Cardoza Family Wines. The Cardoza family history, in terms of alcohol retail begins in the U.S. with Manuel J. Cardoza, born in the U.S. in 1898. He operated two speakeasies in New Bedford, MA from 1927 until 1933; patrons were the movers and shakers of the community. Cardoza opened UNION Wine Shop in New Bedford in 1933 at 257 Union Street. He received the first wine retail license granted by the state of Massachusetts following prohibition. By 1934 the shop was already advertising in the local newspaper, The Standard-Times as selling Seagram’s products and domestic whiskeys. Five years later Cardoza opened Cardoza’s Package Store at 291 Washington Street in Fairhaven, MA. This store stood until 1989 when it was torn down, and CARDOZA’S Wine & Spirits opened, owned and operated by Manuel’s son Richard Cardoza. The store featured 8,500 feet of retail space.
Richard’s son, Richie lived in Naples, FL from 1975-1985 where he was President of Naples Artcrafters, a still active organization that provides exposure for local artists. In 1987 he returned to Massachusetts and assisted his father develop and transition the package store into the fine wine business, initially working just one day a week. He made an almost immediate impact in sales. Richie remembers the first deal he made was with Sutter Home; they sold him 10 cases and threw in a few bottles of White Zinfandel to complete the sale. Within a year he was selling 400 cases a month at $9.99 for three case purchases. And he was selling many Napa Valley wines from iconic wineries for more than two decades; their clients were primarily located between Newport, RI and Cape Cod, MA.
A local theatre reached out to him to assist with hosting a wine tasting. After a successful first event, word spread and he assisted with additional tastings including for charity, primarily focused on benefits for children and events focused on local history. He made these tastings fun and simultaneously educational; in addition to domestic bottlings, he brought in wines from around the world.
Richie has fond memories of running the business and loads of stories including the time Jackie Kennedy stopped by to browse his mother’s antique shop. And of his father, who was known to give a piece of Bazooka bubble gum to every child who walked into the shop with their parents. These kids grew up, but when Richie would meet them later in life they would always remember his fathers simple gesture – the gift of bubble gum.
In 1995 Richie purchased the family business from his father and expanded operations, opening three more stores including two in Dartmouth and one in Fall River. And in 2006 Richard opened the Cork Wine and Tapas Bar in New Bedford.
By 2012 Richie sold his remaining east coast based businesses and moved to southern California where he launched Vinium, a wine packaged in a bag inside a box. Ultimately Vinium was sold in 40 Whole Foods locations from Ventura to San Diego. Whole Foods eventually requested he form a partnership with a distributor. He reached out to a long time friend who was the president of Southern Wine & Spirits at the time. He assisted with getting this product in front of buyers from big box stores. They all said bring this product back when you have it built as an established brand.
Richie first visited Napa Valley in 1989 and returned regularly for several decades. In 2016 he moved to Napa Valley and began consulting for Maxville Winery, a connection he first made while he was welling Vinium at Whole Foods in southern California. While reading a wine magazine, he discovered an article about the brand, Slingshot and their model of buying bulk wine and bottling it under their own label. This business model stuck with him. In 2020 with visitation to wineries significantly lowered, Richie began purchasing excess wine from premium wineries in Napa Valley and bottling it under his own labels and selling it through a variety of online retail spaces. One winery had 8,000 cases they needed to move of shiners. Richie contacted a number of online retailers and sold through their entire inventory.
Over time he has developed relationships with wineries and winemakers. He knows their vineyards, winemaking style and is able to negotiate prices that are fair for the wineries trying to move excess inventory.
He has created numerous SKUs bottled and sold under a diversity of brand names including Cardoza Family Wines, Titan, Adeptos, Walker & Chiles, Deux Mondes and Whiskey Crossing. All of the names for his wine brands were carefully and thoughtfully chosen. For example, Whiskey Crossing refers to a young man who used to work for Joseph Chiles in Chiles Valley. This individual would take a wagon into St. Helena, sell barrels of whiskey, but would always return to Chiles’ distillery liquored up. But inventory was never missing. It was later discovered that one of the barrels from an earlier trip had fallen off the wagon and rolled down to the local creek. This individual would stop the wagon on his return trips at this barrel and enjoy a drink or two or more. And Vinium in Latin roughly translates to the best quality producing vines in a vineyard.
Richie secures wines of pedigree, balance, and at great prices from wineries, purchasing as a negociant. He works primarily with grapes from Atlas Peak, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena, and Oak Knoll. And through his retail buyers, he introduces these wines at a level of quality to those who would otherwise never have been able to try wines from these sub appellations due to much higher winery direct prices.
Select Wines
Whites
The 2022 Vinium Chardonnay, Atlas Peak Napa Valley is medium to deep gold in color; the bouquet is a union of both ripe fruit trending tropical – and floral undertones. This wine smells like golden apples, Casaba melon, pineapple, walnut skin, hazelnut, jasmine, the late spring blooms of honeysuckle, honeycomb and vanilla. At this age it offers a light tangy aromatic profile. Bright, fruity and with plenty of barrel influence, this wine tastes like golden delicious apple, mango, papaya, pineapple upside down cake, honeycomb, vanilla, ripe cantaloupe, melting butter and a lingering spicy toasted oak character which outpaces both its rich flavors and acidity on the finish. This wine features a balanced but bright acidity which complements and buoys the rounded and supple texture – so the mouth feel never feels heavy. Also finishes with a note of filbert (hazelnut). This is a ripe California expression without being overtly oaky or buttery. In terms of a pairing, perhaps something some from the sea, lightly grilled in butter, salt and dried herbs – would be a good accompaniment. Perhaps scallops.
Reds
The 2023 Cardoza Family Cabernet Sauvignon, Atlas Peak Napa Valley The Patriarch is 77% Cabernet Sauvignon (clones 337, 4 and 7), 12% Merlot (clone 181), 8% Cabernet Franc and 3% Malbec. This wine was aged for 14 months in 40% new French oak barrels and 60% once-used French oak barrels. This wine is deep ruby and opaque; it smells both fruity and fresh, but never crosses into the territory of being over ripe. Immediately open-knitted and inviting, its scents include rose petal, boysenberry, blackberry, mulberry, dark raspberry, old cedar wood, the smell of walking into a humidor and dried sage. The palate is a union of both red and darker fruits and underlying barrel influences. This wine tastes like cherry, blueberry, raspberry, boysenberry and Persian mulberry. The tannins are integrated nicely, and linger with a light dusty and tumbled character. And there is a savory edge on the finish including of dried herbs, i.e., sage. The acidity is bright and balanced. This is a crowd friendly, balanced expression and is it also versatile in terms of being able to pair with a diversity of food, although we would lean heavily into red meats.
The 2023 Canyon Ranch Rutherford, Napa Valley is 89% Cabernet Sauvignon (clones 169 and 412), 8% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. This wine was aged in 65% new French oak barrels. This wine is deep ruby and completely opaque with purplish hues in the glass; forward and dark fruited the bouquet sports aromas of blackberry, dark cherry, boysenberry, dark mulberry, fig, dark cocoa powder, baker’s chocolate, cured meats and old cedar wood. The texture is fleshy, but not heavy; the tannins are well tumbled – in terms of a boxer, they would be in the strawweight category. The finish lingers with darker edge, including a note of smoked cedar, dried sage, bay leaf, a light kiss of dark pepper, and like the bouquet, a note of cured/dried meats. And there is persistent dusty character that is felt more on the front of the palate than the back. This is a ripe yet also savory expression of the variety. Nonetheless, the acidity keeps the palate fresh and bright. There is as reason why Rutherford is often referred to as expressing ‘Rutherford dust’ and this wine is a good example of that. Bring on a well marbled Wagyu steak please.
The 2023 Walker Chiles, Diamond Mountain Napa Valley is deep ruby and opaque with purplish hues; this wine does not lack for color. The bouquet is immediately floral including scents of violets, lavender and lilacs. The fruit far outplays the barrel here with aromas of boysenberry, red cherry, boysenberry, Santa Rosa plum and an underlying tone of old cedar box, sweet pipe tobacco and hints of cocoa powder and mocha. A mouth filling expression of layered dark fruits, this wine tastes like blackberry, dark cherry, boysenberry, Satsuma plum and savory characteristics with additional notes of dried sage, dried bay leaf, smoked cedar and an earthy/dusty character. The finish shows plenty of mountain texture and character, featuring gravelly grainy and a dusty/chalky feel that persists far beyond the fruit on the finish, broadly coating the palate. This is a big but balanced wine that showcases a harmony between fruit, energetic acidity and texture. This wine needs to be paired with a T-bone steak. End of story.
The 2023 Cardoza Family Wines Red Wine, Oak Knoll District Napa Valley is led by Cabernet Franc. This wine is deep ruby and opaque with purplish hues in the glass. It smells both fruity and floral with no green characteristics often associated with this variety, especially from cooler sites. The nose smells liquid violets, lavender, purple lilac, dried sage, dried bay leaf and old cedar box, accompanied by lots of berry notes including boysenberry, mulberry and blackberry. Other fruited layers are of dark spicy plum skin, black cherry and blueberry. The fruit takes the front seat while the oak takes the back seat. As it warms in the glass it offers a layer of mocha. Easy to drink and enjoyable, this bottling delivers plenty of fruit layers but without any heavy texture. The palate tastes on the riper side of the spectrum, like dark plum, blackberry jam, boysenberry jelly, cherry pie and Himalayan mulberry. This wine finishes with a gentle tug, a light handshake if you will of tannins sporting a tumbled and lightly gravelly and dusty character and an accompanying note of dried sage. Features a balanced acidity. We don’t know the ABV, but if we had to guess its somewhere in the upper 14s like maybe 14.8 or 14.9%.
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For more information or to purchase wines directly from those bottled under the Titan brand, visit: www.titanwinecompany.com
Harvest Lane Culinary Village
Site of proposed, Harvest Lane Culinary Village
Marketed as the ‘living room of Napa’ the focus is on offering wines at a tiered price, one lower price for Napa residents who are automatically ‘members’ including two guests and full price for visitors to the valley. The idea with the lowered overall pricing is to introduce younger consumers to wine and offer wines that locals can afford on a daily basis. And providing wines sold in re-usable and refillable containers.
Part of the village will include a pop-up space for graduates of local culinary programs to operate a small business on a rotating basis and a partnership with the Napa County Animal Shelter to offer a space for locals to bond with animals and perhaps adopt them. Space will be available for local crafts people and local musicians. Surplus food will be distributed to those in need.
Richie is actively seeking investors for this project. More details can be found here: www.harvestlanenapa.com
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