On my recent trip to Napa Valley for the 19th annual Taste of Howell Mountain I had a chance to visit Dunn Vineyards and Retro Cellars up on Howell Mountain. After a tour of the vineyard and cave led by Kara Dunn I got to sit down and try out some wine and chat. While sipping Retro Cellars Napa Valley and Howell Mountain Petite Sirah Mike offered up some insight into the grape and other varieties that do well in the Howell Mountain micro climates.
Napa’s Next Generation | Mike Anderson MTGA Wines
There’s a new generation of Napa wine makers emerging and while the wines they make do pay a certain amount of hommage to their heritage, they are also blazing a new path and a new name for themselves. One such wine maker is Mike Anderson. I discovered Mike through Instagram and then I gathered information through a series of emails
WWJ: How did you get into wine, what’s the back story?
Mike Anderson, MTGA Wines
Mike: I got back into the wine industry sort of haphazardly. Originally I had no desire to get into the wine industry but after graduating college I had a job offer at the tasting room at Raymond Vineyards just outside of St. Helena and since I didn’t have any other job prospects I moved back home to take the offer. After about a year I started taking some more wine-focused courses at the Napa Community College to get some more background on the science and numbers side of winemaking and winegrowing. By this point I had worked a couple harvests and was continuing to work on the hospitality side of things as well. In 2010 I was able to purchase a small amount Merlot, about one ton from just outside St. Helena, to give winemaking a decent shot. I ended up with two barrels and as the aging process went on I was pulling samples for friends and family to try. The questions that came up every time were, “What is the label going to be?” and “How much are you going to sell it for?” At that point I hadn’t even consider that but I got the ball rolling with permits and label design. Come July 2012 I bottled my first vintage, just over 40 cases of 2010 Merlot which I officially released the following February. Within three weeks I was sold out and looking to start gearing MTGA wines up further.
WWJ: Forgive me if I’m mistaken, but are you related to Todd Anderson – Conn Valley Vineyards?
Mike: That is correct. MTGA are my initials officially stands for Michael Todd Gustaf Anderson. The back story is that my dad wanted me to be Todd Jr and my grandfather Gus Jr. However my mother kindly intervened so I was named Michael after an uncle of mine. So the label is a “tip of the cap” to my family but also that story.
WWJ: Did you grow with vineyard life? What kind of work did you do as a kid?
Mike: I did grow up with vineyard life. It was, and still is, very much the family business. Growing up I experienced every aspect of the process from planting vines, harvest and other vineyard work, cellar work, bottling and so on.
WWJ: What did you study in college?
Mike: In college I studied criminal justice and sociology. This focus was largely because It was junior year and I needed to declare something. I didn’t have any real desire to pursue a career in those fields.
WWJ: Why did you decided to get back into the wine business and work at Raymond?
Mike: I started working at Raymond in 2008 between school years and when I was home for long holidays. At that time it was just for some extra cash. When I graduated in 2009 however it was one of the worst job markets on record, I had bills to pay so I was going to take a job wherever I could get one. It just so happened that Raymond offered me a position that I could start in as soon as I got home. From there Raymond Vineyards eventually became a part of Boisset Family Estates and I worked my way into the marketing department. At that point I was enjoying the wine industry thoroughly and was pursuing my own wine project.
WWJ: You make Merlot and Riesling.. which Conn Valley doesn’t make right? Was this a conscious choice? What other varietals are you interested in?
Mike: You are correct, Conn Valley does not make Merlot or Riesling. I chose Merlot largely because there only a handful (if that) of great ones in the valley and I wanted to take on the challenge of convincing folks that Merlot could bring a lot more to the table. Riesling is one of my favorite varietals because of its versatility so when I was able to find a great source from the Sonoma Coast is ended being a perfect fit. As far as other varietals go I do wanted to get some Pinot Noir into the lineup and a Bordeaux style blend which will probably be more Right Bank in style. I have wanted to see what producing a sparkling wine would be like, because I am a sucker for good bubbles, but that is a little further down on the wish list right now.
WWJ: What is your current production?
Mike: As of today I am on the 2011 Merlot vintage; 138 cases were bottled in total. I have also just bottled up 41 cases of a dry Riesling from the Sonoma Coast. I continue to have a day job that keeps me busy during most of the week, MTGA Wines is what keeps me busy on my weekends.
These days you can find Mike managing the Clif Family tasting room, Velo Vino, in St Helena.
Keep an eye out for his wines, if you can find them! Or contact Mike through his website (http://mtgawines.com ) to get on his mailing list.
Follow Mike on Instagram @MTGAWINES
Follow Mike on Twiter @MTGA_Wines
A quick interview with Robert Craig’s wine-maker, Stephen Tebb at the Taste of Howell mountain 2013 in St. Helena
Last month I had the chance to sit down and interview wine maker, Peter Mondavi. Yes, Peter Mondavi, nephew of Robert Mondavi, son of Peter Sr. Mondavi and owner of the Charles Krug Winery in Napa. He brought with him the latest offerings from the Charles Krug Winery and we sampled them over dinner at the Phoenix City Grille, in Phoenix Arizona. After dinner, and a wide ranging conversation I conducted an interview based on some of the topics we had talked about. I’ve broken the interview down into three smaller parts for youtube consumption. I will provide wine reviews on the wines we tasted in some upcoming posts.
Part one:
http://youtu.be/PvM5wIwi-RY
Part two:
http://youtu.be/IgiDw9-ddHU
Part three:
http://youtu.be/ZLGx_AOOuWc
This is part two of a two part interview with Napa Valley Wine producer Robert Craig. See part one HERE
If you’ve ever bought wine at Costco, you’ve most surely come across Cameron Hughes Wine Lot Series. Cameron has built a formidable brand out of rescuing high end “orphans” and repurposing them for the value driven consumer who appreciates high quality wine.
Cameron was recently in Scottsdale, Arizona for a wine dinner at Tommy V’s Urban Grille, with tickets being sold exclusively through select Costco’s. I managed to sit down with Cameron for a few minutes and asked him about his business model, production levels and future plans, as well has his prognostication for what wine region may be “hot” in 2013.
Cameron Hughes Wine website
Photos from the wine dinner on the Weekly Wine Journal Facebook Page
I took a little tour of Curt Dunham’s personal wine cellar at his home in Fountain Hills, Arizona.
Lawrence Dunham Vineyards WEBSITE
I recently got a chance to spend a few minutes with Nicki Pruss, wine-maker at the world famous Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.
Nicki Pruss
We talked a little bit about her background and how she worked her way up into the wine-maker position at this prestigious vineyard. Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars was bought by a partnership of Marchese Piero Antinori and Chateau Ste Michelle wine estates in 2007 for a whopping $185,000,000. Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars is one of only two wines in the Smithsonian institute, based on its fantastic showing at the Judgment of Paris 1976.
I had a chance to ask Arizona wine maker and Blood into Wine co-star Eric Glomski some questions while at the Arizona Wine Grower’s Festival at The Farm on Saturday November 6th, 2010. We took a stroll through the pecan groves and chatted a while.
Part one:
Part two:
Robert Craig Winery is one of the producers I highlighted in a Corkd.com series titled “5 affordable California cult wines”.
Robert Craig Wines
In combing through the internet literature I put together in my mind an idea of the man Robert Craig and his wines. Shortly after the article posted Claudia Chittim, the Executive Director of the Howell Mountain Vintners and Growers association was able to introduce me through email to Robert and Lynn Craig. I noticed Mr. Craig was going to be in Phoenix in September and so we made plans to meet up.
What transpired far exceeded my expectations, not that my expectations were low but here’s what happened. Instead of doing just a quick flipcam video interview, I was invited as a guest of the Craig’s to attend the Winemaker dinner at BLT restaurant. BLT is located at the Camelback Inn which recently underwent a 50 million dollar renovation.
I met with Mr Craig before the reception and we sat on a couch near the bar. We chatted a while learning a little about each others backgrounds. I learned that Robert Craig was actually born in Bisbee, Arizona. He lightheartedly referred to his age and said that in fact he was born after Arizona received statehood. His family had been coal miners back east and decided to move to Bisbee to mine copper. But eventually moved to South Texas and became electricians. This led to Robert Craig becoming an electrical engineer, he joined the coast in the mid 1950’s and was transferred to the coast guard base at San Fransisco International Airport. San Fransisco was where he met Lynn, his wife, and where they both developed an affinity for wine. After he got out of the Coast Guard Mr Craig became involved in real estate. In the mid to late 1960’s when Haight Ashbury, Monterey Pops and the summer of Love were happening, the Craigs were heading up into the hills of Napa Valley. San Fransisco was the epicenter of a huge cultural shift towards the future and progressiveness. The Craigs ventured up into the hills and back into the Old World. It was around this time that Robert Mondavi started out as well. Mr Craig’s job involved assessing the value of land and real estate and by the mid 1970’s he had come across some interesting opportunities. However, the company he worked for didn’t seem to be too interested in Mr Craig’s ideas about vineyards on the tops of mountains at the north end of Napa Valley. One opportunity presented itself that Mr Craig couldn’t pass up, and he put together a few investors and together they bought some land atop Mt Veeder.
Fast forward 32 years. Robert Craig has been instrumental in getting Mt. Veeder and Spring Mountain A.V.A status. He sold the original vineyard to the Hess Collection and helped develop that brand before acquiring some land on Howell Mountain to start the Robert Craig Winery. These days the Winery produces about 10,000 cases of premium and super premium wines, almost exclusively mountain grown Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2006 Robert Craig was included in Wine Spectators Top 50 Napa Valley Cabernets ranking based on the past 15 years of ratings. So he’s obviously achieved virtually everything a struggling wine maker dreams of and I asked him “What’s next?”
“People always ask me what’s next, and I say, well I’m 72 so I don’t know. You know here in America the culture is that if you are not doing better and bigger and producing more than the year before and bigger than the year before then you’re not a success. In Europe they don’t tend to have that as much. ”
Mr Craig went on to say that 10,000 cases is the maximum that he will produce. 10,000 cases is still quite a lot of wine if you think about it, but with Robert Craig’s name he could easily sell double. But his focus is not about quantity, it is now singularly focused on quality. All he wants to do is make better and better wine each year, not more and more wine. I asked him about his prices. Why are they so low compared to other Napa wines, considering the reviews and demand.
“I come from humble beginnings and I just don’t feel that its right to charge too much”
We are very fortunate that Mr Craig feels that way because it allows many of us the opportunity to try a 96 point Bordeaux blend from one of the most famous A.V.A’s for about $45 retail.
Here a quick video of Robert Craig, I will post part 2- the part about the actual dinner soon, cheers! Read part 2 here
Weekly Wine Journal 