July 1, 2025 • 63 mins
Visionary entrepreneur and Member of The Club since 2021, Darioush Khaledi, reflects on a life shaped by tradition, tenacity, and deep gratitude. From a boyhood in Shiraz to building Southern California’s largest family-owned grocery business, Darioush’s story is rooted in hard work and a belief in the boundless possibility of the American dream. With his wife Shahpar by his side, he founded Darioush Winery to honor his Persian heritage while embracing the opportunity and optimism he found in his adopted home.
For Darioush, business — whether in construction, groceries, or wine — has always been about people. In this conversation, he reflects on the values that have defined his path: hospitality, humility, cultural pride, and a deep sense of responsibility to give back. It’s a powerful story of what it means to build a life with intention — and to turn gratitude into legacy.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Whether it's a construction business, grocery business or wine business,
aren't the same to me. As a people business, you
have to recruit right people and retain them. Retaining is
the art of the management.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome to a Life Well Lived, where we pull back
the curtain on the extraordinary lives of our remarkable members.
I'm James Henderson, CEO of Exclusive Resorts. For me, travel
has never been about the destination. It's always been about
the company you keep. Over the years, I've crossed paths
with some of the world's most fascinating, well traveled individuals,
(00:50):
each bound by a singular pursuit to live not just well,
but exceptionally. Their stories aren't just worth telling, their learning
from us, because in the end, it's not about where
we go, but how we choose to live. In this episode,
(01:17):
I have the pleasure of speaking with Dariush Khalidi, a
visionary entrepreneur and member of the Club since twenty twenty one.
Born in Iran and trained as a civil engineer, Dariush
built one of California's largest family owned grocery businesses before
following his passion for wine. As the founder of Dariush Winery,
He's blended Persian heritage with Napa Valley craftsmanship, creating a
(01:39):
winery that is as much about hospitality as it is
about exceptional wines. We'll explore his remarkable journey, his philosophy
on business and community and the art of bringing people together.
So we are sitting here in the Dariush Winery in
Napa Valley and in this fantastic room which is Dariush's cellar,
(02:00):
and we just walked down into the basement of the
winery and there is incredible feeling down here. It's very calm,
very tranquil.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
We have the the.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
A lot of the wine and the barrels outside and
you can smell the wine and the oak down here.
It's got this incredible feeling. One of the things that
strikes me when when you first come into the winery
you have a bronze statue outside and it's it's in
our hands. And I think there is a cultural concept
that you called taro Off. I think it's all about
sort of hospitality and and the fact that being in
(02:33):
your home and your environment here is more homely than
the home itself. Can you can you explain a little
bit of that concept to us.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
The persons are known for their hospitality. In fact, when
I was a kid, I remember there wasn't too many
hotels in the city that we were living, and often
we had guests that I never met them. You know,
they just can't knocked the door. You would welcome them home.
(03:03):
So that's in our DNA, in the Persian DNA. And
so when I came to Naples, the first visit I had,
it was about thirty three years ago when my wife
and I first time came to Naples to celebrate our
twentieth anniversary. So and I visited the wineries. I didn't
(03:32):
feel that they were really and the beauty of the
Naples and everything, but they weren't really matching. The service
was not the way I wanted to be. So I
told the chapad my wife, I feel like I'm walking
(03:52):
to Motel six when I go to this sales room.
If ever, we opened a winery, I like to be
feed in like a full season. So we were twenty
five years ago when we started servicing, and we start
our winery. In fact, we are celebrating this year or
twenty fifth anniversary. We were operating in double white trailers,
(04:22):
but we made it beautiful and put landscaping around it,
and nobody would think that this is temporary. Why was
there under construction?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
So you had trailers here originally.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yeah, double white trailers really operate four years on double
white trailers while we were doing the construction. So we
had full time concierge at that double white trailer and
we were perhaps we were the first winery that we
had full time serious concierge. They were signed of concierge
(04:58):
in some of the wineries, nobody was behind it. Yeah.
Right now today we have full five full time employees
that they are doing their concient age. And when our
customer coming in from their other wineries reservation, hotel, reservation, restaurant, reservation,
(05:19):
we helped them. They some of our remember they just
called said we are coming for three days, and then
we put the program together for them.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Oh you do, yes, Yes, fascinating. So let me go
back a little bit to I want to take you
back to So you're talking about growing up in Iran
and not having that such sense of hospitality. So I
always find whenever we're together, you have this incredible sense
of calm and sort of gentleness about you. And I'm
curious to know where that came from. Can you tell
me a little bit about growing up in around and
(05:48):
what was it like? This was pre Rany Revolution, wasn't it.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yes, Yes, I grew up in My father was in
a military and we were traveling a lot. So I
grew up in she ras Isfahan, Tehran.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Which is a big wine culture there, isn't she.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Yeah she was, you know. In fact, my father used
to make wine for a hobby and for the family consumption,
not serious commercial wine. And as a child was watching
my father making wine. In fact, I can give you
still I remember when I was six years old. One
(06:33):
day I went to the cellar of my dad. I
see big clay bat and I climb on top of
the vat and I see something that smells good, but
I couldn't reach to use that. So there was a
towel hanging there. I took the towel and put it
on the wine. I started sucking the towels and that
(06:55):
was my first experience wine wine evolution. The wine consumption
did not have any age limit. Often we had as
a child, we had wine. My father put wine in
our glass of water. You know, it was very normal. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Where European sort of a feel, so I think November sixth,
nineteen sixty eight, it was an important fears never forget.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
In the morning we pick up our credential of master
degree diploma in civil engineering, and with two of my
classmates we form our construction company. And that night was
our wedding night on the same day and the same day,
So I never forget November sixth, nineteen sixty eight.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
And so you started your career in civil engineering in
the right we got, especially.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
In fact next day or next next week of that
our wedding, we got our first contract and we started working.
And during the early seventies late sixties, as you recalled,
(08:16):
the oil went from two to three dollars a barrel
to twelve dollars fourteen dollars, so it was lots of
ample money coming to Iran, and Show was determined to
bring the country to the European standard, so lots of
contract was available and we got many, many of those.
(08:38):
I remember right before I come to us, we had
like twenty different site of the construction in Iran from
South Persian Gold.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
To the Caspian Sea twenty side as well.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Twenty side. I had my range overl with two drivers
and going between the site in the daytime and in
the nighttime driving and in daytime working to the different site.
And what sort of distances we real well, probably about
three thousand kilometers between the south to the north, going
(09:15):
back and forth. Yes, Yes, I work in twenty six
days a month and come home only four days a month.
And every time I come, my daughter Sally would feel
a stranger to me. Really, I have to spend a
couple of hours with her to get acquainted again.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Really. Yes, So that was sort of the beginning of
your career, and you built a very successful company doing that.
And then I understand that you visited. Chapa's sister was
in the US and you came to visit.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yes, we came, and she was living in Redondo Beach, California. Yeah,
and my brother was a student in Norman, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City.
So yes, off at Oklahoma City first for a state
only a couple of days, and we knew that that's
(10:06):
not the place we like to do today, so we moved
to Vernondo Beach. We were a guest OF's sister.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
This is your first visit US. I'm sorry it was
your first visit in the US.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yeah, that was my first in nineteen seventy six. It
was December of nineteen seventy six. Yes, so I loved
Who doesn't love California? Yeah, we fell in love. And
next day my brother in law gave me a tour
around and I discovered Palace Verdes. And the following a
(10:43):
week we bought a house in Palace Verdes and we
were having a good time and they said, well, your
tourist visa is going to expire in six months, so
we have to get the green cort permanent visa. So
to get that one of the way you could expedite
to get the green card if you own the business.
(11:04):
And I bought a small supermarket just to get the
green card and Alan we have. The revolution happened.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
So were you still going back and forwards at that
time No.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I stayed it was like two years before revolution when
it happened, seventy nine before you start all the demonstration
in a street and unrest in Iran.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
So you spending money.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
We prefer not to go back in state year. And
then when revolution happened, whatever I had in Iran I lost.
They took over or company because it was a big
company and we were dealing with government. All of our
contract was with the government and Ministry of Road or military,
(11:58):
and whoever did with the government in the large scale,
it would be considered the friend of Shaw. And they
took over everything. So I started all of a sudden,
they pulled the carpet under you. You were in the air.
So I started learning the business from that, the small
(12:21):
grocery store.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
So you bought a grocery store.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Yeah, we wanted for not just the purpose of the
green cause I had no idea, but they I have
to start working on that market.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Really, yes, So you bought the grocery store. You're here
in seventy eight, seventy six. The Revolution of seventy nine,
I think, wasn't it in early seven seventy nine.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
You would see in seventy eight, in early seventy eight
that things are going to change.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
And so you bought a grocery store in Torrents.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
I believe, yes, it's our first restore was in Torrents.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
And what it described the store to me? What was
it like when you bought it?
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Well, when I started working there, you know, I see
most of the customers or Mexican descent, and most of
the employees were like American Anglo American, and I thought, well,
(13:19):
and then they would shop. They would shop their original
American stuff from out a store and then go across
the street for a small Mamo pop up grocery store
which was specializing in the Mexican food and Latino food.
And I went to the cross the street and asked,
(13:39):
where do you get those stuff? I want to bring
it to my or He wouldn't tell me, of course,
And the next morning I stayed early morning and I
see the truck that they delivering. I took the number
and I called that company a and I started bringing
the Latino products store. And within a few months or
(14:02):
volume doubled. Yes, and then as the volume goes up,
I start hiring people from the community of the Mexican
customers that we had. And then as I learned the business,
and you know, I always like to progress to start.
(14:25):
The person the guy who sold our first store, he
had another store and he saw how well we are
doing it, and then he sold his second store to us,
and then the glug continue. Within twenty to twenty five years,
we had forty one location with the largest grocery chain
(14:47):
in southern California, privately held fiveilion.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
And are you working in the store yourself at the
very beginning.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Yeah, from the beginning, yes.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
And I unders time we was just pushing.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
The basket because you were know and I started learning
how to work with the czikastand yes.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Yes, because when you came he didn't speak much English.
I don't think, did you know?
Speaker 1 (15:08):
No, the French chanch was my second language, and my
wife Charpad was my interpretator. And when I went to
Berlin's language school, I did had some courses in you know,
in USC and and then you had some education in
(15:30):
USC and then later uh executive MBA program in Cornell
University for two months.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yes, and so and how did you mean tell me
about the story of building the store? I mean to
go from sort of one store in Torrance in to
forty one in twenty five years. His amazing, amazing process
was this, did you was every year or two or
so you bought more stores and you just added a
seal collection.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Actually almost ten fifteen of those was grown up. And
it's amazing that the areas that behind the store major
chain would leave because of the quote unquote yetto area
(16:23):
of southern California. And it's amazing when you invest in
those areas, the people would answer, So the areas that
was very crime related. When you clean and you remodel
and you put an nice store, people respected. So we
(16:45):
were known for that. In fact, many of our site
the cities would call us and condemned the areas and
set built the supermarketly, yes, because it raised the level, Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Had I remember a time the story last time I
think we told when you said that there was a
lot of pride of the employees and stores and even
during thing. It was the Rodney King riots was in
the seventeen range, you.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Know, it was in nineteen ninety one, if you want
that correctly that if you remember the riot and the
Rodney King right, And we had a store in Compton
which was majority African American. And when the rioters came,
(17:31):
because I order all the employees leave the store. I
didn't want to risk any anything with our employees. They
the neighborhood came and they stopped. The rioters said no, no, no, no,
this is our store. Really yes, and you know it's amazing.
(17:53):
I you know, I drive an expensive car and I
would go with my car in hometown. I go to Inglewood,
I go to Wilmington, there's very high crime area. People
and the neighbors they would come and stay out on
my car to protect it. Really, it's amazing, that's incredible.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
That's quite the story.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
You know, when when you invest and you have your
heart with the community, they invest BacT.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Yeah, and how does that translate to when you were
I guess you had people that stayed in you quite
a long time with employees and clearly you know the
sense of this terrify. I guess the hospitality is something
that you've carried through all of your businesses. I assume
it's the same in the grocery business.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Oh absolutely, you know, whether it's a construction business, grocery business,
or wine business are the same. To me. Is the
people business. You have to recruit, write people and retain them.
Retaining is the art of the management.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
And how do you do it?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I don't know it just naturally, you know. I I
think I create the community in the company like a family.
Everybody enjoy working with each other. And I don't really marcromanage.
I let them make the mistake and learn from the mistake,
(19:25):
you know. And often they come and they ask me
a question, or they bring me a problem. I said, well,
what do you think They always I know for sure,
each employee when they bring you a problem, they know
the question you just ask. You have to ask them.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Yeah, I always found that. I was found that any
business I've involved in, I always found that if you
spend time with the people who at the operational level
of the business, they know the business, they have the ideas.
If you can create the structure to help them to
build and grow and implement ideas, isn't getting credit for it.
That's that's how you generate success.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Yeah. Yeah, and you know, give them authority and let
them do what they know the best. You know what
helps me in my first career the construction, I knew
about it, but my second and third career the grocery
and the wine. I really need the people's help. That's
(20:27):
how it developed that give authority to the people. Yeah,
because they know how to do the business absolutely.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
And so you received the Entrepreneur of the year. Would
in nineteen ninety five, I think, is that right?
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yeah? You how did you find out about all things
about me? Yes? It was, I think, yeah ninety five. Yeah,
they say, yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, it's they would look
for most progressive companies that you know, they liked the
(21:06):
way we were operating and the way we were growing.
And it was USA Today and Morgans Stanley. I think
they had this Entrepreneur of the Year, and I think
they made a mistake by choosing me.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
I don't think so. I think they got the right man.
I really did so. I mean, as an immigrant coming
to America back in the sort of the in the
seventies and eighties, what were the what were some of
the challenges that you faced at that time?
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Just the language really for me, you know, I remember,
I remember I was watching TV and I love movies
and telling my wife I wish one day I could
understand what they're saying. Really, yes, I work probably fourteen
(22:02):
hours a day just to learn the language. It took
me only six months tail I started to enjoying the movies.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Is the our anguish my second language?
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
So hence the Jack Nicholson picture on the wall of
your office that I so, there says a wonderful Jack
Nicholson picture in the wall of his office that we
were looking at earlier on. I mean, this is really
American dream, isn't it. It's the fact that you come
to US and you build a business and you can
be successful. And I also read that you also received
the ls Island Medal of Honor in two thousand and eight.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
That's very impressive. Another accident.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Now that I don't think you're very harmful.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Yeah, yeah, you're very heapy. You know. Let me tell
you that the memory that I have from that night,
when you know, it's it's very proude proud moment that
they take you from the battery park with all the
(23:04):
wells and vessels in the ferry to go to the
Elis Island. Only the recipient can get to that ferry
and then another ferry behind is the family an hour later.
So during the ferry, you know, we'll start talking to
the other recipient and one of the persons he was
(23:27):
from Turkey but grew up in the US and said
what you do? Said, well, I'm a heart surgeon, and
we start talking and because he was Turkish, Gnana I
was Persian immigrant, and we talked and when when an
hour later, we were very good friends. During that one
(23:50):
hour when my wife and my daughter arrived and I
introduced my new friend, I meet doctor Oz and he said, oh,
doctor as what happened. Oh, he's very famous, didn't I
didn't know. I don't watch that much TV. So yeah,
that's fine. But you know it's amazing when you arrive
(24:12):
and you see all those military uniforms, five branch of
military from the coast Guard to Navy to Marines, and
with the music. You know, I was just it must
be some mistake. I don't believe it blonds here, and
you know it's amazing. When I was going through the
(24:35):
aisle to get my metal from the marine, I was thinking,
what a country really to open the door to immigrant
like me to come here with empty hand, but mindful
of idea and heart full of hope to leave the
(25:00):
this country and make it home. You know, God, billss America.
I really enjoy that. I appreciate. I'll be as an amignant
you never take it for granted. Yeah, yeah, very humble, amazing, amazing.
So I read a quote where you said there are
three things that you got from your father. One was
(25:22):
the drive, he said, you said, he was always pushing you.
The second these horses. He was a horseman and a
polo champion, I believe in the thirties wine. So he
clearly he was a very inspirational person in your life.
And can you talk more about that. Yes, I remember
(25:43):
when he would see my scorecard from school and if
I had you know, in Iran was a system of
zero to twenty, not handed. Yeah, at ABC when I
had seventeen out of twenty, but it was the first
one top of the class. Then said okay, but if
(26:06):
I had nineteen but I was the second, it would
say you have to work harder. Really, it's always drive.
Even when I was waking up early morning to study more,
he would always come and from the window watch me
that if I'm not sleeping, but the studying. So it's
(26:30):
the military style that when I was a child I
did not appreciate. But at least at least once a
month I go and kiss his grave. Yes, he's burying
Palace Erdes the last few years of his life. We
brought him here in the US and he lives with us.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
How you did When did he pass away?
Speaker 1 (26:55):
And it was nineteen ninety two.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Yeah, so he saw a lot of your success in
the US. He goes, he must be very proud of you.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Yes, yes, he was. You know when I took him
to the one of the city that we had construction
in Iran. I invited him and he came to it
that that was the city that he was born. And
and then he came to me there one night he said,
(27:28):
you know what, I'm proud because everywhere I said, they said,
this is the father of engineer Khaledy, not not the song?
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (27:38):
And you used to be the son of the colonel
Khaledy now.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
So it's ter reverse. Yeah, that's fantastic. So his love
of wine, I guess inspired your love of wine little
as well. I read this, I think was the quote
that Rumy said that says, let yourself be drawn by
the stronger pull of that with which you truly love.
And you were a wine collector when you were we
had the grocery business. So I told me about the
story of how that translated into your wine and and
(28:07):
and developing into the wine business buying.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Probably I loved wine, and then later on I become
a wine collector and mostly from Bordeaux, and and then
I wanted to to go into the region to see
how they're doing it in Bordeaux. In Bordeaux, so I
started traveling Bordeaux often once or twice a year, and
(28:34):
made many friends and then they were kind enough to
invite me to the harvest and wine making, and little
by little the the the dream of owning my own
winery developed. You know, when we were having lunch at
(28:56):
Leon d'Or is, a very famous restaurant in pu Are, Bordough,
and seeing all those beginners, they're having lunch and talking,
and they had the copies and their own wine, and
they would go and take their wine and things. And
I told Chappa, isn't it nice to own our own winery.
(29:18):
So we were actually we were looking for a property
in Bordeaux to buy. In fact, we came very close
to buy Shataulu Dan in Maydoc. But as I mentioned
thirty three years ago, when we came for the first
(29:40):
time to Naples and we discovered Naple, I have not
tasted much that California wine. I was all borderu guy.
So we discovered and you know, way back to La
I told Chapin, why we go that far to Bordeaux?
That boy is and it's much closer to home. So
(30:03):
we start looking for property, and it took me a
few years. In one of the days again everything happened
by accidents. We were passing this property that now currently
are winery. I asked, what is this property? It was
(30:23):
a small stone building only so, oh, this is all
Tomorrow Winery? So is it? Is it for sale? And
I know all Tomorrow. I have a couple vintage over him.
I sell it. It's a good wine or the SA said, yeah,
but you don't want to deal with George or Tomorrow.
So why he said, he's a very tough business man.
(30:46):
Nobody liked to deal with him. Well, may I meet him?
Meet him? And they took me to him. He was
the first ITALIANIME, first generation ITALIANIME grant and I'm a
first generation personal grants you connectivity in human as we
click fan with friends, I'll be shook hand And twelve
(31:06):
twelve days later I was owner out winery.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
That's fast. So it's interesting the the sort of the
arc of experience from being a civil engineer and building
a civil engineering company. It seems like one life. The
next life in building a very successful grocery business down
in la from from nothing, very small and then moving
into the winery business. What is that? How do you
(31:31):
what are the sort of the the shared sort of
experiences or skills from each of those areas that you
can apply across those businesses. Do you see do you
see judge.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
The people they are. I don't see a different between
the different industries they are. They call it company. The
company means the people, not the equipment, interesting the asset.
You know. I remember when we were very earlier stage
(32:02):
in our grocery business, we were making nice annual financial
statement to get loan from the bank, and in the
first page I would have that written that when the
real asset of this company is the next page of
(32:25):
the picture of our management, not those numbers that you
see after because they were nice, those numbers early on.
So the asset of the company are the people? Really?
In my grocery company, we had once eighty five people
(32:45):
in our headquarters, vice president, directors, A good fifty of
them had over thirty years with us. Is that right? Yes,
that's a real testament. It's amazing that the retention is
very import and scize. You know, we had, you know,
(33:05):
our grocery company, we had overall what twenty four twenty
five hundred employees, and I every morning, the first thing
I do just call whose birthday and call and sing
for them happy birthday. Yes, it would become more and
(33:30):
more difficult as risks limited to management only and steward
director and the department head director. But I still do
and yes winery really yeah, winder and other even old employees.
You know, all my top ranks are retired now and
(33:54):
still I call them and I sing the birthday for them.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
When did you sell the grocery business? Cool year?
Speaker 1 (34:00):
Well, actually, instead of selling the company, I started selling
the stores to maximize my investment. I started in twenty twelve,
made one twelve of them, make a package and sold
and then continue to sell five ten twelve and the
(34:22):
last one was nineteen twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Okay, so quite recenting twelve, I realized.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
The last twelve was the twenty nineteen. But in the
meanwhile I was going between la and Naples almost once
sometimes twice, fly back and forth to take care of
wood business.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
So let's change you a little bit and talk about
about the winery and I mean this business. It started
as a hobby here, I think for you, what was
the point where you realized that this was really taking
off and this was going to be much more hobby
but a real sort of a cool business.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
I remember one day my CFO in my grocery company
in La came to me. I said, your your hobby
is now become a business. It's the experience when we're
going to stop pumping money from southern California to northern California.
(35:18):
You know that famous world is about if you want
to make a fortune to the wine business, you have
to put twice.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Start with a billion. You're going to make a million.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Start, Yeah, exactly. It took me almost seven eight years
to break even. Really, yes, it's you have to imagine
you plant m it takes five years to get start
(35:52):
taking the grapes that is worth to make wine, and
then you crash and you have to wait three years
before you release. Right, so it's eight eight years before Durne.
In that eight years, you have all the expenses with
no revenue.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So another version proper that read was
was show your dreams to others. And it seems to
me that the architecture here is very unique in terms
of the design that you've it's probably well, I think
it's probably one of the most unique properties in certainly
in the valley, maybe even in California. Can you talk
about inspiration behind the design of the winery.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Yes, When when we bought the property. I immediately wanted
to find the designer to design the label, and at
that time I had no idea the name of the
winery it would be, do you I didn't know. So
we met this label designer in San Helena, Yea. And
(36:55):
incidentally he was very interested in history and the Persian history.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
And then he showed me a book of Darius the
King and the Personal Police and said, you know, maybe
you should choose the name of the winery Dorus, because
your name is Dorush, but we name it after Doryush
the King, the Darius the king, king of Persian Achaemenian
(37:24):
twenty six hundred years ago. Pronunciation in the US is Darius,
but in the correct pronunciation in Varsi is dor Yushi.
So and then the label has his picture holding the
glass of wine or general wine. So the people they
(37:47):
think I am so selfish to name the winery after myself. No,
it's not after me, after Daryush the King. So when
I hired the architect who design or home in Palace Verdes,
and I was very impressed with his talent, and he said, well,
you have now the package of Dorius. We have to
(38:09):
build the palace of Darius which is the person police. Yeah,
so that's how the ideas started. And you know it
was challenging, like I wanted to be everything original, so
we even try to bring the stone from Iran around
the person polist that I thought, maybe this is the
(38:31):
same stone that they built the.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
And these are the columns that you built. These are
the columns.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
But the building or the building columns or cast a
concrete cast. But the stone of the building came from Iran.
But during the transport, the whole building, the whole building, wow, yes, yes,
because it's a big building, it's a pretty so huge size.
During the transportation, we find out and not import anything
(39:01):
from Iran. You know, it was embargo. I can't embargo.
So when there is a will, there is a way.
So you find this stone. Merchant in Turkey, that's what
was dealing with Iran and he brought we brought this
stone to Turkey. They slavied and bring it so it
(39:23):
can be imported as a as a Turkish stone.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Fascinal.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
But this is a very unique stone. If you're ever
anywhere in the world you find this stone, building what
with this is stone? Let me know, take a picture
and send.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
That I will I will look. I think the probably
very few few. So so how does your Irain heritage
in the cultural history of wine making from Surance, how
do you apply that and how does that guide you
wine making philosophy here?
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Well, I think uh is fact that the birth of
the wine comes from the area of Iran, Ozarbaijan, Armenia, Georgia,
from that part which was part of Persian Empire. You know,
now they have different names of different country. So you
(40:20):
know when my French friend they said Sira is from
Rome and has five hundred years of history, and I
would tell them, well, I think shi Ros is from Shiros.
She rose grape and if you don't believe it, in
University of Pennsylvania there is a wine jar that is
(40:44):
seven thousand years ago and the residual inside shows that
it's a wine. So they were making wine for seven
thousand years of you. So now you tell me whether
she rose grape is from Sira or from own or
from Iran. So I love and in fact, we have
(41:08):
three acres of our vineyards I dedicated to having Shiras
and we're making Hiras wine, which is not too often
in the apple mostly cav but we having in in
for my childhood and memorial father. We planted that three
(41:30):
acres and I named Collar, which is the region of
the Shiras, one of the best regions of the sub
appellation of the Shiras. They're making wine. In fact, I
started that four years ago to make a natural wine,
the way my father used to make. And we find
(41:53):
this terracotta container, and so we crush it by foot,
and I had no yeast, really, just the natural yeast,
had no sulfur, and we wotted it. The first vintage
(42:13):
was twenty nineteen really, and I called it that peed
that enforced him his father fantastic. Yes, only sixty seventy
cases of the wine, but this is the and we
released it for the friends for the Father's day.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
Oh yes, that's very night.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
Would all sell in the first day?
Speaker 2 (42:35):
Can we still dip the cloth inside to taste it?
Speaker 1 (42:38):
Suppose I learned how to use and how to consume
the wine now.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
Exactly so when you first came here as well, in
sort of the nineteen nineties, I guess influenced my sort
of your preference of Bordeaux. You made a felion or
stocks decision to focus on sort of cooler climates man
feeder a southern part of Naper for the wine making,
and that was a little bit different to what the
rest of the valley was doing at the time. What
(43:04):
inspired you to do that?
Speaker 1 (43:07):
You know, the difference in the temperature between in the
summer day, especially in Calistoga and the Napods South Naples
or sometimes ten to fifteen degrees, So it's the cooler side.
And when temperature is high, the grapes sugar goes up
(43:29):
rapidly without maturity of the wine. So you need a
little bit cooler area that sugar and the maturity goes
Because I like to harvest when the grapes are fully mature,
because then you have the most taste of the grapes.
(43:51):
So I think the cooler side has better chance to
have to reach the full maturity of the grapes without
having too much sugar, which has become a high, higher
alcohol wine.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
And is this and so now you're pretty eleven varietals,
I think now?
Speaker 1 (44:14):
Is that? Is that? Yes? We Cavana Sauvignon, shor Merlo Cavanet,
Frank mal bag pian piano. Of course we I find
this property in Russian and river. So that's the only
wine that we make. It's not grapes from Naple. I
(44:35):
think Sonoma is better suited for pianan ore than than Naple.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
And the and your there is to wine that I
see behind you in these spectacular bottles. A little bit
here can you talk a bit about that and about
the wine, the inspiration behind the wine, the unique nature
of it, and then of course the labels, which which extraordinary.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
So we had on. It was in nineteen ninety nine
that in the nap of Whitner's barrel auction we presented
this lot which was primarily the grapes from month Vieter
(45:20):
and the top of the heel of our own winery
here behind the building, and everyone went crazy and it
was picked for top one hundred wine of the board.
And so we have decided to label it differently because
(45:42):
you know, whether it's true or not, but a rumor
saying that Doryus the King did not allow any son
to be named Dorush, So we thought, since we already
have dor Yush, we have a different name and different label.
(46:06):
So we keep the integrity of the signature dous cavern
a sauvignion, and we choose Darius the two yeah and
we choose the American pronunciation of the Daruish, which is Darius.
Okayis yeah, that is the same guy, but the different
(46:28):
And then we were using the Persian textile art for
the label and changing it every year. And then then
we were running out of the pictures that we were using,
and one day we were in the chapel, we were
in London, we visited the Victoria Albert Museum and I
(46:51):
discovered they had two thousand pieces of Persian textile from
fourteenth thirteenth century and we asked them that if you
could use those for our label, that says sure, but
then we have to manage it and you have to
pay the royalty and it said fine. So from two
(47:12):
thousand and thirteen on, every year we are using one
of those, but we have to also, per our agreement,
we have to name Victoria Aldert Museum in the back
of the label. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (47:24):
Yes, that's fantastic and they're also unique. And so you've
done ten years of this.
Speaker 1 (47:29):
Now, yeah, since twenty thirteen was the first vintage we
use Victoria Aldret things.
Speaker 2 (47:34):
Yes, beautiful, absolute spectacul and and also the large formats.
You're right, you're doing really amazing amazing. The other thing
I really liked as well. You have a wine named
after Shippar, your late harvest Shippar, which I really liked,
and I just want to read what it says about
it. It's a produced only when nature deems it, So Shappa
(47:57):
is a rarity by definition. Sauvinyan blanc and Semon grapes
harvested late, well into cool winter months. Their fortitude lens
deep character grayson poise, so suited to share its name
with their US's why ship it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (48:11):
When we bought our second vineyard, it was acre of
the Sauvinyon blanc and acre of the semeon on it
and it was late and I VI didn't make Sauvinyon blanc,
so I told my winemaker Steve, so, let's make a
(48:38):
late harvest and we tried in. It was our first
vintage was I think two thousand, which was very rainy,
wet vintage. And in order to get the natural botritis
(48:58):
on the or so turn and style wine, you need
what tritis and whattritis come when it's a wet And
then we when the wine was ready, we tasted and
we really enjoyed it, and we have decided to bottle it.
(49:20):
It was only thirty cases or forty cases of small
bottle of wine. And and then he said, well what
should we name it? And Steve David, my wine maker,
which just retired two years ago, he was years he said,
(49:42):
what is the sweetest name in the Persian language in
your ear? And I said, so we named that wine.
And you know, it was in her birthday. We were
having dinner at French laundry and then I asked somebody
(50:03):
here to bring it after dinner for the dessert, to
bring that wine and surprise.
Speaker 2 (50:11):
Her, Oh you did. Yeah, oh yeah, that's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
Wow. You know from the out from the distance, it
looks like a saturn bottle and when you can't close
and you see.
Speaker 2 (50:22):
Sharp ass and she had no idea, Yeah, she had
no fantastic. Yeah, that's fantastic. What a great story.
Speaker 1 (50:29):
So you know, I get in trouble because when I
tell that the story in some of my wine dinners,
and the wife look at the husband said, honey.
Speaker 2 (50:40):
Sure, I'm sure you did. So we talked a little
bit about sort of the the hospitality here as well,
and this seems to be sort of a constant theme.
Another quote that I really liked there's on your website.
Actually saw is my house is a lens and the
guest is a candle. And the sort of the sense
of coming into into the winery here you feel every
(51:02):
single person you meet when you come in. It's that
sense of warmth and that sense of culture and and
it feels like this is something that you know from
that you've you've you've really engendered here. Talk talk more
about that. It's very impressive.
Speaker 1 (51:15):
Well, you know, I every person I meet every day,
I I feel like he's the most important person in
my life, and I treat them such a it's I
guess the love we always says it's a Persian world.
(51:37):
It says when you open the door of your home,
you open the door of your heart. So that's to me,
it's just a natural I don't do any special effort things,
just I love and the persons are generally are humbles,
and they don't talk about themselves. I have a heart
(52:00):
time and when they want me to talk about myself,
you know it just it's not in our culture to
talk about ourselves. Yeah, the others may talk, but not yourself.
Speaker 2 (52:14):
Yeah, So how have you?
Speaker 1 (52:15):
So?
Speaker 2 (52:16):
I mean, I want to come back to something I
was asking earlier on. I mean, you have this incredibly calm,
gentle demeanor and yet you've you've faced adversity, I mean
the the from the beginning of your your career and
you know, having to to leave around when you build
a very successful business and starting from scratch over again
and building a company in your grocery business in l
(52:38):
A and growing that from from from the ground up,
and and then obviously coming here you start another another business.
But how do you you maintain that, how do you
maintain that sort of that that demeanor and that calmness
and that sort of very gentle attitude that you have.
Speaker 1 (52:54):
I don't know, It's just maybe part of it is aging.
I wasn't that calm forty years. You know, you can
ask Shapa, my wife. Part with this age, part with
this culture, part of it. I don't know. It just
I didn't plan it that way. It just I guess
(53:18):
not sure the age change in the last sixty seven
years from an average age of like fifty or forty four.
I remember when I was a child in the alley
that we were living in Ismahan, Iran, it was an
(53:40):
old guy with the cane was passing, and the other
child whispered in my ear. He is sixty years old.
The sixty was rare, you know now the people or
you know, I'm seventy seven and still I swim every day, golf,
(54:01):
ski and you know all the activities of the young people.
Speaker 2 (54:05):
Do you still know your father used to ride horses?
Do you still you ride as well?
Speaker 1 (54:08):
I still ride horse. You have a horse? How his
name is Lucky? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (54:12):
That sounds very fitting. Yeah, actually that is the horse
here in La Yeah, in ale Is. How do you
think the sort of connection with horses is that's something
that shaped your philosophy in your life. It's been a
constant part of your life.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
I think I just love horse. You know why do you?
Speaker 2 (54:28):
You know?
Speaker 1 (54:29):
I see that you have a dog. Why do you
have a dog? Yeah? Why you have loved it?
Speaker 2 (54:34):
You know? Yes, connection isn't that?
Speaker 1 (54:35):
Why?
Speaker 2 (54:36):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (54:36):
Connection connecting horse?
Speaker 2 (54:39):
So let me change it. I think philanthropy is clearly
something that is important to you and is an integral
part of your life. Can you tell me a little
bit about some of the causes and organizations that you're
passionate about. You you were a founding member of festival. Napper,
you're involved in only health, talk a little bit about
some of those things that you do.
Speaker 1 (54:59):
It just a start when we connected with the communities
in la and I remember one of the time that
I visited one of the site that we were under construction,
grounds up and it's dust and everything goes. It was
a school next door to our site, and I said,
(55:23):
when we finished, we have to do something about the
school because we and then we bought they didn't have
a playing field, playground, and we built a playground for them.
And then they didn't have a computer, so we furnished
(55:45):
that for them. And satisfaction I got from the kids
and the letter that they sent me, it just encouraged
me to go on. And then about twenty three twenty
two years years ago, when John Shaeffer one day came
to my office and talk about the OLA Health and
(56:07):
what it does for the community of the non privileged people,
the people with no insurance, no means of going to
the doctors, and what this clinic is for those farmers
with no papers. And I said, wow, this is really
(56:28):
what I like to do. So that I got involved
with him, and you start helping Olay Health and developing,
and again for some reason, they choose me as a
chairman of the that ola choice. Yes, and then same thing,
I got involved on helping the college. They when I
(56:51):
visited Napo Valley College, I see that the vineyard in
there with the culture area, that this really needs to
be replanned. And I helped them to replant the vineyard
and they named that vineyard after us. Yes, and you know,
we started about seventeen years ago. The Naple has beautiful wineries,
(57:17):
beautiful area of good restaurants. What was missing was the music.
And so I was one of the co founder of
the Naple Body Festival that we started. And you know,
I'm they again by mistake, they put me as a
chairman and now I'm a founder. After my term out,
(57:41):
I'm a founded They gave me a title of founding
chairman of that festival.
Speaker 2 (57:46):
How many years now? First one seventeen, is it really seventeen?
Speaker 1 (57:50):
It's incredible, actually eighteen, but seventeen program because one year
because of the COVID week, it couldn't have the festival. Yeah,
so fantastic. And I met you in the festival, that's.
Speaker 2 (58:03):
Right, we met, that's right. Of course we met a
couple of years ago.
Speaker 1 (58:06):
I think, yes, yeah, we met, and I hope I
see you again in two three years.
Speaker 2 (58:10):
You will will we will, we will definitely be that.
So you and Shippar have now been married for fifty
five years. Yes, what's the secret?
Speaker 1 (58:20):
Well, I think the marriage is like a table with
the four legs on top of it is the bouquet
of the flower, which is the fruit of the marriage.
And as long as these four legs are in the balance,
the fruit to stay, and those four legs are love, respect, communication,
(58:46):
and compromising.
Speaker 2 (58:47):
Love, respect, communication and compromise.
Speaker 1 (58:51):
As long as you have those four legs the balance
flower to.
Speaker 2 (58:54):
Stay, that's clearly has worked very well. Yeah, you guys
are still as devoted as every since. And your son
and daughters still are in the wine business. So stally
is in bought in the area.
Speaker 1 (59:05):
It's done on a wine that is not too far
from us called Ashes and Diamond at Higby twenty nine.
And my daughter now is in the kind of training
mode of learning the business and hopefully one day we
have the reign of running this this place with the
(59:26):
help of my son. And so it's good to you know.
I have to tell you a story that when when
our president Dan the Apollo, when the first day in
two thousand and four, I was giving him orientation tour
(59:48):
and he came from the big company of the Berringer
that was change hands often. He asked me, what is
your exit strategy? And I show him that at the
end of the vineyard there is an old oak tree,
and I said, do you see that oak tree? I said, yeah,
under beneath it is going to be my ashes. Your
(01:00:12):
strategy there, So my grandkids were not there to sell
the property that their grandfather's ashes is.
Speaker 2 (01:00:20):
Veried, because you want your intent is to have this
thereous business in the family generations.
Speaker 1 (01:00:27):
Yes, you know, it's so sad to to in the
last few years some of the Icon family wineries has
been sold to the corporation and you know, the soul
of the companies or the founders in the family and
when you sell it, you don't have the same same thing.
(01:00:47):
And so I made sure I do my best to
keep that tradition. So they're going to have a hard
time to sell the company. It's not going to happen
in my life, yea, I know for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:01:01):
For you, yeah, so looking back when your your career
is remarkable, your story is remarkable. We have, you know,
a lot of families, exclusive resorts with young children and
young people who are sort of forging their way. What
advice would you give to people young people starting out today,
based on your journey and what you've achieved. What are
the things that you think are important to success?
Speaker 1 (01:01:24):
Never give up? It's it is something recently I see
that the code from Einstein.
Speaker 2 (01:01:39):
That says I saw on your desk.
Speaker 1 (01:01:41):
Yeah, the ships are safe at the harbor, but that's
not what they are built for.
Speaker 2 (01:01:49):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (01:01:50):
Yeah, So there are many waves or many bomp in
the road.
Speaker 2 (01:02:05):
You know.
Speaker 1 (01:02:05):
It's like when the river started as a small stream,
and sometimes that the stream see a big rock. Some
of those extream they don't pass that drug they just
stay and they become swamp. But some of them they
(01:02:27):
just go around that and continue and they make a
big river.
Speaker 2 (01:02:34):
Thank you so much, there is it's been such a
pleasure having you here, or being here with you and
your your generous hospitality and visiting the winery, spending time
with you, and we really appreciate your memor results.
Speaker 1 (01:02:47):
Thank you. And from the first time a few years
ago when we met and the take of the yacht.
Speaker 2 (01:02:54):
That's right, that's right, that's what we meant.
Speaker 1 (01:02:56):
That's a big click. You know. It's amazing some people
they can leaking the first second day. They feel like
they know each other, aren't that well.
Speaker 2 (01:03:05):
I look forward to it. I look forward to spending
more time together and thank you so much. Stories like
this are a window into what makes the Exclusive Resorts
community unlike any other, filled with members who live with
(01:03:27):
intention and travel without compromise. With more than four hundred
private residences and curated experiences around the world, the club
continues to redefine the art of living well. Learn more
at Exclusive resorts dot com.
Whether it's a construction business, grocery business or wine business,
aren't the same to me. As a people business, you
have to recruit right people and retain them. Retaining is
the art of the management.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome to a Life Well Lived, where we pull back
the curtain on the extraordinary lives of our remarkable members.
I'm James Henderson, CEO of Exclusive Resorts. For me, travel
has never been about the destination. It's always been about
the company you keep. Over the years, I've crossed paths
with some of the world's most fascinating, well traveled individuals,
(00:50):
each bound by a singular pursuit to live not just well,
but exceptionally. Their stories aren't just worth telling, their learning
from us, because in the end, it's not about where
we go, but how we choose to live. In this episode,
(01:17):
I have the pleasure of speaking with Dariush Khalidi, a
visionary entrepreneur and member of the Club since twenty twenty one.
Born in Iran and trained as a civil engineer, Dariush
built one of California's largest family owned grocery businesses before
following his passion for wine. As the founder of Dariush Winery,
He's blended Persian heritage with Napa Valley craftsmanship, creating a
(01:39):
winery that is as much about hospitality as it is
about exceptional wines. We'll explore his remarkable journey, his philosophy
on business and community and the art of bringing people together.
So we are sitting here in the Dariush Winery in
Napa Valley and in this fantastic room which is Dariush's cellar,
(02:00):
and we just walked down into the basement of the
winery and there is incredible feeling down here. It's very calm,
very tranquil.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
We have the the.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
A lot of the wine and the barrels outside and
you can smell the wine and the oak down here.
It's got this incredible feeling. One of the things that
strikes me when when you first come into the winery
you have a bronze statue outside and it's it's in
our hands. And I think there is a cultural concept
that you called taro Off. I think it's all about
sort of hospitality and and the fact that being in
(02:33):
your home and your environment here is more homely than
the home itself. Can you can you explain a little
bit of that concept to us.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
The persons are known for their hospitality. In fact, when
I was a kid, I remember there wasn't too many
hotels in the city that we were living, and often
we had guests that I never met them. You know,
they just can't knocked the door. You would welcome them home.
(03:03):
So that's in our DNA, in the Persian DNA. And
so when I came to Naples, the first visit I had,
it was about thirty three years ago when my wife
and I first time came to Naples to celebrate our
twentieth anniversary. So and I visited the wineries. I didn't
(03:32):
feel that they were really and the beauty of the
Naples and everything, but they weren't really matching. The service
was not the way I wanted to be. So I
told the chapad my wife, I feel like I'm walking
(03:52):
to Motel six when I go to this sales room.
If ever, we opened a winery, I like to be
feed in like a full season. So we were twenty
five years ago when we started servicing, and we start
our winery. In fact, we are celebrating this year or
twenty fifth anniversary. We were operating in double white trailers,
(04:22):
but we made it beautiful and put landscaping around it,
and nobody would think that this is temporary. Why was
there under construction?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
So you had trailers here originally.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yeah, double white trailers really operate four years on double
white trailers while we were doing the construction. So we
had full time concierge at that double white trailer and
we were perhaps we were the first winery that we
had full time serious concierge. They were signed of concierge
(04:58):
in some of the wineries, nobody was behind it. Yeah.
Right now today we have full five full time employees
that they are doing their concient age. And when our
customer coming in from their other wineries reservation, hotel, reservation, restaurant, reservation,
(05:19):
we helped them. They some of our remember they just
called said we are coming for three days, and then
we put the program together for them.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Oh you do, yes, Yes, fascinating. So let me go
back a little bit to I want to take you
back to So you're talking about growing up in Iran
and not having that such sense of hospitality. So I
always find whenever we're together, you have this incredible sense
of calm and sort of gentleness about you. And I'm
curious to know where that came from. Can you tell
me a little bit about growing up in around and
(05:48):
what was it like? This was pre Rany Revolution, wasn't it.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yes, Yes, I grew up in My father was in
a military and we were traveling a lot. So I
grew up in she ras Isfahan, Tehran.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Which is a big wine culture there, isn't she.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Yeah she was, you know. In fact, my father used
to make wine for a hobby and for the family consumption,
not serious commercial wine. And as a child was watching
my father making wine. In fact, I can give you
still I remember when I was six years old. One
(06:33):
day I went to the cellar of my dad. I
see big clay bat and I climb on top of
the vat and I see something that smells good, but
I couldn't reach to use that. So there was a
towel hanging there. I took the towel and put it
on the wine. I started sucking the towels and that
(06:55):
was my first experience wine wine evolution. The wine consumption
did not have any age limit. Often we had as
a child, we had wine. My father put wine in
our glass of water. You know, it was very normal. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Where European sort of a feel, so I think November sixth,
nineteen sixty eight, it was an important fears never forget.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
In the morning we pick up our credential of master
degree diploma in civil engineering, and with two of my
classmates we form our construction company. And that night was
our wedding night on the same day and the same day,
So I never forget November sixth, nineteen sixty eight.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
And so you started your career in civil engineering in
the right we got, especially.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
In fact next day or next next week of that
our wedding, we got our first contract and we started working.
And during the early seventies late sixties, as you recalled,
(08:16):
the oil went from two to three dollars a barrel
to twelve dollars fourteen dollars, so it was lots of
ample money coming to Iran, and Show was determined to
bring the country to the European standard, so lots of
contract was available and we got many, many of those.
(08:38):
I remember right before I come to us, we had
like twenty different site of the construction in Iran from
South Persian Gold.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
To the Caspian Sea twenty side as well.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Twenty side. I had my range overl with two drivers
and going between the site in the daytime and in
the nighttime driving and in daytime working to the different site.
And what sort of distances we real well, probably about
three thousand kilometers between the south to the north, going
(09:15):
back and forth. Yes, Yes, I work in twenty six
days a month and come home only four days a month.
And every time I come, my daughter Sally would feel
a stranger to me. Really, I have to spend a
couple of hours with her to get acquainted again.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Really. Yes, So that was sort of the beginning of
your career, and you built a very successful company doing that.
And then I understand that you visited. Chapa's sister was
in the US and you came to visit.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yes, we came, and she was living in Redondo Beach, California. Yeah,
and my brother was a student in Norman, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City.
So yes, off at Oklahoma City first for a state
only a couple of days, and we knew that that's
(10:06):
not the place we like to do today, so we moved
to Vernondo Beach. We were a guest OF's sister.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
This is your first visit US. I'm sorry it was
your first visit in the US.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yeah, that was my first in nineteen seventy six. It
was December of nineteen seventy six. Yes, so I loved
Who doesn't love California? Yeah, we fell in love. And
next day my brother in law gave me a tour
around and I discovered Palace Verdes. And the following a
(10:43):
week we bought a house in Palace Verdes and we
were having a good time and they said, well, your
tourist visa is going to expire in six months, so
we have to get the green cort permanent visa. So
to get that one of the way you could expedite
to get the green card if you own the business.
(11:04):
And I bought a small supermarket just to get the
green card and Alan we have. The revolution happened.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
So were you still going back and forwards at that
time No.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I stayed it was like two years before revolution when
it happened, seventy nine before you start all the demonstration
in a street and unrest in Iran.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
So you spending money.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
We prefer not to go back in state year. And
then when revolution happened, whatever I had in Iran I lost.
They took over or company because it was a big
company and we were dealing with government. All of our
contract was with the government and Ministry of Road or military,
(11:58):
and whoever did with the government in the large scale,
it would be considered the friend of Shaw. And they
took over everything. So I started all of a sudden,
they pulled the carpet under you. You were in the air.
So I started learning the business from that, the small
(12:21):
grocery store.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
So you bought a grocery store.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Yeah, we wanted for not just the purpose of the
green cause I had no idea, but they I have
to start working on that market.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Really, yes, So you bought the grocery store. You're here
in seventy eight, seventy six. The Revolution of seventy nine,
I think, wasn't it in early seven seventy nine.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
You would see in seventy eight, in early seventy eight
that things are going to change.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
And so you bought a grocery store in Torrents.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
I believe, yes, it's our first restore was in Torrents.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
And what it described the store to me? What was
it like when you bought it?
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Well, when I started working there, you know, I see
most of the customers or Mexican descent, and most of
the employees were like American Anglo American, and I thought, well,
(13:19):
and then they would shop. They would shop their original
American stuff from out a store and then go across
the street for a small Mamo pop up grocery store
which was specializing in the Mexican food and Latino food.
And I went to the cross the street and asked,
(13:39):
where do you get those stuff? I want to bring
it to my or He wouldn't tell me, of course,
And the next morning I stayed early morning and I
see the truck that they delivering. I took the number
and I called that company a and I started bringing
the Latino products store. And within a few months or
(14:02):
volume doubled. Yes, and then as the volume goes up,
I start hiring people from the community of the Mexican
customers that we had. And then as I learned the business,
and you know, I always like to progress to start.
(14:25):
The person the guy who sold our first store, he
had another store and he saw how well we are
doing it, and then he sold his second store to us,
and then the glug continue. Within twenty to twenty five years,
we had forty one location with the largest grocery chain
(14:47):
in southern California, privately held fiveilion.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
And are you working in the store yourself at the
very beginning.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Yeah, from the beginning, yes.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
And I unders time we was just pushing.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
The basket because you were know and I started learning
how to work with the czikastand yes.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Yes, because when you came he didn't speak much English.
I don't think, did you know?
Speaker 1 (15:08):
No, the French chanch was my second language, and my
wife Charpad was my interpretator. And when I went to
Berlin's language school, I did had some courses in you know,
in USC and and then you had some education in
(15:30):
USC and then later uh executive MBA program in Cornell
University for two months.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yes, and so and how did you mean tell me
about the story of building the store? I mean to
go from sort of one store in Torrance in to
forty one in twenty five years. His amazing, amazing process
was this, did you was every year or two or
so you bought more stores and you just added a
seal collection.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Actually almost ten fifteen of those was grown up. And
it's amazing that the areas that behind the store major
chain would leave because of the quote unquote yetto area
(16:23):
of southern California. And it's amazing when you invest in
those areas, the people would answer, So the areas that
was very crime related. When you clean and you remodel
and you put an nice store, people respected. So we
(16:45):
were known for that. In fact, many of our site
the cities would call us and condemned the areas and
set built the supermarketly, yes, because it raised the level, Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Had I remember a time the story last time I
think we told when you said that there was a
lot of pride of the employees and stores and even
during thing. It was the Rodney King riots was in
the seventeen range, you.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Know, it was in nineteen ninety one, if you want
that correctly that if you remember the riot and the
Rodney King right, And we had a store in Compton
which was majority African American. And when the rioters came,
(17:31):
because I order all the employees leave the store. I
didn't want to risk any anything with our employees. They
the neighborhood came and they stopped. The rioters said no, no, no, no,
this is our store. Really yes, and you know it's amazing.
(17:53):
I you know, I drive an expensive car and I
would go with my car in hometown. I go to Inglewood,
I go to Wilmington, there's very high crime area. People
and the neighbors they would come and stay out on
my car to protect it. Really, it's amazing, that's incredible.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
That's quite the story.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
You know, when when you invest and you have your
heart with the community, they invest BacT.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Yeah, and how does that translate to when you were
I guess you had people that stayed in you quite
a long time with employees and clearly you know the
sense of this terrify. I guess the hospitality is something
that you've carried through all of your businesses. I assume
it's the same in the grocery business.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Oh absolutely, you know, whether it's a construction business, grocery business,
or wine business are the same. To me. Is the
people business. You have to recruit, write people and retain them.
Retaining is the art of the management.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
And how do you do it?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I don't know it just naturally, you know. I I
think I create the community in the company like a family.
Everybody enjoy working with each other. And I don't really marcromanage.
I let them make the mistake and learn from the mistake,
(19:25):
you know. And often they come and they ask me
a question, or they bring me a problem. I said, well,
what do you think They always I know for sure,
each employee when they bring you a problem, they know
the question you just ask. You have to ask them.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Yeah, I always found that. I was found that any
business I've involved in, I always found that if you
spend time with the people who at the operational level
of the business, they know the business, they have the ideas.
If you can create the structure to help them to
build and grow and implement ideas, isn't getting credit for it.
That's that's how you generate success.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Yeah. Yeah, and you know, give them authority and let
them do what they know the best. You know what
helps me in my first career the construction, I knew
about it, but my second and third career the grocery
and the wine. I really need the people's help. That's
(20:27):
how it developed that give authority to the people. Yeah,
because they know how to do the business absolutely.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
And so you received the Entrepreneur of the year. Would
in nineteen ninety five, I think, is that right?
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yeah? You how did you find out about all things
about me? Yes? It was, I think, yeah ninety five. Yeah,
they say, yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, it's they would look
for most progressive companies that you know, they liked the
(21:06):
way we were operating and the way we were growing.
And it was USA Today and Morgans Stanley. I think
they had this Entrepreneur of the Year, and I think
they made a mistake by choosing me.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
I don't think so. I think they got the right man.
I really did so. I mean, as an immigrant coming
to America back in the sort of the in the
seventies and eighties, what were the what were some of
the challenges that you faced at that time?
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Just the language really for me, you know, I remember,
I remember I was watching TV and I love movies
and telling my wife I wish one day I could
understand what they're saying. Really, yes, I work probably fourteen
(22:02):
hours a day just to learn the language. It took
me only six months tail I started to enjoying the movies.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Is the our anguish my second language?
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
So hence the Jack Nicholson picture on the wall of
your office that I so, there says a wonderful Jack
Nicholson picture in the wall of his office that we
were looking at earlier on. I mean, this is really
American dream, isn't it. It's the fact that you come
to US and you build a business and you can
be successful. And I also read that you also received
the ls Island Medal of Honor in two thousand and eight.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
That's very impressive. Another accident.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Now that I don't think you're very harmful.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Yeah, yeah, you're very heapy. You know. Let me tell
you that the memory that I have from that night,
when you know, it's it's very proude proud moment that
they take you from the battery park with all the
(23:04):
wells and vessels in the ferry to go to the
Elis Island. Only the recipient can get to that ferry
and then another ferry behind is the family an hour later.
So during the ferry, you know, we'll start talking to
the other recipient and one of the persons he was
(23:27):
from Turkey but grew up in the US and said
what you do? Said, well, I'm a heart surgeon, and
we start talking and because he was Turkish, Gnana I
was Persian immigrant, and we talked and when when an
hour later, we were very good friends. During that one
(23:50):
hour when my wife and my daughter arrived and I
introduced my new friend, I meet doctor Oz and he said, oh,
doctor as what happened. Oh, he's very famous, didn't I
didn't know. I don't watch that much TV. So yeah,
that's fine. But you know it's amazing when you arrive
(24:12):
and you see all those military uniforms, five branch of
military from the coast Guard to Navy to Marines, and
with the music. You know, I was just it must
be some mistake. I don't believe it blonds here, and
you know it's amazing. When I was going through the
(24:35):
aisle to get my metal from the marine, I was thinking,
what a country really to open the door to immigrant
like me to come here with empty hand, but mindful
of idea and heart full of hope to leave the
(25:00):
this country and make it home. You know, God, billss America.
I really enjoy that. I appreciate. I'll be as an amignant
you never take it for granted. Yeah, yeah, very humble, amazing, amazing.
So I read a quote where you said there are
three things that you got from your father. One was
(25:22):
the drive, he said, you said, he was always pushing you.
The second these horses. He was a horseman and a
polo champion, I believe in the thirties wine. So he
clearly he was a very inspirational person in your life.
And can you talk more about that. Yes, I remember
(25:43):
when he would see my scorecard from school and if
I had you know, in Iran was a system of
zero to twenty, not handed. Yeah, at ABC when I
had seventeen out of twenty, but it was the first
one top of the class. Then said okay, but if
(26:06):
I had nineteen but I was the second, it would
say you have to work harder. Really, it's always drive.
Even when I was waking up early morning to study more,
he would always come and from the window watch me
that if I'm not sleeping, but the studying. So it's
(26:30):
the military style that when I was a child I
did not appreciate. But at least at least once a
month I go and kiss his grave. Yes, he's burying
Palace Erdes the last few years of his life. We
brought him here in the US and he lives with us.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
How you did When did he pass away?
Speaker 1 (26:55):
And it was nineteen ninety two.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Yeah, so he saw a lot of your success in
the US. He goes, he must be very proud of you.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Yes, yes, he was. You know when I took him
to the one of the city that we had construction
in Iran. I invited him and he came to it
that that was the city that he was born. And
and then he came to me there one night he said,
(27:28):
you know what, I'm proud because everywhere I said, they said,
this is the father of engineer Khaledy, not not the song?
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (27:38):
And you used to be the son of the colonel
Khaledy now.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
So it's ter reverse. Yeah, that's fantastic. So his love
of wine, I guess inspired your love of wine little
as well. I read this, I think was the quote
that Rumy said that says, let yourself be drawn by
the stronger pull of that with which you truly love.
And you were a wine collector when you were we
had the grocery business. So I told me about the
story of how that translated into your wine and and
(28:07):
and developing into the wine business buying.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Probably I loved wine, and then later on I become
a wine collector and mostly from Bordeaux, and and then
I wanted to to go into the region to see
how they're doing it in Bordeaux. In Bordeaux, so I
started traveling Bordeaux often once or twice a year, and
(28:34):
made many friends and then they were kind enough to
invite me to the harvest and wine making, and little
by little the the the dream of owning my own
winery developed. You know, when we were having lunch at
(28:56):
Leon d'Or is, a very famous restaurant in pu Are, Bordough,
and seeing all those beginners, they're having lunch and talking,
and they had the copies and their own wine, and
they would go and take their wine and things. And
I told Chappa, isn't it nice to own our own winery.
(29:18):
So we were actually we were looking for a property
in Bordeaux to buy. In fact, we came very close
to buy Shataulu Dan in Maydoc. But as I mentioned
thirty three years ago, when we came for the first
(29:40):
time to Naples and we discovered Naple, I have not
tasted much that California wine. I was all borderu guy.
So we discovered and you know, way back to La
I told Chapin, why we go that far to Bordeaux?
That boy is and it's much closer to home. So
(30:03):
we start looking for property, and it took me a
few years. In one of the days again everything happened
by accidents. We were passing this property that now currently
are winery. I asked, what is this property? It was
(30:23):
a small stone building only so, oh, this is all
Tomorrow Winery? So is it? Is it for sale? And
I know all Tomorrow. I have a couple vintage over him.
I sell it. It's a good wine or the SA said, yeah,
but you don't want to deal with George or Tomorrow.
So why he said, he's a very tough business man.
(30:46):
Nobody liked to deal with him. Well, may I meet him?
Meet him? And they took me to him. He was
the first ITALIANIME, first generation ITALIANIME grant and I'm a
first generation personal grants you connectivity in human as we
click fan with friends, I'll be shook hand And twelve
(31:06):
twelve days later I was owner out winery.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
That's fast. So it's interesting the the sort of the
arc of experience from being a civil engineer and building
a civil engineering company. It seems like one life. The
next life in building a very successful grocery business down
in la from from nothing, very small and then moving
into the winery business. What is that? How do you
(31:31):
what are the sort of the the shared sort of
experiences or skills from each of those areas that you
can apply across those businesses. Do you see do you
see judge.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
The people they are. I don't see a different between
the different industries they are. They call it company. The
company means the people, not the equipment, interesting the asset.
You know. I remember when we were very earlier stage
(32:02):
in our grocery business, we were making nice annual financial
statement to get loan from the bank, and in the
first page I would have that written that when the
real asset of this company is the next page of
(32:25):
the picture of our management, not those numbers that you
see after because they were nice, those numbers early on.
So the asset of the company are the people? Really?
In my grocery company, we had once eighty five people
(32:45):
in our headquarters, vice president, directors, A good fifty of
them had over thirty years with us. Is that right? Yes,
that's a real testament. It's amazing that the retention is
very import and scize. You know, we had, you know,
(33:05):
our grocery company, we had overall what twenty four twenty
five hundred employees, and I every morning, the first thing
I do just call whose birthday and call and sing
for them happy birthday. Yes, it would become more and
(33:30):
more difficult as risks limited to management only and steward
director and the department head director. But I still do
and yes winery really yeah, winder and other even old employees.
You know, all my top ranks are retired now and
(33:54):
still I call them and I sing the birthday for them.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
When did you sell the grocery business? Cool year?
Speaker 1 (34:00):
Well, actually, instead of selling the company, I started selling
the stores to maximize my investment. I started in twenty twelve,
made one twelve of them, make a package and sold
and then continue to sell five ten twelve and the
(34:22):
last one was nineteen twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Okay, so quite recenting twelve, I realized.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
The last twelve was the twenty nineteen. But in the
meanwhile I was going between la and Naples almost once
sometimes twice, fly back and forth to take care of
wood business.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
So let's change you a little bit and talk about
about the winery and I mean this business. It started
as a hobby here, I think for you, what was
the point where you realized that this was really taking
off and this was going to be much more hobby
but a real sort of a cool business.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
I remember one day my CFO in my grocery company
in La came to me. I said, your your hobby
is now become a business. It's the experience when we're
going to stop pumping money from southern California to northern California.
(35:18):
You know that famous world is about if you want
to make a fortune to the wine business, you have
to put twice.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Start with a billion. You're going to make a million.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Start, Yeah, exactly. It took me almost seven eight years
to break even. Really, yes, it's you have to imagine
you plant m it takes five years to get start
(35:52):
taking the grapes that is worth to make wine, and
then you crash and you have to wait three years
before you release. Right, so it's eight eight years before Durne.
In that eight years, you have all the expenses with
no revenue.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So another version proper that read was
was show your dreams to others. And it seems to
me that the architecture here is very unique in terms
of the design that you've it's probably well, I think
it's probably one of the most unique properties in certainly
in the valley, maybe even in California. Can you talk
about inspiration behind the design of the winery.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Yes, When when we bought the property. I immediately wanted
to find the designer to design the label, and at
that time I had no idea the name of the
winery it would be, do you I didn't know. So
we met this label designer in San Helena, Yea. And
(36:55):
incidentally he was very interested in history and the Persian history.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
And then he showed me a book of Darius the
King and the Personal Police and said, you know, maybe
you should choose the name of the winery Dorus, because
your name is Dorush, but we name it after Doryush
the King, the Darius the king, king of Persian Achaemenian
(37:24):
twenty six hundred years ago. Pronunciation in the US is Darius,
but in the correct pronunciation in Varsi is dor Yushi.
So and then the label has his picture holding the
glass of wine or general wine. So the people they
(37:47):
think I am so selfish to name the winery after myself. No,
it's not after me, after Daryush the King. So when
I hired the architect who design or home in Palace Verdes,
and I was very impressed with his talent, and he said, well,
you have now the package of Dorius. We have to
(38:09):
build the palace of Darius which is the person police. Yeah,
so that's how the ideas started. And you know it
was challenging, like I wanted to be everything original, so
we even try to bring the stone from Iran around
the person polist that I thought, maybe this is the
(38:31):
same stone that they built the.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
And these are the columns that you built. These are
the columns.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
But the building or the building columns or cast a
concrete cast. But the stone of the building came from Iran.
But during the transport, the whole building, the whole building, wow, yes, yes,
because it's a big building, it's a pretty so huge size.
During the transportation, we find out and not import anything
(39:01):
from Iran. You know, it was embargo. I can't embargo.
So when there is a will, there is a way.
So you find this stone. Merchant in Turkey, that's what
was dealing with Iran and he brought we brought this
stone to Turkey. They slavied and bring it so it
(39:23):
can be imported as a as a Turkish stone.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Fascinal.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
But this is a very unique stone. If you're ever
anywhere in the world you find this stone, building what
with this is stone? Let me know, take a picture
and send.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
That I will I will look. I think the probably
very few few. So so how does your Irain heritage
in the cultural history of wine making from Surance, how
do you apply that and how does that guide you
wine making philosophy here?
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Well, I think uh is fact that the birth of
the wine comes from the area of Iran, Ozarbaijan, Armenia, Georgia,
from that part which was part of Persian Empire. You know,
now they have different names of different country. So you
(40:20):
know when my French friend they said Sira is from
Rome and has five hundred years of history, and I
would tell them, well, I think shi Ros is from Shiros.
She rose grape and if you don't believe it, in
University of Pennsylvania there is a wine jar that is
(40:44):
seven thousand years ago and the residual inside shows that
it's a wine. So they were making wine for seven
thousand years of you. So now you tell me whether
she rose grape is from Sira or from own or
from Iran. So I love and in fact, we have
(41:08):
three acres of our vineyards I dedicated to having Shiras
and we're making Hiras wine, which is not too often
in the apple mostly cav but we having in in
for my childhood and memorial father. We planted that three
(41:30):
acres and I named Collar, which is the region of
the Shiras, one of the best regions of the sub
appellation of the Shiras. They're making wine. In fact, I
started that four years ago to make a natural wine,
the way my father used to make. And we find
(41:53):
this terracotta container, and so we crush it by foot,
and I had no yeast, really, just the natural yeast,
had no sulfur, and we wotted it. The first vintage
(42:13):
was twenty nineteen really, and I called it that peed
that enforced him his father fantastic. Yes, only sixty seventy
cases of the wine, but this is the and we
released it for the friends for the Father's day.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
Oh yes, that's very night.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
Would all sell in the first day?
Speaker 2 (42:35):
Can we still dip the cloth inside to taste it?
Speaker 1 (42:38):
Suppose I learned how to use and how to consume
the wine now.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
Exactly so when you first came here as well, in
sort of the nineteen nineties, I guess influenced my sort
of your preference of Bordeaux. You made a felion or
stocks decision to focus on sort of cooler climates man
feeder a southern part of Naper for the wine making,
and that was a little bit different to what the
rest of the valley was doing at the time. What
(43:04):
inspired you to do that?
Speaker 1 (43:07):
You know, the difference in the temperature between in the
summer day, especially in Calistoga and the Napods South Naples
or sometimes ten to fifteen degrees, So it's the cooler side.
And when temperature is high, the grapes sugar goes up
(43:29):
rapidly without maturity of the wine. So you need a
little bit cooler area that sugar and the maturity goes
Because I like to harvest when the grapes are fully mature,
because then you have the most taste of the grapes.
(43:51):
So I think the cooler side has better chance to
have to reach the full maturity of the grapes without
having too much sugar, which has become a high, higher
alcohol wine.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
And is this and so now you're pretty eleven varietals,
I think now?
Speaker 1 (44:14):
Is that? Is that? Yes? We Cavana Sauvignon, shor Merlo Cavanet,
Frank mal bag pian piano. Of course we I find
this property in Russian and river. So that's the only
wine that we make. It's not grapes from Naple. I
(44:35):
think Sonoma is better suited for pianan ore than than Naple.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
And the and your there is to wine that I
see behind you in these spectacular bottles. A little bit
here can you talk a bit about that and about
the wine, the inspiration behind the wine, the unique nature
of it, and then of course the labels, which which extraordinary.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
So we had on. It was in nineteen ninety nine
that in the nap of Whitner's barrel auction we presented
this lot which was primarily the grapes from month Vieter
(45:20):
and the top of the heel of our own winery
here behind the building, and everyone went crazy and it
was picked for top one hundred wine of the board.
And so we have decided to label it differently because
(45:42):
you know, whether it's true or not, but a rumor
saying that Doryus the King did not allow any son
to be named Dorush, So we thought, since we already
have dor Yush, we have a different name and different label.
(46:06):
So we keep the integrity of the signature dous cavern
a sauvignion, and we choose Darius the two yeah and
we choose the American pronunciation of the Daruish, which is Darius.
Okayis yeah, that is the same guy, but the different
(46:28):
And then we were using the Persian textile art for
the label and changing it every year. And then then
we were running out of the pictures that we were using,
and one day we were in the chapel, we were
in London, we visited the Victoria Albert Museum and I
(46:51):
discovered they had two thousand pieces of Persian textile from
fourteenth thirteenth century and we asked them that if you
could use those for our label, that says sure, but
then we have to manage it and you have to
pay the royalty and it said fine. So from two
(47:12):
thousand and thirteen on, every year we are using one
of those, but we have to also, per our agreement,
we have to name Victoria Aldert Museum in the back
of the label. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (47:24):
Yes, that's fantastic and they're also unique. And so you've
done ten years of this.
Speaker 1 (47:29):
Now, yeah, since twenty thirteen was the first vintage we
use Victoria Aldret things.
Speaker 2 (47:34):
Yes, beautiful, absolute spectacul and and also the large formats.
You're right, you're doing really amazing amazing. The other thing
I really liked as well. You have a wine named
after Shippar, your late harvest Shippar, which I really liked,
and I just want to read what it says about
it. It's a produced only when nature deems it, So Shappa
(47:57):
is a rarity by definition. Sauvinyan blanc and Semon grapes
harvested late, well into cool winter months. Their fortitude lens
deep character grayson poise, so suited to share its name
with their US's why ship it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (48:11):
When we bought our second vineyard, it was acre of
the Sauvinyon blanc and acre of the semeon on it
and it was late and I VI didn't make Sauvinyon blanc,
so I told my winemaker Steve, so, let's make a
(48:38):
late harvest and we tried in. It was our first
vintage was I think two thousand, which was very rainy,
wet vintage. And in order to get the natural botritis
(48:58):
on the or so turn and style wine, you need
what tritis and whattritis come when it's a wet And
then we when the wine was ready, we tasted and
we really enjoyed it, and we have decided to bottle it.
(49:20):
It was only thirty cases or forty cases of small
bottle of wine. And and then he said, well what
should we name it? And Steve David, my wine maker,
which just retired two years ago, he was years he said,
(49:42):
what is the sweetest name in the Persian language in
your ear? And I said, so we named that wine.
And you know, it was in her birthday. We were
having dinner at French laundry and then I asked somebody
(50:03):
here to bring it after dinner for the dessert, to
bring that wine and surprise.
Speaker 2 (50:11):
Her, Oh you did. Yeah, oh yeah, that's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
Wow. You know from the out from the distance, it
looks like a saturn bottle and when you can't close
and you see.
Speaker 2 (50:22):
Sharp ass and she had no idea, Yeah, she had
no fantastic. Yeah, that's fantastic. What a great story.
Speaker 1 (50:29):
So you know, I get in trouble because when I
tell that the story in some of my wine dinners,
and the wife look at the husband said, honey.
Speaker 2 (50:40):
Sure, I'm sure you did. So we talked a little
bit about sort of the the hospitality here as well,
and this seems to be sort of a constant theme.
Another quote that I really liked there's on your website.
Actually saw is my house is a lens and the
guest is a candle. And the sort of the sense
of coming into into the winery here you feel every
(51:02):
single person you meet when you come in. It's that
sense of warmth and that sense of culture and and
it feels like this is something that you know from
that you've you've you've really engendered here. Talk talk more
about that. It's very impressive.
Speaker 1 (51:15):
Well, you know, I every person I meet every day,
I I feel like he's the most important person in
my life, and I treat them such a it's I
guess the love we always says it's a Persian world.
(51:37):
It says when you open the door of your home,
you open the door of your heart. So that's to me,
it's just a natural I don't do any special effort things,
just I love and the persons are generally are humbles,
and they don't talk about themselves. I have a heart
(52:00):
time and when they want me to talk about myself,
you know it just it's not in our culture to
talk about ourselves. Yeah, the others may talk, but not yourself.
Speaker 2 (52:14):
Yeah, So how have you?
Speaker 1 (52:15):
So?
Speaker 2 (52:16):
I mean, I want to come back to something I
was asking earlier on. I mean, you have this incredibly calm,
gentle demeanor and yet you've you've faced adversity, I mean
the the from the beginning of your your career and
you know, having to to leave around when you build
a very successful business and starting from scratch over again
and building a company in your grocery business in l
(52:38):
A and growing that from from from the ground up,
and and then obviously coming here you start another another business.
But how do you you maintain that, how do you
maintain that sort of that that demeanor and that calmness
and that sort of very gentle attitude that you have.
Speaker 1 (52:54):
I don't know, It's just maybe part of it is aging.
I wasn't that calm forty years. You know, you can
ask Shapa, my wife. Part with this age, part with
this culture, part of it. I don't know. It just
I didn't plan it that way. It just I guess
(53:18):
not sure the age change in the last sixty seven
years from an average age of like fifty or forty four.
I remember when I was a child in the alley
that we were living in Ismahan, Iran, it was an
(53:40):
old guy with the cane was passing, and the other
child whispered in my ear. He is sixty years old.
The sixty was rare, you know now the people or
you know, I'm seventy seven and still I swim every day, golf,
(54:01):
ski and you know all the activities of the young people.
Speaker 2 (54:05):
Do you still know your father used to ride horses?
Do you still you ride as well?
Speaker 1 (54:08):
I still ride horse. You have a horse? How his
name is Lucky? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (54:12):
That sounds very fitting. Yeah, actually that is the horse
here in La Yeah, in ale Is. How do you
think the sort of connection with horses is that's something
that shaped your philosophy in your life. It's been a
constant part of your life.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
I think I just love horse. You know why do you?
Speaker 2 (54:28):
You know?
Speaker 1 (54:29):
I see that you have a dog. Why do you
have a dog? Yeah? Why you have loved it?
Speaker 2 (54:34):
You know? Yes, connection isn't that?
Speaker 1 (54:35):
Why?
Speaker 2 (54:36):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (54:36):
Connection connecting horse?
Speaker 2 (54:39):
So let me change it. I think philanthropy is clearly
something that is important to you and is an integral
part of your life. Can you tell me a little
bit about some of the causes and organizations that you're
passionate about. You you were a founding member of festival. Napper,
you're involved in only health, talk a little bit about
some of those things that you do.
Speaker 1 (54:59):
It just a start when we connected with the communities
in la and I remember one of the time that
I visited one of the site that we were under construction,
grounds up and it's dust and everything goes. It was
a school next door to our site, and I said,
(55:23):
when we finished, we have to do something about the
school because we and then we bought they didn't have
a playing field, playground, and we built a playground for them.
And then they didn't have a computer, so we furnished
(55:45):
that for them. And satisfaction I got from the kids
and the letter that they sent me, it just encouraged
me to go on. And then about twenty three twenty
two years years ago, when John Shaeffer one day came
to my office and talk about the OLA Health and
(56:07):
what it does for the community of the non privileged people,
the people with no insurance, no means of going to
the doctors, and what this clinic is for those farmers
with no papers. And I said, wow, this is really
(56:28):
what I like to do. So that I got involved
with him, and you start helping Olay Health and developing,
and again for some reason, they choose me as a
chairman of the that ola choice. Yes, and then same thing,
I got involved on helping the college. They when I
(56:51):
visited Napo Valley College, I see that the vineyard in
there with the culture area, that this really needs to
be replanned. And I helped them to replant the vineyard
and they named that vineyard after us. Yes, and you know,
we started about seventeen years ago. The Naple has beautiful wineries,
(57:17):
beautiful area of good restaurants. What was missing was the music.
And so I was one of the co founder of
the Naple Body Festival that we started. And you know,
I'm they again by mistake, they put me as a
chairman and now I'm a founder. After my term out,
(57:41):
I'm a founded They gave me a title of founding
chairman of that festival.
Speaker 2 (57:46):
How many years now? First one seventeen, is it really seventeen?
Speaker 1 (57:50):
It's incredible, actually eighteen, but seventeen program because one year
because of the COVID week, it couldn't have the festival. Yeah,
so fantastic. And I met you in the festival, that's.
Speaker 2 (58:03):
Right, we met, that's right. Of course we met a
couple of years ago.
Speaker 1 (58:06):
I think, yes, yeah, we met, and I hope I
see you again in two three years.
Speaker 2 (58:10):
You will will we will, we will definitely be that.
So you and Shippar have now been married for fifty
five years. Yes, what's the secret?
Speaker 1 (58:20):
Well, I think the marriage is like a table with
the four legs on top of it is the bouquet
of the flower, which is the fruit of the marriage.
And as long as these four legs are in the balance,
the fruit to stay, and those four legs are love, respect, communication,
(58:46):
and compromising.
Speaker 2 (58:47):
Love, respect, communication and compromise.
Speaker 1 (58:51):
As long as you have those four legs the balance
flower to.
Speaker 2 (58:54):
Stay, that's clearly has worked very well. Yeah, you guys
are still as devoted as every since. And your son
and daughters still are in the wine business. So stally
is in bought in the area.
Speaker 1 (59:05):
It's done on a wine that is not too far
from us called Ashes and Diamond at Higby twenty nine.
And my daughter now is in the kind of training
mode of learning the business and hopefully one day we
have the reign of running this this place with the
(59:26):
help of my son. And so it's good to you know.
I have to tell you a story that when when
our president Dan the Apollo, when the first day in
two thousand and four, I was giving him orientation tour
(59:48):
and he came from the big company of the Berringer
that was change hands often. He asked me, what is
your exit strategy? And I show him that at the
end of the vineyard there is an old oak tree,
and I said, do you see that oak tree? I said, yeah,
under beneath it is going to be my ashes. Your
(01:00:12):
strategy there, So my grandkids were not there to sell
the property that their grandfather's ashes is.
Speaker 2 (01:00:20):
Veried, because you want your intent is to have this
thereous business in the family generations.
Speaker 1 (01:00:27):
Yes, you know, it's so sad to to in the
last few years some of the Icon family wineries has
been sold to the corporation and you know, the soul
of the companies or the founders in the family and
when you sell it, you don't have the same same thing.
(01:00:47):
And so I made sure I do my best to
keep that tradition. So they're going to have a hard
time to sell the company. It's not going to happen
in my life, yea, I know for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:01:01):
For you, yeah, so looking back when your your career
is remarkable, your story is remarkable. We have, you know,
a lot of families, exclusive resorts with young children and
young people who are sort of forging their way. What
advice would you give to people young people starting out today,
based on your journey and what you've achieved. What are
the things that you think are important to success?
Speaker 1 (01:01:24):
Never give up? It's it is something recently I see
that the code from Einstein.
Speaker 2 (01:01:39):
That says I saw on your desk.
Speaker 1 (01:01:41):
Yeah, the ships are safe at the harbor, but that's
not what they are built for.
Speaker 2 (01:01:49):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (01:01:50):
Yeah, So there are many waves or many bomp in
the road.
Speaker 2 (01:02:05):
You know.
Speaker 1 (01:02:05):
It's like when the river started as a small stream,
and sometimes that the stream see a big rock. Some
of those extream they don't pass that drug they just
stay and they become swamp. But some of them they
(01:02:27):
just go around that and continue and they make a
big river.
Speaker 2 (01:02:34):
Thank you so much, there is it's been such a
pleasure having you here, or being here with you and
your your generous hospitality and visiting the winery, spending time
with you, and we really appreciate your memor results.
Speaker 1 (01:02:47):
Thank you. And from the first time a few years
ago when we met and the take of the yacht.
Speaker 2 (01:02:54):
That's right, that's right, that's what we meant.
Speaker 1 (01:02:56):
That's a big click. You know. It's amazing some people
they can leaking the first second day. They feel like
they know each other, aren't that well.
Speaker 2 (01:03:05):
I look forward to it. I look forward to spending
more time together and thank you so much. Stories like
this are a window into what makes the Exclusive Resorts
community unlike any other, filled with members who live with
(01:03:27):
intention and travel without compromise. With more than four hundred
private residences and curated experiences around the world, the club
continues to redefine the art of living well. Learn more
at Exclusive resorts dot com.
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