Mount Veeder Magic Vineyards. Karen Crouse (born in New Orleans but was raised in Los Angeles County) and her husband Greg moved up to the city of Napa in 1990 from Walnut Creek. Karen was working for American Express at the time; she moved to the Napa Valley to acquire clients and help market and host related credit card events in the region. Growing grapes … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2020
Riverain
Riverain was founded by several friends who originally connected in Orange County through the world of wine, Steve Nordhoff (founding attorney of Nordhoff Bengfort, a Newport Beach based legal firm) and Dean Gray (worked in the field of consumer packaging, initially for Proctor and Gamble) and Dean's wife Laurie (who captured the lovely photographs for some … [Read more...]
Okapi Wines
Okapi Wines is owned by Dan and Kim Johnson. Dan was first introduced to wine through a connection to his legal work. One day in the early 1980s he drove up to Santa Rosa from Oakland to work on a case that involved early construction at Chateau St. Jean in Kenwood (neighboring Sonoma County). When his casework was finished for the day - he was asked if he … [Read more...]
TEXTBOOK Napa Valley
TEXTBOOK Napa Valley was founded by Jonathan and Susan (died in 2016) Pey in 2004. What ultimately became an important event and influence in Jonathan's life occurred when he was in his teens; his father announced that he had been transferred to France for work and the family would be moving to Paris. Jonathan spent three years living in France and during … [Read more...]
Tench Vineyards
Tench Vineyards. This beautiful 61-acre property sits just west of the Silverado Trail in Oakville. The property is the same footprint in size from when John (1902-1990) and Joan (1908-2001) Tench purchased this site in 1965, the same year that John retired as the Manager of Shell Oil. He was born and raised in the United Kingdom in the small village of … [Read more...]
601 Cellars
601 Cellars. Enter a Napa Valley brand that does not produce a Cabernet Sauvignon. An anomaly, sure - but a refreshing one, nonetheless. Proprietors Brian Doody and Laura Larson were living in Washington DC and working in high tech (data storage) when they began looking at purchasing a vacation home in the Napa Valley around the recession of 2008/2009. They … [Read more...]