The Story
1974
...a moveable feast...
My Dutch father moved us to Paris, where wine, not milk, anchored the table. As an American teen, I sipped my first Côtes du Rhône in a smoke-filled café, unaware I had just found my life's work. Hemingway was right: Paris stays with you. It is the ultimate moveable feast.
1985
tasting, tasting, tasting...
Back stateside, I earned an Agronomy degree and cut my teeth on Grands Vins de France. Working for a venerable importer, my daily curriculum was Chambertin, Pommard, and Morgon Cru.
1993
Bom dia Portugal...e...Napa Valley!
I led a venture in the rugged Douro Valley, working with Portugal's indigenous grapes. I then transitioned to Napa, learning the soul of Cabernet directly from Tim, Michael, and "Mister" Robert Mondavi.
1999
the entrepreneurial bug bites us
My late wife Susan and I didn't have deep pockets or investors. So we bootstrapped a vineyard in chilly Marin County, juggling credit cards and delivering cases out of our SUV between coaching our daughters' soccer practices. Susan's elite palate and our European roots defined our style: balanced, low-intervention wines that favored texture over oak and alcohol. We put Marin Pinot Noir on the map, though the California drought eventually claimed that first vineyard, a sobering lesson in the fragility of farming.
2004
That's a "textbook" Cabernet Sauvignon
We launched TEXTBOOK in Napa with 300 cases of Oakville Cabernet grown next door to Screaming Eagle. It was an instant cult favorite. By 2019, it had grown to 25,000 cases, too big for a family operation, so I sold it to a respected international group, where I still advise today.
2021
Back to the Future
After years of wildfires and drought, I went searching for resilience and high-quality wines: high altitudes, cool air, and abundant water. I wanted gnarled, old-growth vines with character, not modern clones. That search took me back to where it all began: the fabled, chilly hillsides of Morgon and Fleurie in southern Burgundy.