Pono Wines

Pono Wines was founded by Oahu, Hawaii born and raised proprietor David Sedeno and his wife Carole with their first vintage from 2012; this was two bottlings, 50 cases of Hoku Sauvignon Blanc and 50 cases of their Hapa Red Blend. Production has since expanded to include additional wines, with production of each bottling typically between 50 and 200 cases totaling approximately 1,500 cases annually. Dave was a firefighter for 35 years before retiring, including 10 years for McClellan Air Force Base and 25 years for the Roseville Fire Department. He and his wife discovered wine country for the first time in the early 1990s. He describes his first visits as like, ‘hit by lighting’, being energized by the people, the vistas and the wines. Working 10 days per month in 24 hour shifts left him with plenty of time for exploring Napa Valley and Sonoma County. He would often make day or weekend trips to these wine regions, nourishing his curiosity and thirst for wine.

While still an active firefighter, he decided he wanted to start a wine brokerage business. He recalls that minor details such as not knowing how to make wine, not knowing many people in the industry and the fact he wasn’t well-funded, did not stop him from getting into the wine business. After he acquired his license from the state of California, he became a wine broker. He drove up and down Napa Valley introducing himself to various wineries, tasting their wines and hearing their stores. Some of his early accounts were wineries or producers that were starting about the same time as his own business. These included Melka and Venge Vineyards; his first client was Saddleback Cellars. He helped them build their brands, distributed their wines throughout California and then placed their wines into national wine clubs for even greater exposure. He went from selling cases of wines to selling pallets.

After he retired from firefighting he sold his brokerage business. Several of his winemaker friends including Grant Long and Kirk Venge mentioned if he ever wanted to start his own wine brand, they would be happy to assist with the winemaking. He talked to Grant who immediatley told him he needed to hear two things; a name of the brand and an accompanying story. He strongly discouraged Dave from calling his brand, “fire engine red”. Dave said he would need to think about these items and would call Grant back. After 20 minutes he did and told Grant he has chosen the Hawaiian word Pono to represent his heritage. Pono has 85 different meanings including referring to making everything better than before in regards to what you come in contact with; whether it is a person, place, or a relationship with the environment. Other than the Pono sparkling wine, all the wines are produced and bottled in Napa Valley.

The coordinates of 21 degrees North and 157 degrees West listed on the back label correspond to the steps of the Iolani Palace in Honolulu, the residence of the Hawaiian monarchs; this ties into Dave’s own heritage. His great-great-great-grandmother was lady-in-waiting to Liliuokalani, the last queen of Hawaii. The golden fishhook that appears on the wine labels is a Polynesian symbol representing good fortune and is generally worn when travelling the ocean to bring sailors safe passage.

Select Wines
Whites
The 2023 PONO Hoku White Wine, Napa Valley is pale to medium straw in color; this wine smells like grapefruit, pomelo, pineapple guava, kaffir lime zest, citrus blossom, passion fruit, dill and fresh cut grass, an aromatic that is front and center as we recently returned from a multi-state wine focused trip in spring where it seemed like every lawn was in the process of being mowed. And there is a thread of vanilla at play here as well, but its mostly hidden by its bright citrus and herbal aromatics. Bright, balanced and refreshing the palate offers flavors of green apple, pomelo, pear, loquat, lime, honeydew melon, green almond, mint, dill, tarragon and not fully ripe pineapple. And a finishing note of toasted coconut. Its lightly fleshy texture is complemented nicely by its bright but balanced acidity. The name Hoku in Hawaiian means star or bright, a name synonymous with this wine’s bright lit character. We would love to pair this with lightly seared tuna; one year we brought bought a box of fresh-frozen recently-caught tuna from the Marshall Islands via Hawaii to Napa Valley. 13.5% ABV.

The 2024 PONO Hoku White Wine (Atlas Peak) is 100% Sauvignon Blanc but from three clones including Sauvignon Musqué. This wine is medium gold; its bouquet offers scents of glazed pineapple, yellow nectarine, peach, mango and ripe papaya. With additional white florals including honeysuckle and jasmine. The palate reveals flavors of golden apple, golden wild plums and pomelo. Intensely flavored, leaning tropical and ripe, yet also lively, its vibrant acidity complements nicely the fleshy and rounded mouth feel. Dave describes this wine as a Sauvignon Blanc which thinks it is a Chardonnay. This wine was fermented in concrete egg.

The 2021 Ali’l (meaning Royalty in Hawaiian) Sparkling Wine is 100% Pinot Noir from the Thomson Vineyard on the Napa Valley side of Carneros. This wine is medium copper in color; its aromatics include dried raspberry, wild strawberry, apricot, peach, nectarine and hazelnut. This bottling is bright and refreshing with flavors of loquat, hibiscus, mandarin and strawberry. The finish is vivacious and energetic and sports a creamy texture. This sparkling wine drinks far too easily. Pair with fresh oysters and an expansive view of a body of water.

Reds
The 2020 Pono Aina Pinot Noir Anderson Valley is pale to medium ruby in color; higher toned and brightly lit, the bouquet offers a bevy of red fruited scents including of currant, cranberry and strawberry along with red cherry, red licorice, and Tonka bean. Brambly. Diverse and layered, its additional aromas include black tea, smoked sage, dried oregano, pink peppercorn, clove and nutmeg. As lively on the palate as the bouquet, this wine reveals flavors of strawberry, red currant, red licorice, raspberry, cranberry and Santa Rosa plum. Lingers savory, with a tart character and flavors of white pepper and assorted dried herbs. The fruit is the star of the show here. Juicy, energetic and offering lots of movement across the palate, this wine is singing brightly at this age; for reference we needled and nosed this wine 5 years post vintage and it is still showing very youthful. Its tannins are lightly grainy and linger with a very subtle dusty attribute. This wine is built to age. We would love to pair this with either an assorted seafood stew (with tomato sauce) or a grilled pork tenderloin sprinkled lightly with sprigs of rosemary. 13.9% ABV.

The 2023 Pono Aina Pinot Noir Atlas Peak, Antinori Vineyard. This is an example of an extremely rare Napa Valley mountain grown Pinot Noir. Aina means blessed land in Hawaiian. This wine is pale ruby in color; on the bouquet there are aromatics of raspberry, Bing cherry, candied strawberry, pomegranate, old cedar box and a light note of mocha as this wine further evolves. The palate offers flavors of raspberry, strawberry and red cherry along with some complementary baking spices including cloves and cardamom. The tannins are lightly textured and linger in parallel with a richness of fruit and a creamy and supple texture. This bottling perhaps shows a bit darker and riper than for example, a more coastal grown Pinot Noir. And it is certainly a different expression of the variety as compared to the Pono Anderson Valley bottling.

The 2021 PONO Hapa Red Blend. Hapa is the perfect nomenclatural tie-in to both wine and Dave’s heritage including a Hawaiian mother and a Puerto Rican father; in Hawaiian the word Hapa refers to a blend. This wine is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon from Diamond Mountain, 25% Cabernet Franc from Calistoga and 10% Malbec and 3% Petite Verdot, both from St. Helena. This wine is deep ruby and opaque with an amaranthine rim. The bouquet is dark and savory with scents of dark plum, blackberry, blueberry jam, boysenberry and dark plum with a note of crushed pink peppercorn, dried sage and a hint of dried bay leaf. And deep in the scents, a layer of baker’s chocolate. This wine has depth, complexity and character without the heavy hand of texture. Its flavors include dark plum, boysenberry, a brambly character, dried herbs including smoked sage, dust and a light note of peppercorn. Finishes with a thread of bright acidity which keeps this wine fresh and youthful. The tannins are grainy and gravelly and outpace the fruit on the fish. This wine shows nice right now but has all the chutzpah for plenty of additional aging.

The 2021 Mana Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford (western benchland), Napa Valley is 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. In Hawaiian, Mana refers to powerful, the strength of one’s spirit or heart. This wine was aged in 100% new French oak barrels; it is deep ruby and opaque with an amaranthine rim. The nose is a compelling union of dark fruit and darker baking spices. These include dark licorice, black cherry, blackberry jam, boysenberry preserve, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, bittersweet dark chocolate and white sage. The palate is layered, complex, and rich. Dark fruited, its flavors include Satsuma plum, blackberry, boysenberry and Persian mulberry. The firmly gripping and chewy tannins fully coat the palate with their grainy, gravelly and gritty mouth-feel. It is still in its teenage years at the time of our tasting, 4 years post vintage. Lingers with a persistent dusty character. Brightly lit, the finish persists lively, layered and just keeps going. This wine is extremely age worthy. And of all the nested appellations within Napa Valley, Dave is perhaps most drawn to Rutherford. He describes the ‘Rutherford dust’ as grabbing a sandwich at Oakville Grocery just before the first rain will fall after a long period of dryness, and heading out to one of Rutherford’s many vineyards, with the resulting smell of petrichor as a result of the rain falling on the dry soil.

Several images on the bottle of Mana pay tribute to heritage. The compass is homage to Dave’s great-great-great-great grandfather, captain John Meek, who first landed in Hawaii in 1809 and is credited with bringing the first mango seedlings to Hawaii in 1824. He became an advisor to several Hawaiian monarchs. And the topographical outline depicted is of the island of Oahu.

No Napa Valley red wines were produced in 2017 and 2020 due to the wildfires in the region.

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During our visit with Dave, we enjoyed some leisurely time on the Napa River in his 22-foot Duffy small boat while enjoying the views and wildlife of the Napa River. The boat is 100% electric; a single charge will propel it for 96 hours with a maximum speed of 5 MPH. Theoretically the boat could make it to San Francisco but depending on winds and tides, it would probably take up to 8 hours to reach that city from Cuttings Wharf. The flag on the front of the boat is always the Hawaiian state flag, with its Union Jack symbolizing Hawaii’s historical ties to the United Kingdom. The boat is spotless; Dave utilizes the same philosophy he learned while a firefighter, “A clean firetruck is a happy truck”.

The boat left Cuttings Wharf, a little visited part of Napa Valley along the Napa River, located only about a 12-15 minute drive from downtown Napa. Some of the southern vineyards in Carneros are located a short drive or walk from the wharf. The wharf was initially developed in 1893 by its namesake, Francis Cutting so that ships could transport fruit from orchards in Napa Valley processed by the Cutting Fruit Packing Company. The wharf was purchased by Napa County in 1924 and converted to a public boat launch and landing site. A fishing resort operated here from 1928 until 1961. Today Cuttings Wharf is still used by small boats and fisherman.

The decaying remains of the 182-foot long SS Cabrillo, a wooden steamship is mired in the mud near the wharf. This ship began transporting passengers between Los Angeles and Catalina Island in 1904 and served for some 40+ years. What is left of this today looks nothing like what it looked during its heyday when it would carry more than 600 passengers on a single trip.

Our time on Pono was about 90 minutes; due to the mild climate of Napa Valley, we could have joined him year round even during the colder winter months; the boat is heated and also has a small bathroom. The relaxing round trip journey typically motors down river, crossing underneath the usually elevated Brazos Railroad Bridge; its clearance is 98 feet above the river and is lowered when Union Pacific trains need to cross. If the river is choppy, the boat may motor the opposite direction, up river passing close to Stanley Ranch Resort. Melodic Hawaiian music always accompanies the trip including on the sound track, one of our favorite Hawaiian songs – Island Style by John Cruz.

An excursion gave us a completely different perspective of Napa Valley that few visitors and even locals ever experience. The boat comfortably seats up to 8 people but is rated for 12 people. Our excursion was relaxed and a communal (one of Dave’s friends also joined us) with seating arranged in a semi circle. And during parts of summer and fall when up valley is baking in heat, this part of Napa Valley is generally much cooler with bay breezes also helping mitigate the temperature.

Sometimes Dave spots seals or the occasional dolphin; the salt water river runs through the estuary and is connected to the San Pablo Bay. As a result, the river is subjected to tidal fluctuations. On a clear day one can see Mt. Diablo, Mt. Tamalpais and the southern start of the Mayacamas mountains. At one point in the journey, we shut off the electric motor and the boat began drifting, the waves lapped against the hull and this was a good time to lean over to smell the refreshing salty breeze. A quintessential visit is when the bay fog begins dissipating, making way for bright sunshine which quickly changes the overall mood of the day.

And worth noting is the PONO chocolate bar, which we enjoyed while on board. While not related, Dave considered the owners like family. This women owned and Maui based company produces several different types of chocolate bars with a portion of the proceeds benefitting breast cancer research. Each bar contains a Hawaiian proverb (Ōlelo) with the story of the company also printed on the inside of the box. These bars are also for sale at the Oxbow Wine & Cheese Merchant inside Oxbow Public Market.

While the wines are primarily sold direct to consumer, locally the wines are available at Oxbow Wine & Cheese Merchant. This shop is one of the longest-running merchants inside Oxbow; they maintain one of the larger wine bars in the city of Napa. Much of the time during the weekdays it’s easy to secure a seat for a tasting or light food but on Friday nights and some weekends it can become very busy. Locals’ night is always the first Tuesday evenings of the month from 5pm to 9pm (prices for locals are discounted). With a number of bar stools on each of the 4-sided tasting bar, conceivably the maximum seating would be almost 30 people around the counter at any one time.

For more information, to purchase Pono wines, to schedule a tasting or to join their wine club, visit: www.ponowines.com