Mon Trajet

Here's my story:

When I was 16, my parents sent me to France to study the beautiful culture of its food and wine. Their good friend Jean-Claude Vrinat owned the 3-star Michelin Taillevant in Paris, and he arranged a stage (internship) for me in the kitchen cutting haricots verts (string beans) to a specific measurement all day long. I didn’t mind the monotony of the task, since it was inevitably followed by the opportunity to eat well and taste wines a helluva lot sooner than would have been the case back home. I was exposed to many beautiful French wines, but I was most fascinated by the white Burgundies. The Chardonnay grape quickly became my passion.

Fast forward 6 years...In the late 80's I worked for a large California winery, overseeing its global distribution network. I learned that 80% of the Chardonnay grown in the state was produced from its own Wente clone. As I became increasingly discerning about the varietal, I seldom discovered a California Chardonnay that met my palate preference for Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Grand Cru Chablis-style wines. I was struck by the exceptional minerality of these wines, the purity of the fruit when not overshadowed by excessive oak aging. I tried every highly rated California Chardonnay and simply could not come to terms with them. There was an uncanny homogeneous nature to most of them. I became obsessed with the idea of producing a Burgundian-style Chardonnay in California that a) would set a new standard for this grape variety, b) could age gracefully and c) I would enjoy drinking!