayer of earth that is only earth—soft, moistureholding and insulating. In March, after pruning,canes are let fall where they may. “Cultivate, don’tirrigate,” says John. Cover crop and canes, allorganic matter is turned back into the soil, andthen a “dust mulch” rigorously maintained with“zero tolerance for weeds in the summer.

Frank learned to farm from his uncle, RoyChavez, in the family vineyard off Whitehall Lanein St. Helena. Frank, his brother and sister nowown the 35-acre Chavez Leeds Vineyard that hasbeen in the family since 1926. John says dry-farming is a big commitment on the part of thewinegrower (and requires a certain terrain, water-thrifty rootstock, and sufficient rainfall). Butwhen vines are deeply connected to the soil, Johnelaborates, their roots explore and vines produceberries with deep flavor at low sugar levels. Since70 percent of Frog’s Leap production is forrestaurants, acidity rules all. A new planting ofCharbono in Rossi Vineyard will be head-trainedas well as dry-farmed. Frog’s Leap has made veryfew wines over 14 percent alcohol in 31 years, andnever, ever 15 percent. John expostulates, “12 ½percent used to be full-bodied! The wines at theParis Tasting? All dry-farmed!

Frog’s Leap Sauvignon Blanc is 12.5 percent:crisp and minerally, pale, and John says has neverbeen considered to be anything else. Its Chardon-nay fruit from Truchard Vineyards in LosCarneros is whole-cluster pressed. Fermentationis started in stainless steel; must is then rackedinto oak or steel barrels, which allows the wine to

ferment at different temperatures and the feversof fermentation to develop different compoundsand flavors. After sitting on its lees untouched untilEaster (a critical period, John warns, that isotherwise much too tempting for the winemaker),the wine is filtered and bottled.

Unlike cooking, which John loves to do, in wine-making there is no cause to rush into action. Ifyou take time to think about it in cooking, youburn it, John admits rather ruefully, whereas inwinemaking, non-action is better than action. Heseeks to erase any signature of winemaking.

“We spend so much time thinking about how wegrow our grapes,” John reflects. “If I can focuson that rather than imputing a style of wine,” hefeels successful.

The winery’s year-round crew not only works inthe vineyards and winery but also in its orchardsand gardens. John believes cross-training nurturesproficiencies. The house for administration andhospitality was the first in California to beLEED-certified (a green building certificationsystem, LEED stands for Leadership in Energyand Environmental Design). The winery alsotakes advantage of geothermal and solar powerand recycling. Using lightweight wine bottles saveson materials and shipping costs. Frog’s Leaptravels to and sells wine in every state, as well as afew foreign countries. Because it is a relativelysmall operation, John says Frog’s Leap benefitsfrom observing practices in other markets andcountries, traveling and tasting.

When asked about the next generation, Johndescribes his children as finding their own ways.The oldest, with a masters degree in enology fromCornell, has already started his own wine venture.In the fall, the middle child begins business schooland the youngest, now with ACLU in Sacramento,starts law school. All three have grown up in thewine business—their mom also owns a winery(Tres Sabores), and John looks forward to theirbecoming owners of Frog’s Leap, to be part oftaking a product all the way from the earth to awinemaker’s dinner in Boston and getting jazzedby the feed back. “It keeps energy up,” he says.“Wine is a pretty wonderful farm product.” �

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OfficersCarolyn Martini, PresidentGary Jaffe, Vice PresidentAllen Price, SecretaryBret Blyth, Treasurer

Board of DirectorsJulie DicksonBob DyeBarbara InselCameron KrebsBob LongFulton MatherBob PecotaCraig RootDale Brown, EmeritusRichards Lyon, Emeritus

Library DirectorJennifer Baker

Executive SecretaryJane Skeels

Events AdministratorDiana Stockton

Collections SupervisorBobbie Vierra

ArchivistChris Kreiden

Napa Valley Wine Library Association

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MembershipWe invite you to join the Napa Valley Wine LibraryAssociation. Your membership dues support thecollections at the St. Helena Public Library. Youwill also receive the Wine Library REPORT,information about our courses and seminars, andadmission to our ever-popular Annual Tasting, formembers only. Individual membership is $75.00 peryear; lifetime membership is $1,000.00.

To join, please complete this form and mail it witha check payable to:

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Vince Arroyo

Allen Balik

Jim Barbour

Sandi Belcher

Roger Boulton

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Carl Doumani

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John Gantner

Joel Gott

David Graves

Jay Heminway

Andy Hoxsey

Duane Hoff

Lee Hudson

Will Jamieson

Genevieve Janssens

Dennis Kelly

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Seminar Faculty and REPORT IntervieweesFaculty consists primarily of Napa Valleywinemakers, winegrowers, winery principals,and chefs. Instructors and interviewees for thelast three years are listed below.

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