Boich Family Cellar

Boich Family Cellar. Founder John Boich lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years where he enjoyed a long career in finance serving as a portfolio manager for select companies and founding and running several investment firms. He began visiting Napa and Sonoma in the mid 1990s staying in the area for a few nights at a time. During one such trip while in St. Helena, after a lunch at Tra Vigne Restaurant he decided to go shopping for dish towels. As he was walking down Main Street, he spotted a Prudential real estate office and wandered in – casually asking about available properties for sale.

The agent mentioned a few properties but then hinted at another property that “may or may not be for sale” and invited him to see the property. The agent was Roberta Wall; John followed her up to almost the end of Wall Road off Trinity Road. This is the northern most tip of the Mt. Veeder appellation – remote, rugged and featuring picturesque terrain. John took one look at the view and uttered, “holy crap” – immediately falling in love with this special slice of Napa. Not so much a decision as he admits now, but more of an impulse – he purchased the property from Roberta and Duane Wall that day.

Boich Estate is now 36 acres – divided into a 16 acre and two 10-acre parcels. For 8 years John would come up on the weekends and spend time on the property (recalling only a camping shed and a picnic table were on site) preparing a steep rugged part of the property to eventually be planted to vines. In 2009 merely 220 Syrah vines, a ‘home vineyard’ were planted – today producing in a good year only about 50 cases of this coveted wine.

Later Duane and Roberta sold John another parcel; this was already planted in 1999 to 3 acres of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with a small amount of Cabernet Franc. The grapes were being sold at the time to Del Dotto Vineyards. The vineyard is in the shadow of Bald Mountain and grows at an elevation of 1,850 feet ABSL in volcanic soils. The vineyard is mostly dry farmed but when water is needed, it is sourced from natural springs on the property. And Duane told us what while this vineyard is small, there are a number of soil types including sections of the vineyard which are much rockier than other parts and have much lower water retention capacities.

The property is almost at the end of Wall Road; this is a premium vineyard neighborhood including Boz Scagg’s Vineyard, owned by Robert Craig Winery and the Pym-Rae estate and vineyard, formerly owned by Robin Williams but currently owned by Alfred and Melanie Tesseron of Château Pontet-Canet in Pauillac, France.

Duane grew up in Napa Valley and worked for many years as a cooper at Nadalie Cooperage in Calistoga. His parents moved to this part of Napa in the 1930s and were the namesake for Wall Road. John considers Duane a mentor and a close friend; Duane has shared his years of knowledge and connections in the industry and his expertise has been invaluable as an informal consultant for Boich Family Cellar. And through his work with Nadalie, Duane met many of the old timers in Napa Valley – and is a rich resource of stories and heritage about the region.

When deciding on who to hire as a winemaker, John invited a number of well-respected winemakers to the property to share his vision, access evaluate personalities and try to determine who would be the best fit for the particular site. He was impressed with winemaker Jeff Ames; Jeff has made every vintage since the inaugural release, a 2012 Beckstoffer owned Georges III G Block. The first vintage of wines from the estate property was in 2014.

In 2012 Jnani Matson joined John as a partner and was Boich Family Cellar’s Chief Operations Officer until early 2024. Jnani has led a diverse life – serving on the front lines in the Gulf War in 1991 and later working for a top Beverly Hills based securities firm providing protection for celebrities and others mostly in Los Angeles and later working in real estate. Also, a pilot, he enjoys flying over wine country; he also founded Vortex Advantage Ag LL., an unmanned aerial vehicle company utilizing custom drone applications including sprayign for agriculture. He now lives in Texas. And later, vintner Ed Kuchar joined Boich Family as a partner. Kuchar is also one of the founding partners of Napa Valley based Implicit Cellars. And like John, Ed is also from Ohio.

The focus of Boich Family Cellar is on creating primarily 100% varietal, single vineyard wines from proven iconic sites, including several of Beckstoffer’s six ‘heritage’ vineyards. These are among the top vineyards in his Napa Valley portfolio, all built upon historical pedigrees and proven terroir.

Select Wines
Chardonnay
The 2016 Boich Family Cellar Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay went through full malolactic fermentation and was not fined or filtered. The wine spent 10 months in barrel. Golden in the glass offers a pretty mix of both fruit, floral notes (honeysuckle) and baking spice aromas and as it breathes reveals additional notes of brown sugar. Also hints of popcorn on the bouquet. Shows a pleasing texture without being heavy on the palate – with flavors of baking spices, crème Brulé and a citrus nuance. Lingers for some time with intense flavor. This was their inaugural vintage of a white wine. Looking at a number of prominent cooler weather sites for Chardonnay in both Napa and Sonoma they eventually discovered a block within a particular vineyard that fit the profile for the style of wine they wanted to produce from this variety. It was the Ritchie Vineyard, located in the heart of Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley.

Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2015 Boich Family Cellar Beckstoffer Georges III G Block Cabernet Sauvignon reveals an elegant nose that is primarily about the fruit including red and dark cherry and strawberry. Hints of dust and an herbal note offer some non-fruited and savory notes. Its aromatic expression can be best summarized by two words: refined opulence. The palate sports a mouthwatering acidity; it is simultaneously juicy and salivating. There are flavors of black cherry with a finishing note of cedar on the finish. The present tannins are firm but not gripping tannins. This is a very food friendly wine.

The 2017 Boich Family Missouri Hopper Cabernet Sauvignon is dark ruby to purple in the glass with aromas of dark fig, plum, boysenberry and blackberry. As the wine breathes further, notes of tobacco leaf and mocha begin to show. This bottling shows plenty of heft, yet is also nicely balanced across the palate. Its texture and tannin structure is noteworthy. Dense, rounded and somewhat chalky in texture the tannins linger with a persistent grip. The finish persists with both dark fruits and dark, earthy notes and savory barrel spice notes. Very age worthy.

The 2015 Boich Family Cellar Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from a premium vineyard site east of St. Helena in the Howell Mountain AVA. This wine is dark in the glass showing darker fruit aromatics on the bouquet along with a floral note, hints of cigar smoke and cedar box. The bouquet reveals a sweetness of fruit and dessert spices as it evolves. One of its aromatic characteristics is its generous layering. The entry is fairly supple but as the wine moves across the palate, its gains in complexity quickly, both in terms of flavor and texture. Shows a youthful finish with still tightly woven tannins that need time to open. This bottling sports a bright and balanced acidity.

The 2013 Boich Family Cellar Wall Road Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a powerful wine from a burly vintage in general in the Napa Valley. Noticeably inky dark ruby in color – the wine is smoky on the bouquet with hints of cigar smoke and leather along with ripe and intense aromas of blackberry, boysenberry and black currant. A wine made for those who gravitate towards robust, complex and big bold Napa Cabernet Sauvignons. This wine is well-endowed with both flavor, acidity and structure – broad shouldered and muscular tannins carry an extremely lengthy finish. Hints of oak spice and vanilla also show. Recommended to decant when young. This wine has all the hallmarks of being able to age for a very long time. A very impressive showing.

The 2018 Boich Family Cellar Wall Road Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (unlike the other wines which are 100% varietal, this wine has a tiny bit of Cabernet Franc in the blend). Dark ruby in color with a nose that offers aromas of old cedar, rose petals with hints of tobacco leaf. Still a bit closed on the bouquet at the time of our tasting 2.5 years post vintage date. At nearly 16% alcohol, one doesn’t notice the alcohol primarily due to this wine’s vibrant energy on the palate from the lively acidity. Plum, red cherry and currant – the palate is juicy and mouthwatering all the way through to the finish. The tannins are still tightly wound, a little astringent and linger with a moderate long-lasting grip.

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And in another unexplained case of miraculously surviving the devastating October 2017 fires (several Napa vintners we spoke with were also extremely lucky), John’s house and wooden barn somehow survived unscathed despite the fire burning all the way to the edge of both structures and completely surrounding their home. Neighbors in very close proximity were not so lucky. Fortunately, most of the vines escaped damage.

Visits are for serious wine enthusiasts and are held in a nicely decorated portal room inside HUNNICUTT Winery in St. Helena (where the Boich wines are produced). HUNNICUTT is known among local vintners as being a premium custom crush winery – allowing other wine brands to ‘rent’ space within their cave to make their own wines. Different somewhat than other wineries who rent out space, HUNNICUTT allows the winemakers for the individual brands to oversee each of their own brands. Walking through the cave is like being in a candy shop for premium Napa Valley boutique producers with wine from some of Napa Valley’s finest under the radar producers crafted here.

And there are other advantages to making wine here; from a winemaking perspective, one is surrounded by extremely talented vintners who all have access to premiere vineyards. Over the years we have visited the property numerous times; it’s always neat to bump into winemakers we don’t often see. This space is a think tank so to speak where one can bounce ideas of others and relationships are cultivated.

Tasting experiences can also be centered around lunches from restaurants in Napa, Yountville or St. Helena, including at Bistro Don Giovanni (with their lovely outdoor patio setting) and at Charter Oak Restaurant in St. Helena.

Their wines are sold direct to consumer as well as through select distribution channels. In Los Angeles some of their wine is available at one of the best wine shops in the southland, Wally’s Wine. Locally you can sometimes find the wine at ACME Wine Shop in St. Helena. Total production is typically around 300 cases of each wine per year with a total annual output of approximately 2,000 cases. The majority is sold through an allocation with the remainder sold through visits in Napa Valley, hosted events and select online retailers.

Being an allocation member in Boich Family Cellar gives one access to the Boich lifestyle and a diversity of fun events often hosted by John. These include highly personalized experiences centered around food and wine and other lifestyle gatherings. For example, these may include time spent at the private and exclusive Mayacama Golf Club in Sonoma County, time at Wing & Barrel, also in Sonoma County – shooting clays followed by Boich wines and a private dinner, wellness and wine events and access to industry leaders from the world of wine. And for those who can’t make it to Napa or Sonoma, Boich Family Cellar often hosts private wine events in the comfort of your own home or at a country club.

John’s partner Gayle owns Olive Hill, a 10-acre property on the Sonoma side of Carneros, used for events, meetings or wellness retreats. The home features three guest suites and a gym, pilates and yoga studio.

For more information and or to join their allocation member’s list, please visit: www.boichfamilycellar.com