Brilliant Mistake Wines

Brilliant Mistake Wines (not to be confused by the song title of the same name by Elvis Costello) was founded by John and Stacy Reinert; their first vintage dates from 2013. John is originally from Philadelphia; he came to California to pursue a passion for music. The forks in life invariably lead one in directions one may not have originally anticipated. In a dramatic career move from music, today he manages a water utility in Palo Alto. While getting his monthly haircut at a hair salon which employed a number of stylists, one particular lady caught his eye (Stacy). Noticing each other but never chatting much other than a friendly hello, they eventually connected over a mutual passion for baseball. They married and today live in the San Francisco Bay area but often spend time at a second home in Yountville.

While dating, they both took short trips to Napa Valley – enjoying both the visual beauty and the wines and meeting local winemakers including Thomas Rivers Brown and Juan Mercado among others. In getting to know a number of winemakers, they soon discovered an openness that people had in sharing information about the industry. As John and Stacy started thinking about making wine, winemakers would highlight both their successes and failures in the industry and try to steer them in a direction that would allow them to succeed.

John and Stacy recall sitting down with Juan Mercado at Bottega Restaurant in Yountille for lunch; what might have just been lunch soon turned into a 3+ hour affair. Juan’s early advice was pragmatic and extremely helpful – encouraging them to choose a unique name, keep production very small in the beginning, focus on a variety that Napa Valley is known for (Cabernet Sauvignon) and do not seek outside investors.

Upon getting to know both John and Stacy one realizes their zest for life, food, wine and having a good time is genuine. They truly enjoy people. And this was clearly evident during a recent lunch at Bottega (which could have easily lasted three hours if we had the time!).

Initially they interviewed numerous winemakers while looking for specific criteria. They wanted someone who was a hands-on winemaker, who was open to their participation while willing to be a teacher both in the vineyards and in the winery. Rebekah Wineburg crafted their 2013 vintage but after one year she became winemaker at Quintessa and was unable to continue consulting. She then recommended winemaker Maayan Koschitzky who has made all subsequent vintages starting in 2014.

Maayan’s background was initially as a Mechanical Engineer in Israel, but in his mid 20s in 2004 he switched careers and began to work in wineries. In 2010 he and his wife decided to move to the USA, and he applied for winemaking positions in Napa Valley. He was accepted by one small premium producer in the valley but then was accepted for an intern position at Screaming Eagle to work with new winemaker at the time, Nick Gislason. He had never heard of Screaming Eagle, so he mentioned the name to his older brother – who then looked up their pedigree online and quickly realized this was a job too good to turn down. With the intent to only stay a year or two and work a single harvest before returning to Israel, Maayan and his wife moved to the Napa Valley.

His first harvest at Screaming Eagle was in 2011, the same year the new winery was completed; he recalls the tanks had arrived just in time for harvest that year. The amount of time he spent at the winery that harvest was remarkable – often working 20+ hours days over 5 months. As Maayan admits, working at Screaming Eagle as his first job in Napa Valley was a shortcut of sorts. Instead of returning to Israel, Maayan and his wife decided to stay in Napa Valley.

Eventually he was introduced to Cameron Vawter who at the time was the winemaker at Dana Estate. Cameron offered him a job at Dana Estate but then also said he should meet Philippe Melka. Maayan remembers having lunch with Philippe, but Philippe did not have a position for him at the time. Later Philippe called Maayan and offered him a position to join his consulting wine team (Atelier Melka for a year in 2014). That position led to Maayan becoming the Director of Winemaking for Atelier Melka and eventually a partner in the business. Maayan also consults for several international projects including in Australia, Chile and Israel.

Select Wines
Whites
The Brilliant Mistake 2021 Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley is pale to medium yellow color in the glass; the bouquet offers aromas of citrus blossom, cut grass, and a lemon zest. Simply put, this wine smells lively and smells like the variety. It is wonderfully balanced across the entire palate, a hand-crafted seamlessness if you will. Features flavors of apple, lemon/lime, gooseberry and guava. The bright acidity lingers for quite some time; its mouthwatering but not tart. This wine offers plenty of flavor and tastes great by itself. But if we were to pair this with something, it would be from the ocean and would have two shells.

The 2018 vintage of their Sauvignon Blanc was listed as one the top 100 wines of 2019 by International Wine Report.

Reds
The 2019 Brilliant Mistake Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petit Verdot (sourced from vineyards in Rutherford and St. Helena). This wine is dark ruby in color; the bouquet smells elegant with some floral notes including violets and lavender, along with blackberry, black plum, toasted cedar and an intermittent very subtle honeycomb note that we rarely if ever find in Cabernet Sauvignon. The palate is primarily about dark fruit including black cherry, blueberry and blackberry. This wine’s texture is one of its hallmarks; shows a medium body and lingers with earthy, dusty, chewy and slightly chalk-like in texture tannins along with notes of old cedar box. One can almost taste the soil in this wine.

The 2014 Brilliant Mistake Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from premiere vineyards from two of Napa’s most premium regions: Stags Leap District and Rutherford. Their original intent when building this wine was to create a Cabernet Sauvignon blend with other varieties, but during the blending trials they found a superior wine was created through blending Cabernet Sauvignon from both vineyards rather than blending in the additional varieties. This wine is extremely approachable in its youth. An elegant bouquet is fruit forward, showcasing aromas of blackberry and raspberry complemented by lighter aromas of tobacco smoke and cedar box. Supple throughout the palate it features a long finish, not memorable because of the tannins but because of the intensity of the lingering fruit. This wine shows flavors of dark cherry and plum. The tannins are pure velvet – fine grained, rounded and very well integrated.

The 2013 Brilliant Mistake Cabernet Sauvignon, Taylor Family Vineyard Stags Leap District (inaugural vintage) is deep ruby, opaque and sporting some dark purple hues at 12 years post vintage. At this age, it is hold on to its primary color very well. The bouquet is an interplay of ripe fruits with accompanying influence of sweet baking spices from its time in oak. This wine smells like blackberry pie, boysenberry jam, Satsuma plum, Coral cherry at the peak of ripeness, dark mulberry and blueberry. Its non fruited scents are of dark chocolate, cocoa powder, sweet pipe tobacco, cinnamon stick, cardamom and clove. This wine is very much still primary at this age, both on the bouquet and the palate. And it tastes younger than its vintage, with bright and fresh fruited flavors supported by a vibrant and invigorating acidity. Ripe but not over ripe, its vivid and intense flavors include dark plum, blackberry, boysenberry, Persian mulberry, red cherry and a light but lingering note of dried tobacco leaf. This wine is like a time capsule, holding fresh, steady and youthful as the years tick by. The tannins are grainy and gravelly and persist with a broadly coating drying and dusty character. Tri-tip steak and a BBQ please. We would like to visit this beauty again in another 10 years and see where its at.

They followed Juan’s advice to grow slowly; in 2016 decided to produce a Sauvignon Blanc and later, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Beckstoffer owned Georges III Vineyard in Rutherford. Their most premium wine is a 100% varietal Cabernet Sauvignon crafted from a barrel selection, called The Poet & The Muse. And a newest bottling is the catchy When She was King, a Grenache, Syrah and Mouvedre (GSM) from the Fulldraw Vineyard in Paso Robles.

NOTE: this profile has been identified as needing a *major* update including tasting notes for current release wines.

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When She Was King
A brand rooted in the Carl Jung archetype ‘rebel’, When She was King is solidly placed in Paso Robles, producing Rhone varietal red wines. Their bottlings including Smoke, a Syrah dominated blend including Grenache and Mourvèdre and Mask, a red wine dominated by Mourvèdre with Grenache and Syrah. Their inaugural release was the 2022 vintage.

These wines are made with an agreement with Rebecca and Connor McMahon from Fulldraw Vineyard and also Stephan Asseo of L’Aventure Winery. We will taste these at our earliest convenience as time and budget allow.

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They both spent significant time trying to think of a name; Stacy suggested Brilliant Mistake. It is a simple name that immediately invites questions and curiosity and is a name that ties into their philosophy. One should be open to life taking unanticipated directions. When John was on the fence about starting this wine label – Stacy simply told him you only live once and if you don’t do this now, you might regret it for the rest of your life. The name is brilliant and most certainly was not a mistake!

In 2018, John and Stacey took on two partners to help grow the brand further; Steve Greenbaum and Doc Cohen, both men are wine collectors and are well connected in the business world. In 1993 Steve co-founded PostNet and served as their CEO, a company that provides small businesses and consumers with high-quality printing and shipping solutions. This still active business is built upon franchising, utilizing local entrepreneurs. During his time with the company including as CEO, he built the business into more than 650 franchises. The company was acquired in 2017 by MBE Worldwide.

He has also served as CEO for ComForCare, a home care provider; ever the one with an entreprenurial spirit, he has active in creating Best Life Brands. And outside of work, he was on Season 4 of the CBS television series Undercover Boss.

Doc Cohen is always one of the more intriguing individuals we see sporting a comfortable presence at parties around Napa Valley. We haven’t yet worked up the courage to introduce ourselves, but we will at some point. His career has been focused on management consulting including for franchises. While no longer involved with Brilliant Mistake, he was a partner from 2018 through 2022.

The Brilliant Mistake wines are found at a number of retail establishments in Napa Valley including at ACME wine shop in St. Helena and of course at a restaurant they apparently frequent often, Bottega. Visitors to the valley can also taste select wines at the K. Laz appointment only tasting room, also in Yountville. A number of vintages are often found through online retailers including Benchmark, Brix26, and WineBid.

Production typically ranged from approximately 100 cases to 300 cases during the early vintages of Brilliant Mistake, although production has since grown slightly. For more information and to join their mailing list, visit: www.brilliantmistakewines.com

ARCHIVED NOTES
Heron House, Yountville
Brilliant Mistake Wines was a member of the Heron House in Yountville (moved in, in June 2022) until December 11, 2022, when the Heron House closed permanently. We keep these notes and photographs for historical reference. This retail wine tasting space in SoYo (South Yountville) opened the day after Thanksgiving 2019 and featured a select number of small-brand producers who did not maintain their own tasting rooms. Heron House was created by vintner, Allison Stelzner, and the brands represented here were winemakers or friends or colleagues of Allison.

The Heron House was setup to feel like walking into someone’s living room – comfortable, cozy and inviting. The retail portion of the space was open during normal business hours and included mostly locally crafted products including select works of art – reflecting the Steltzner’s love of art. Two private tasting rooms were available by reservation. Several curated flights were offered, each containing wines from the various producers represented including several flights showcasing the Castiel Estate wines among several other producers. Allow up to 90 minutes for a visit. Hours are subject to change, but as of our latest update to this review, this space is daily from 10am until 6pm with the last tasting appointment at 5pm.