Vice Versa Wine

Vice Versa Wine. Founder Patrice Breton was born in Ottawa; during his youth he gravitated towards art, books and later wine. And at age 19 (the legal drinking age in Ottawa is 18) he wasn’t able to afford many wines but was able to try a particular sauternes, a 1983 Château Guiraud. Hooked but without a large budget he began to purchase books on wine to further his own education. In his twenties in 1996 he co-founded one of Canada’s earliest internet companies – Mediagrif Interactive Technologies (still active, and now a publicly traded company known as mdf commerce). Before he left the company in 2001, it had grown significantly and employed more than 400 people.

He began to collect wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy and from Napa Valley. His passion for wine became serious, eventually piecing together what possibly was the largest vertical collection of Château d’Yquem on the planet. He began to consider purchasing vineyard property, first in Bordeaux (helped by the fact he speaks fluent French) but later began to look in Napa Valley. He reached out to winemaker Paul Hobbs in 2001 (with no referral or prior introduction) and Paul agreed to meet; this was Patrice’s first time to California. Both men connected over wine helped by the fact that while meeting in Paul’s office, Patrice saw an empty bottle of 1992 Château d’Yquem that Paul had enjoyed at a young age with his father.

Paul produced several vintages in the early 2000s with Patrice but were never released. Patrice learned as much as he could during his time directly working with Hobbs. The first commercial release of Vice Versa was from the 2003 vintage. Paul was winemaker from 2003 through 2013. When Paul became busier with his own consulting clients and international projects Philippe Melka and his team including winemaker Maayan Koschitzky were brought on board to craft the wines. They made some changes in the winemaking including introducing longer fermentation times, longer maceration times and never using any pressed juice. Melka is Vice Versa’s consulting winemaking and starting in 2024 Spencer Kelly (formerly at Colgin and Eisele) is the resident day-to-day winemaker.

In 2011 Patrice met Samantha, a pharmacist from Montreal. They married and moved to Napa Valley in 2013. While no longer practicing as a pharmacist, Samantha now focuses on helping run Vice Versa with Patrice, oversees their allocation list and sometimes hosts visitors at their winery in Calistoga.

The Vice Versa winemaking philosophy is to produce age worthy wines from premier vineyard sites in the Napa Valley – heavily utilizing some of Andy Beckstoffer’s six designated ‘heritage vineyards’ and to create balanced and polished wines but with great depth. The focus of Vice Versa is on 100% varietal Cabernet Sauvignon. These are wines that showcase the purity of fruit, are balanced and elegant offerings while simultaneously embracing the terroir and soul of Napa Valley.

In 2019 Patrice and Samantha purchased a 10.94-acre property bordering Highway 128 north of Calistoga (next to Amoenus Vineyard). The previous owners, Harmon and Joanne Brown of Aril Vineyards had already secured the necessary and required permits to build a winery. This state of the art small but functional winery was designed by San Francisco based architectural firm, Lundberg Design. A 5,000 square foot cave was drilled with a permit to produce 10,000 cases on site. Individual portions of the cave can be cooled or warmed as needed using hydro cooling and radiant floor heating. A small portal within the cave is used for hosting visitors; the centerpiece here is a beautiful 2-ton steel table which required multiple forklifts and four men to position it. Ground broke for the winery in late summer 2022 and construction was fully completed in 2025 with the occupancy permit approved in July 2025. The first harvest on the property was in 2025; the Vice Versa wines were previously produced at Wheeler Farms. The covered crush pad contains a number of stainless steel temperature controlled tanks, manufactured by Bordeaux based Lejeune. Each of the tanks is equipped with a dedicated pump. In addition, there are four Italian made Nico Velo Tulipe concrete tanks and three large foudres.

The site is planted to about 5 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon clone 338 and also an extremely unusual variety for Napa Valley, just under an acre of Lagrein. The only other producers and vineyards with this variety in the Napa Valley is a vineyard in Oakville owned by Turnbull Cellars and Ballentine Vineyards just north of St. Helena. This variety is native to northern Italy and is related to Syrah and Pinot Noir. There is not much planted in the state of California; the central coast perhaps has the most plantings. The Vice Versa estate property will be fully replanted in subsequent years.

It is extremely gratifying to witness the evolution of this brand, both in terms of vineyard sites, production, creativity and now, finally having their own winery with all the benefits as a result, including perhaps most importantly full control over their winemaking.

The organically farmed estate vineyard was previously managed by Mike Wolf Vineyard Management Company; Wolf has since retired and sold his business to Domenick Bianco, former head viticulturist for Joseph Phelps’ properties in both Napa Valley and Sonoma County. As of 2025, Hardin Vineyard Management overseen by Matt Hardin now provides vineyard management services for Vice Versa. And Patrice and Samantha’s property is almost across the highway from Helena View Johnston Winery; we are involved in a small but exciting project at the Helena View Johnston property. When pulling out of the Vice Versa driveway and looking to the left, one will see this vineyard block on the other side of the highway. We are producing wine from 800 vines of Marselan planted here; for reference, Marselan is a variety resulting from the cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache.

Select Wines
Cabernet Sauvignon
Spinning Plates
The 2022 Vice Versa Spinning Plates; this wine is primarily Cabernet Sauvignon with small amounts of Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc in the blend. It was aged for 18 months in 85% new and 15% neutral French oak barrels. is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the bouquet is elegant, restrained yet also simultaneously generous, with scents of dark raspberry, red cherry, boysenberry and accompanying non fruited notes of dark cocoa powder and a light kiss of old cedar box. This wine offers a soft and plush profile in terms of both fruit and texture. Its flavors include dark cherry, blackberry, boysenberry and Santa Rosa plum. Its structural feel is like velvet with highly polished tannins right out of the gate; for reference we tasted this wine 3 years post vintage. The fruit paces the tannins, both fruit harmoniously integrated. Finishes with a subtle dusty and chalky character. Highly approachable in its youth. Out of the gate, this wine’s pedigree is defined by is crowd pleasing characteristics. This thoughtfully produced wine is their largest production (meant primarily for distribution) and is the only bottling that is not 100% varietal. In 2022 its primary vineyard source was True Dog Knoll, located near Harlan and Futo Estate in Oakville. And of all their wines, this is the only one featuring rotating art each vintage; the name is a reference to the 2001 Radiohead song called, Like Spinning Plates. Spinning Plates is sold in sets of three with every third bottle showcasing a brightly colored label.

Steltzner
The 2022 Vice Versa Steltzner Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon; this wine is deep ruby and opaque; somewhat brambly and fully ripe the bouquet sports aromas of blackberry, dark cherry, mulberry and black cherry with additional scents of dried soil, dark olive, old cedar box and dark chocolate. Giving, generous and fully open, the palate is both red and dark fruited with flavors of red cherry, currant, not fully ripe boysenberry and red wild plums. Fresh, bright and mouth watering, the extended finish offers both fruit and tannins paralleling each other for quite some time. Its texture offers a grainy fully mouth coating feel. You will not be disappointed with this wines length.

The 2018 Vice Versa Steltzner Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine was sourced from the oldest block of Cabernet Sauvignon in the Steltzner Vineyard (Stags Leap District); this is from the same block that was used for the 1972 Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon that was entered in the Judgement of Paris tasting in 1976. Well extracted, like their other Cabernet Sauvignon wines, this wine is very dark in color. Offers aromas of plum, blackberry and boysenberry, a floral note of dried rose petal and a very subtle note of tar. Let this wine continue to breathe; the fruit keeps evolving nicely as it opens. Features a powerful finish with darker spices, hints of pepper and broad-based tannins – all complemented by a mouthwatering acidity.

Las Piedras
The 2022 Vice Versa Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and nearly opaque; distinctive, sweetly fruited and ripe, the bouquet offers scents of Santa Rosa plum, raspberry jam, blackberry, boysenberry and red mulberries. And there are some additional baking spice influences, a note of Graham cracker, dark licorice and a light note of red chili spice. Lovely layering. The fruit is the clearly the rock star of the show here with the oak providing a light, but supporting influence. Its flavors include cherry, blackberry, boysenberry, plum, blueberries and dark raspberry. The tannins are lightly grainy, and linger beyond the fruit with a moderate grip felt more on the front of the palate than the back. This is a beautiful representation of both the vineyard and the challenging vintage, marked by a significant heat spike centered around Labor Day Weekend.

The 2018 Vice Versa Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon shows aromas of dried rocks, some minerality nuances along with a pretty perfume elegance including lavender. Very dark with aromas of blackberry and plum. There are no outlying ridges on the tannins; their features a medium grip with a gravely character. Their presence is lightly earthy and very long lasting. There are also hints of old cedar box and tobacco leaf deep into the finish. The juicy finish is anchored by mouthwatering acidity.

Dr. Crane
The 2022 Vice Versa Becktoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and opaque; dark fruited with some savory layers, we think we would like to think we could pick this out of a lineup of the other Vice Versa wines. This wine smells like dark plum, dark cherry, blackberry at the peak of ripeness, along with dried tobacco leaf, dried herbs including sage, dark cocoa and dark chocolate. This wine expresses a darkness of fruit with loads of layering. Ripe across the palate, its flavors include dark plum, dark cherry, (think the variety cherry Coral at its pinnacle of ripeness), and ripe blackberry. This wine shows exceptionally well in its youth. The ripe tannins are resolved and rounded and seamlessly integrated into the finish with a lightly gravelly character. A kiss of oak plays on the palate, but is overshadowed by the long fruit filled finish. The art on the label pays homage to the power lines running over part of Dr. Crane Vineyard.

Georges III
The 2022 Vice Versa Beckstoffer GIII Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and opaque; dark fruited and generously layered, this compelling bouquet reveals scents of blackberry, dark cherry, Satsuma plum, old leather, dark chocolate, or if you will, chocolate covered cherries, old cedar and a light note of dried sage and bay leaf. Plush upon entry, with a minerally attribute, with a character that doesn’t cross into the territory of being sanguine but featuring a ferrous quality. Bright, juicy and mouthwatering, this wine is filled with freshness. Its flavors include dark plum, blackberry, red cherry, red currant, and boysenberry. There is lots of movement in this wine from start to finish; it lingers red-fruited, mouthwatering, bright and lively. And begs another sip. The tannins are still somewhat tightly wound, and persist with a dusty firm grip, which outpaces the fruit on the finish. Drinking this we immediately thought of pairing this with a bone in rib eye, a BBQ and a warm evening in Calistoga hanging out with friends. Grapes from this vineyard were some of the latest to be harvested this vintage, but were not as affected by the extreme heat spike due to careful canopy management.

To Kalon
The 2023 Vice Versa To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon(tasted as a final blend, hand bottled in June and tasted in late July prior to its bottling); this wine is deep ruby and opaque. The bouquet is a union of dark and fresh fruits and barrel influences. These include dark cherry, blackberry, boysenberry and dark raspberry with undertones of old cedar, smoked sage, toasted oak, creosote, cocoa powder and a light dusting of darker baking spices. Rich, layered and with featuring an incredible amount of depth both in terms of fruit and texture, this wine is built to age and by age, we mean several decades. Its fruit profile is dark, including plum, blackberry, boysenberry and cherry. The tannins are more pronounced than the 2022 vintage; that is both a factor of this vintage and also the wine being a year younger at the time of our tasting. Their texture is firmly grippy, broadly coating and anchors a persistent and memorable finish. This wine is clearly built to age.

The 2022 Vice Versa Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and opaque; the bouquet is a darker union of both fruit and complementing barrel influences. These aromatics include dark plum, blackberry, boysenberry, dark chocolate, crushed rocks and fresh cedar. And there are some floral undertones including of violets and lavender. Generous in terms of fruit, this wine tastes like boysenberry, blackberry, dark raspberry, red plums and a lingering but subtle note of smoked cedar. We enjoy its level of ripeness, not over ripe but harvested for balance and not opulence. Representative of the vintage, the tannins are already remarkably resolved and integrated. Their texture lingers with a light gravelly and dusty character, present and felt across the palate but never dominating.

The 2019 Vice Versa To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (barrel sample) is already an exceptional wine. Patrice sourced from To Kalon from 2004 through 2009 and in 2014 was offered access to a superior block within this historic vineyard along with additional grapes and select Cabernet Sauvignon clones. The bouquet reveal dry earth; we immediately thought of the smells from the first rain falling on a warm late fall day on dry soils (petrichor). As the wine breathes, reveals some pretty baking spice nuances. Rich across the palate with flavors of blackberry and boysenberry. A noteworthy feature is the impressive density on the finish – certainly oak tannins still in its youth and straight out of the barrel but also plenty of robust grape tannins. A hedonistic showing that should be in the library of serious collectors of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

Beatrix, To Kalon
The 2022 Vice Versa Beatrix is a 50/50 percent blend of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from To Kalon Vineyard. This wine is deep ruby and opaque; the bouquet smells bright, fresh, and lively with aromas of violets, lilacs and lavender with both red and blue berry fruits including dark raspberry, blackberry, boysenberry, Pakistani mulberry, blueberry and a note of Santa Rosa plum. Additional scents include dried tobacco leaf. On the palate there are flavors of red cherry, boysenberry, blackberry and blueberry. The fruit dominates. Fresh and energetic, this swine sings brightly at this age, three years post vintage. The tannins are grainy and lightly pixelated; time in the bottle will be kind to those who have the luxury of aging this wine. The Cabernet Franc provides a lovely vitality to this bottling. The name of this wine honors both Patrice’s granddaughter, Beatrix and is a nod to the 1984 Cocteau Twins song Beatrix.

Magnificent Seven
Their most coveted and limited production wine is called the Magnificent Seven and is a rare lot vineyard and barrel selection of fruit from several of Beckstoffer’s heritage vineyards. This is an uncommon vineyard blend as nearly all producers who source grapes from Beckstoffer will vineyard designate their wines or produce a Beckstoffer single vineyard wine (even if the vineyard name does not show on the label). The story behind the name is intriguing. Patrice saw the band The Clash in Ottawa when he was young – he was in the front row section and was soon caught up in the mosh pit and during the aggressive jostling went unconscious for a brief moment. He woke up and found that he was on stage with the group while they were performing their hit song from 1980, The Magnificent Seven. And the label is made up of seven silver 7’s grouped together – each number 7 hand-drawn by one of the core members of the Vice Versa team.

The 2022 Vice Versa Magnificent Seven Cabernet Sauvignon (100% varietal) is from three Beckstoffer vineyards with the choicest grapes coming from To Kalon, Dr. Crane and Las Piedras vineyards. This wine is deep ruby and opaque; the bouquet is compelling, dark fruited and reveals loads of layers as the wine evolves in the glass. It smells like blackberry, dark cherry, dark plum, dark chocolate, smoked sage and cedar box. On the palate, the flavors are fully ripe with but a parallel thread of bright acidity; the fruits are dark, expressing blackberry, dark plum and dark cherry. We love the tension on this bottling and the density felt in terms of both fruit and texture. The tannins are generous but not robust and that is an important distinction. Their broadly coating texture lingers with a grainy and gravelly feel, far outpacing the fruit on the finish. The inaugural vintage of this wine was in 2014. This wine delivers plenty of pleasure in its youth, but its pedigree is built for long term cellaring. This wine is crafted from specific barrels of single vineyard blends.

In addition to their Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon portfolio Vice Versa produces four different Chardonnays from premium sites in Oregon’s Willamette Valley including Eola-Amity Hills, Salem Hills and Dundee Hills, bottled under the brand, Porcelina by winemaker Seth Long. The name is derived from the song, Porcelina of the Vast Oceans released in 1995 by the band, Smashing Pumpkins. These wines are made in Willamette Valley; the first vintage was in 2024. And for several years starting with the inaugural bottling in 2018, Vice Versa produced a Chardonnay from Platt Vineyard located in western Sonoma County, roughly halfway between Sebastopol and Bodega Bay at an elevation of approximately 800 feet. This site is owned by Eric Flanagan of Flanagan Wines.

Chardonnay
The 2018 Vice Versa Platt Vineyard Chardonnay is medium gold in color. Smelling the varietal characteristics on the bouquet is a beautiful thing – rather than smelling manipulation. Offers aromas of lemon curd, mandarin orange, pomelo and a floral sweetness of aroma including honeysuckle. On the palate reveals flavors of lemon, lime, kumquat, and green apple. Racy acidity – bright and vibrant this liveliness carries the breadth of the palate through to the mouthwatering finish. While tasting this wine, it was a bit challenging to believe it was grown and produced in California. Went through no malolactic fermentation, was fermented in stainless steel and aged in 50% new French oak barrels. Samantha recommends serving this wine at cellar temperature or slightly warmer.

—

Their labels have been designed by some of the best in the business, initially by Chuck House of Icon Design Group and later a completely different iteration by Napa based Richard Von Saal of VonSaal Design. His artwork paid homage to ‘vice versa’ by using curvilinear lines while also representing the Fibonacci sequence where each subsequent number is the addition of the two preceding ones, starting from 0 and 1. And starting in 2019, Vice Versa commissioned an international set of artists to design distinctive, highly creative and eye-catching labels for each of their wines.

CODEX is the name for Vice Versa’s exclusive luxury membership invitation only program. Capped at only 44 participants, each member receives discounts on wines, included visits to the winery and access to a diverse set of both domestic and international events including special wine tastings. And curated visits to premium wineries such as select First Growth chateaus in Bordeaux. Similar to the musical nomenclature of some of their wines, the name CODEX is from Codex, the Radiohead song released in 2011.

Tastings are for serious wine enthusiasts and collectors and are hosted at their winery in Calistoga; each flight is paired with small bites. Total annual production is usually between 5,000 and 6,000 cases. Nearly all of the wines are sold direct to consumer with limited distribution in Florida, North Carolina, New York and Texas. Locally one can sometimes find the wines at Auberge du Soleil and Press Restaurant, both in St. Helena and V Wine Cellars in Yountville. For more information, to reserve a visit to the winery or to join their allocation list, visit: www.viceversawine.com