August 27, 2025 • 49 mins
Pruett Farms is a historic property in Livermore which was established as a farmstead in 1879, and the first grapes were planted in 1880. The house and winery building were built in 1881. The farm residents include horses, punker chickens, alpaca and the obligatory farm cats. The current winery was founded in 2021, and we opened the tasting room in 2023 as well as a family friendly picnic area. The barn was remodeled in the style of a moody speak easy. Our estate vineyard is planted to Chardonnay, and we purchase fruit for other wines from select vineyards in Northern California. Our red wines include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and multiple Rhône varietals. We have two rosés plus we are about to release a unique Chillable Red named "Heretic." We make Chardonnay as it should be without catering to styles that distort this beautiful fruit of Burgundy. This includes 5 styles ranging from austere to opulent Northern California.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Wine Soundtrack USA. Listen to the passion with
which producers narrate their winery and their world. Team thirty
answers discover their stories, personalities, and passions.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hello, friends and listeners of Wine Soundtrack. This is Alison
Levine and today I'm sitting in the lovely, cozy, charming
tasting Room Winery with Bob Pruitt, owner of Pruit Vineyards
or Pruit Farms, I should say, in the Livermore Valley. Bob,
Welcome to Wine Soundtrack. Tell me a little bit about
Prewitt Farms.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
First off, thank you, glad you're here. We're going to
have fun chatting today. This was This was not a
situation where it was my long term dream to have
a winery. I'm out of the world of tech. There's
no shortage of hubris when it comes to a Sulican
valley type. So I'd spent my previous life spinning around
the world, gone eighty percent of the time on airplanes,
(00:55):
whether it's Asia or Europe or wherever. But you know,
Selican valley types. We think we can solve all of
the world's highest value problems, and frequently do. And then
I got into wine making. Had always been a collector,
but I got into wine making and got humbled really fast.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
And as you became a farmer.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Became a farmer, became a wine maker. And here I
thought I could solve problems and oops didn't know. So
fortunately here in town and there were more. There's there's
a lot of a lot of other wineries and wine
makers that are quite helpful and have given me guidance
over the years. And so that's where we're sitting. That's
where we're sitting today.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
That's great, So Proof Farms, you established it in.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
What year we opened the tasting room? Coming up on
two years ago? Literally next month's when we opened the
tasting room.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
But this property is much older than that. Can you
tell a little bit about the property because you bought
it two years ago, but vineyards were already here? How
many how many acres is the whole property?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
So I missed it, midst led you a little bit.
You rolled about three questions into that way to stay
up with. The property is a little over twenty two
acres and we're in the middle of town, which is
just an incredible, incredible thing. My wife and I feel
just really really fortunate to be stewards of this. We
bought the property twelve years ago. The properties have it
(02:16):
was a really interesting history in that it was originally
purchased by German immigrants in eighteen seventy nine. The first
grapes were planted here in eighteen eighty and the building
that we're in and our home were built in eighteen
eighty one. Like I said, German immigrants. They had it
for about forty yearssh through the end of World War One.
(02:42):
I mean, putting all this together is a kind of
mind blowing a little bit, particularly in California, right, longevity longevity, Yeah,
And then the Winties owned it for about eighty years.
They're incredible stewards of the valley. Another gentleman had it
for a short time, and then again my wife and
I bought it twelve years ago.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
And how many acres total planted di vines?
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Oh, some very small amount acre and a half we
had more took it out. The infamous Nema toads took
us out. So we're letting the land sit fallow, recover
a little bit. And we're in town, so it's not
like we can use bio fumagins or anything else in
this way.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
So you're not using any herbicides or anything like that. People,
Oh no, you're spraying. You're just you have to give
it time to let the soil kind of recover. And
so you have an acre and a half. So what's
your total case production?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
We do about six hundred acres, I mean, excuse me,
excuse me, six headed cases cases, about six hundred cases.
So of course I buy a lot of fruit.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
And where are you buying fruit from? Is it Livermore
Valley or do you go beyond the borders of your community?
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Beyond the borders of the community. So over the years,
I've purchased wine from NAPA, I've purchased wine from various
places in the Sierra Foothills, and then now that I
have a good enough network in the Livermore Valley, I'm
purchasing more and more here because the fruit is is
just beautiful for some of the barrietals I'm making.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
And what are those varieties that you work with?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
So my probably my signature is various styles of chardonnay. Again,
I think it's an awesome grape to work with if
if treated properly, and then beyond that gren blanc we'll
all do a Vigna. I've got a couple of ross
that I do, a Malbeck, I'm r low, a cab
(04:27):
and what I'm really excited about is is a Chellable
red that that we're releasing here in the next couple
in the next couple of weeks. And cap fronc oh yes,
and absolutely cab fronk.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, the new signature grape of Livermore, I mean, and
with the chillivil Red blend, which we can talk about later.
I know that it's a blend of Bordeaux varieties, rode
rities and secrets you won't tell me because I've already tried.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
That is true. And then and then going back to
cab franc So, as I mentioned, Livermore is very collaborative
amongst the wine making community, and so I didn't know
three years ago just what fruit to buy. I've since
found that out. Being new to this, I was going
(05:09):
to take time for a long learning curve. So found
what several winemakers told me was the absolute best you
could get if you could get it, and I did.
And so sitting back there is some just absolutely beautiful
cab Fronk which I'll release later this year.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Great. Great, So with about six hundred cases. I'm going
to make a guess here that you're one hundred percent
direct to consumer, But are you in any markets, any
restaurants locally or in any other markets outside of this region.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Your guess is right on direct.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
To consumer online and in the tasting area.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
And then the only other thing is in there's one
of the one of the stores here that I work
with where I have some of my wine in His
place is called the Cheese Parlor, great place in town.
Good friend.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I've heard that mentioned quite a bit.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
We had, We have all kinds of fun working together.
Last year, we the owner of that and I teamed
up to compete in one of the local competitions here
in Livermore called Taste Star Tearwall and so it's the
perfect pairing and so we won.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Where was your perfect pairing?
Speaker 3 (06:11):
We had this? Well, first off, his name's Brandon. Would
great guy to work with. So we had a big, opulent,
very rich, California style shard. And then the pairing that
Brandon put together went with that and with a lot
of work, we took probably a month going through a
lot of different wines and a lot of different tastes.
(06:31):
It was a let's see a bufferolo cheese from Italy.
It was a cured beef from Vermont. It was a
pinch of spiced pecan, and it was a very small
piece of tarragon, all configured to be one byte.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Okay, well, we're going to table that. I'm going to
come back to that, Okay, but we'll remember this before
we get into that one bite and how amazing it was.
I want to know what is your first memory relevant
to wine? I mean, were you a kid, Was this
in your later years? But when did wine become something
you were even aware of?
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Well? Okay, so well, immediately we'll scratch off any discussions
of the dumb things you do in high school and college.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Right, it was wine a part of that? I mean,
alcohol was, but was wine?
Speaker 3 (07:24):
What knucklehead doesn't drink Boonez Farm as a kid? Right?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
True, I'm guilty, I'm healthy.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
But as far as what counted, probably since I am.
My family's been in northern California forever mid eighteen hundred,
psych forever and so you know, going over to NAPA, right,
And this was back in the day where it was
much more approachable, much more accessible, much better costs than
it is now. And so I think that the trips
(07:55):
to Napa were probably the most now.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
As a kid with your parents or as a young
adult adult. And so you said that you worked in tech,
you traveled around the world, you started collecting wine. Was
there a particular wine that you that comes to mind
as one of those Aha moment wines? I'm sure there
have been a few. When you get to travel around
(08:17):
the world and drink good wine. Those happen more than once.
But is there one that stands out an Aha moment?
And if you can tell me what that wine was
and what the experience or occasion was.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Yeah, I maybe two. I don't know that there's a
singular Aha moment, but as far as as collecting, and
you know, like we do, having sellers and you know,
next thing, you know, you got a hell of a
lot more wine than you're going to be able to drink.
I think two. Probably one was a Italy trip my
(08:53):
ex wife and sons who were very young at the time,
and going to let's see Montecino and the castle that's
up on the top of the hill, and my ex
and I were drinking wine and the boys are running
around thinking it was just the greatest thing. Ever, because
they could see where the hot oil was poured out
(09:13):
of the castle to keep the intruders out, and we're
enjoying just an awesome glass of wine. So I think
that was one. And then the other was a friend
who owns a very nice wine shop in Pleasanton actually
was stepping me through the various types of white Burgundy
(09:34):
chardenay of course all and we went through probably a
half a dozen, you know, north to south, you know,
montracheta Shibli, and just had a great time. And so
that was the other aha moment of what a what
a nice grape that really could be when when treated.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
And when you did that Burgundy tasting, were you already
making wine thinking of making wine? Or this is long
ago and it maybe set you on as to why
you're such a fan of shardinay.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Ooh good, good question. I think now it wasn't that
long ago, maybe maybe ten years, but it just was
a good eye opener.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
For me, right because you weren't making wine back then.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
It was definitely not making collecting but not making.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Okay, So speaking of collecting, what do you collect? If
we walk into your home, what would we find in
there or in your storage unit? Or wherever you keep
the good wines are you Are there particular varieties you
collect certain regions or is it local, international, or a mix.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
It's I probably should do a little more history with
that than current, because currently I just don't collect wine
because I want to drink you know, a friend's wine,
that's one of the wine makers here in town, or
I'm trying something like that. So I'm not collecting per
se and you run out of capacity, right, you can
only drink so much wine. But before then, what I
really enjoyed was, you know, the variety of regions and
(11:01):
that and the stories that go and the history that
goes goes with it, and so I would probably leaned
more towards the Italians. You know, if I was on
the Desert Island and I had to take the tube,
hopefully I'm not taken.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Away from We're gonna We're gonna ask that later, So
I wouldn't save that one. Save that.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
No.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
But but is there a particular region or you were
just enthralled with kind of Italy?
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Uh? It was. It's the It's the varietals, including just
where they are, where they are grown. So I'm not
just locked into Italian wines that have to be from Italy.
It's the Italian variety.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
But were you more drawn to I mean more a
fan of Tuscany or Piedmont or basically Tuscany, Piedmont, Veneto,
you name it, you loved it pre.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Dominantly Tuscany, predominantly Tuscany.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah. And so now, okay, so you had your collection
and now you're drinking a lot of local wines. We'd
find a lot of Italian wines if we go deep
into the cellar. I'm sure is there anything you opened
up recently that drank really well?
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Oo oo oo ooh, good question, But it violates everything
I just said everything. I just said. Yes, small winemaker
who is He has his tasting room just south of Sacramento.
Another guy that's been in California forever and he's pulling.
(12:29):
He's pulling fruit from property he leases, either by Napa
or up in the Sier foothills. And it was a
huge surprise. A fellow's name is Todd Taylor pulled one
of his his cabs, maybe a slight blend, but predominantly cab,
and it was a pleasant, pleasant surprise, very even though
(12:50):
it was Napa fruit. It wasn't big in your face.
It was exceptionally balanced. And yeah, one of those just
surprises because you weren't expecting anything.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
You know, you just do you know what the vintage was?
Was it a newer a vintage or was this a
wine that's had.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Had an age maybe maybe twenty nineteen, twenty twenty Okay, yeah, okay,
So I hadn't thought about that. I'm glad it kind
of prodded me on that one.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yeah, you never know, you know, we drink We're lucky
to drink wine a lot. It's open all the time,
so we are spoiled sometimes, you know, you have to
remember what you even drink last night.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
That's true, there is That is true.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Not because you drink too much. So I'm curious. You know,
you're a big fan of chardonay, as you were saying,
and you're working with other varieties, and you were talking
about how you like Italian grapes, you know, from the
regions that are in specifically Tuscany. But do you think
there's a such thing as a perfect variety.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
No, because it's all about who you're with. It it's
the food, it's who you're with, it's the experience. So
so no, I think, I think no, not even had
some or just real oddball, but the experience worked. The
experience worked.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
So oddball wines are not normally the norm. You're making
a red chillible because you got challenged by seeing it
out there and tasting one that you thought you could
do better. You know, I'm curious, especially coming from the
wine collector world and now being a wine maker making
a very small amount in a region, how do you
(14:27):
approach wine critics and scores? What do you think of them?
I mean, when you were collecting wine, was that a
really important part, and now as a wine maker, is
that a thorn in your side, something you aspire to
or something that is just not relevant at this point.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
I mean, I'm just curious, very good and quite provocative question.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Atally, So let's see the answer.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Okay, let's see. I think as a collector, probably started
with just the curiosity of scores and then the correlation,
and then you get to the point where you know,
you maybe have a circle of friends and you do
that once a month, get together where everything's blind and
(15:07):
you all agree that you know it's going to be
something interesting and something you can go buy without breaking
the bank, and so I became less enamored with scores.
I might have used those as a guidance, some guidance,
but less enamored with scores. And part of what I
(15:28):
have found is, you know, now on the on the
making side, is that it is the scores are quite
capricious and certainly carry regional bias.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
And it's so it's a different perspective when you're making
wine and you're especially not in you know, one of
the the star regions.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Yeah, I mean we can if if in my naive view, again,
as I told you, I'm very new to this, okay,
and I know you interview people that are generational, but
in my naive view, I just just really find I
want to focus on what my customers like and what
(16:17):
I like, and you know, generally speaking, these are customers
that are quite discerning, so I trust their judgment. I
really appreciate the feedback they can give me about the
wine styles, and so I am finding over time that
that is more important than getting a score, even though
(16:37):
if your goal is getting a score, you can do that.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
I mean, if you get a good score, you're not
going to toss it out.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
But yeah, it's always well, I will.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Say that I haven't tasted through all your wines yet,
but I've been sipping on your Grenache blanc and I
like it, So that's all that matters.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Yeah, that's how I look at it. Yeah, and I
think this one, this one has got a goal. I
can't remember where two years ago or something, but.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
It didn't even matters.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
That's where I get to anymore as well. If you
enjoy the company, if you enjoy what it pairs with,
both both both food and company, that's the most important part.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So getting down to you as a wine drinker, Redwater Rose.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
I think I'm going to be the broken record. It gets,
it gets the same. What's what's the food, what's the environment,
what's the time? So all of the above, all the above, and.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
It's still are sparkling, Yes, the same, Okay as a collector.
As a wine drinker, it's hard to say.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
There's it's what's my mood, it's what I'm doing. I
do a I do probably a knucklehead move, but I
also do a sparkler out of the chardonnay a small amount,
and we do it all in house, meta champinwall, every
bit of it in house. Small amount, but you know,
and it is a royal pain in the rear to do.
(17:56):
It is incredibly labor intensive, but maybe that's what it
makes it taste by and it makes my customers like
it that much more because they know that, you know,
what we went through to create it.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
So yeah, So for somebody who hasn't had the pleasure
to taste your wines yet, what do you think they're
missing out on?
Speaker 3 (18:15):
This may sound a little bit cliche, but it's it's
being very respectful of the of the grape. And I
know a lot of winemakers say that, but as as
an example, what we do, you know, knowing that the
book comes out of that that fingyard that's right here,
(18:35):
and it's okay, it's five hundred feet from coming off
the vine to being in the bottle and not trying
to distort it and not trying to chase a trend
other than my chillibol read because I felt like that
challenged and instead just saying, here's what the here's what
the fruit is going to give us. Here is what
(18:58):
I think is being respect full of that grape. Here
some of the traditional methods that I think create a
great foundation to start the wine making with and then
whore may go after That is a different point, particularly
like with the sharp nays.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
So if space aliens were to land on your property
right now, come knocking on the door, which of your
wines would you want to welcome them with to say
welcome to profit farms.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Well, if my guess is, given your clout, you probably
had some influence on these space aliens already. Maybe I don't,
but I'm going to assume that's the case. They're not
rookie space aliens, okay, So instead of rut theford dust,
then maybe they had a little bit of saturn dust,
(19:42):
you know, maybe something like that. You know, so they
understand that. So what would I want to pour them?
And it's just one, right, just.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
One wine that says welcome to prove farms. This, you
know that you think is well, it's how you interpret it.
It could be the wine you welcome with them with,
or it could be the wine that you think represents
who you want them to know you as well.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Obviously, these space aliens are pretty darn smart because they've
already already, you know, they figured out how to get around,
and they came here and they got your opinion, right,
So they sought you out. So I think there's one
of the styles of my shard that it's done in
the style of southern white burgundy, and it's and it's
pretty heady. It's pretty pretty uh complicated. I don't mean
(20:27):
that in a negative way.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
It's got layers and it's got.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Layers that's complex. There's just a lot going on in
it that I think, that's what I would would warn.
It's done a neutral oak in the same style of
that of that region. Fruit's rich enough to be there.
I use a yeast that's that was extracted from from
some findings in that region. It's it's nice.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
So I want to go back to you mentioned working
for weeks to come up with the perfect pairing to
go with your chardonnay. One of your startin is how
do you, on a regular basis approach food and wine pairing.
Is that an important thing to you? Is it something
that you take very seriously or do you have a
more nonchalant attitude about it? And if you yeah, and
(21:14):
if you do take it seriously, what are sort of
the rules you follow?
Speaker 3 (21:18):
I think it there's there's a couple of things built
into that. I think if you have been arounded enough.
What may look nonchalant may just be because you pretty
much already have a good sense of where that's where
that's going, right, especially especially I find now when I
was not in the making mode but in the collecting mode,
(21:38):
with you know, big sellers and all that, I would
get over the top about it because you had, you know,
hundreds of bottles there, and if the first one didn't work,
you'd say, oh, yeah, that that sanjo should have worked
just great with it. But it's not quite right. So
I'm gonna go over and grab this brunello, you know,
different version of that and try it with that, and
(21:58):
then it'll be perfect. And so, you know, so I
get pretty wacky about it then, but now not as
not as much. And I'm probably fairly fairly traditional, so.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Kind of white wine and fish, red wine and me
the general rules.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Pretty pretty much. Yeah, And I mean all of us,
all of us love that, you know, that big Napa
cab and a steak, and occasionally I'll do that, but
I tend to lean more towards you know, less less
big impact wines, you know, a little more towards old world,
you know styles, And I do that in my wine
(22:34):
making as well as in my palate.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Yeah, that's so that nothing overwhelms food or nor wine
should overwhelm the other.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Yeah, I think so. I think so.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
So you're living here on your property. I know you
only have an acre and a half at this point,
but you've got planted, but you've you've got vineyards right
outside your door. You wake up and see them every
day and.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
You rooster hollering and all the rest of Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
And the vines were here in the ten years that
you were living here before you started making wine, right,
so you have a familiarity with these vines. They're not
new to you, they're not recently planted, and you're a
total newbie in this. I'm curious, over the years that
you've been here and in the few years you've been
making wine, do you see a lot of variation each year?
(23:19):
I know every vintage shells a different story, so I'm
not saying there is a variation for me to her,
but do you see a lot of consistency in a
region like this?
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Again, another good question. You've done this once or twice before,
so again as we had more and again nematodes. But
you know, it's interesting. I was having a conversation with
a wine making buddy of mine on exactly this point
(23:50):
of what's a good vintage and what's a bad vintage
or less good vintage out of this vineyard, and I
told him that I thought I was only just now
getting to the point of being able to answer that.
And the reason was, I thought, in my wine making
(24:10):
skill and my just basic understanding of the vineyard, that
I still had big levers I was pulling versus the
fine tuning of knowing what the vineyard was creating that
particular versus not. And don't get me wrong, I don't
mean the extremity of like when we had fires or something.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
That's just those extremes are anomalies.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
I take the extremes out. I don't think I have
gotten to the point of really being able to say
what was good and what was bad, because in the
winery there's so many other things that I can do
with the wine and am learning about the wine that
I think override that.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
And over time you'll be more familiar with the vineyard
to realize how important that plays a part here versus
the manipulation or lack of manipulation you do in the wine.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Exactly, and you know for some of the reds that
I do. Absolutely. There's one vineyard that I that I
use up in the Sier foothills, very old cabernet vines,
which is you know, there's a lot of old, old
vines in you don't see as many old vine caps
that vineyard. I certainly recognize what was good and what
(25:25):
was what was bad. This vineyard it hasn't had any bad.
I think it's pretty darn consistent. But I will, I will, we'll,
we'll back away from that and saying how much is
that and how much is my wine making skill and
learning the vineyard?
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Wait till your humbleness really kicks in in about five
years ago. It's all about the vineyard. I'm just a
steward of the land, and I have no control beyond
what mother nature does.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Maybe, so you have an acre and a half, it's
not that much. It's pretty manageable in terms of physically
walking through it. I'm sure you spend time in your vineyard.
How how intimately familiar are you with your your vines?
Do you have a relationship of communication with them? Do
they talk to you? Do you talk to them in
(26:12):
some way?
Speaker 3 (26:13):
Yeah? So, yes, certainly walk certainly walk through there, just
you know, enjoy the heck out of it. I'm probably
not as intimate with them as I might be otherwise,
and that in starting this business, the combination of wine
making and g is the pos right. And oh, by
(26:33):
the way, the irrigation system broke down and the tractor
needs fixing. Yeah, I probably don't have time to be
out there getting this intimate with those wines as I
might otherwise be.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
But no, you got a couple of years. You gotta
you gotta build that relationship with them, you know, if.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
You want them to grow well, yeah, I want them
to grow well. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
So have you and your wife or I don't know
if your team is much bigger, but have you and
your wife established any sort of good luck rituals that
you'll do at the start of harvest?
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Oh? Good god? Yes. So, first off, my wife is
not a wine drinker. Okay, Oh no, she's a CFO
in Silicon Valley, so no, she's not. She is not
a wine drinker. So as far as her, no, my
other wine making friends, we absolutely have good luck rituals,
and one of those is, you know, your your start
(27:26):
shardenay a day is frequently the longest day at the
press because you're doing I mean you've talked to almost
any wine maker and they say, oh God, shardenay day,
Oh jeez. So we're starting at four thirty or five
in the morning. I used to use my own equipment
to do that. Now I work with a couple of friends.
And of course, at the beginning of that day, to
make sure it's going to go well, you need to
(27:46):
do a safety meeting, and so you go over to
the to the to the Z safety cabinet and you
talk about safety, and you open up the Z safety
cabinet and you get out some bourbon and you keep
each other a shot of.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
That average four thirty in the morning, yes.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Man, as a good shot for safety elixir, you got
to have a safety elixir. So you know, we'll do that.
And then other times at the beginning of a good
a good bottling session, that group usually starts a little
bit later, so for them it is a it is
a sparkler, so you know, a safety elixir there as well.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
I like it safety elixirs as good luck rituals. It
works for me. I'm going to move away sort of
from the vineyard information and talk to you a little
bit more about you as a wine as a human,
not as a wine drink. As a human. You had
another career in Silicon Valley? What were you in sales
(28:40):
or were an engineer?
Speaker 3 (28:42):
I was a one of those one of those darn
CEO types. Ah okay, so I had had been in
that in that space. The world that I was in
was semiconductor capital equipment, the machines that make computer chips,
and so obviously that was was a pretty demanding space.
Owned owned companies, bought companies, sold companies. Ultimately sold my
(29:05):
company to another low ch much larger, publicly traded company.
I was so emotionally invested in it. I didn't want
to step away, So I continued to run that for
another ten or fifteen years, and then when COVID hit,
I finally stepped away, but had factories in Malaysia and
Mexico and two or three here.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
So that it's quite an achievement. But I'm wondering, when
you were a little boy, was that your aspiration to
be the CEO of a tech company or what did
you want to be when you were a little boy.
When you were a little boy, what did you want
to be?
Speaker 3 (29:35):
When you grew on to be when you grew up.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Oh, good god, I guess more realistically than more realistically
than as a six year old boy. But when you
were a young, you know, teenager kind of planning your future,
what did you did you have other aspirations?
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Both my brother and I grew up racing cars. He
went on to it and had an extremely successful career
and as a winemaker as well. And for me, no,
I felt more technical, entrepreneurial. Yeah, so I just kind
of had that that dich So always a tech guy, Yeah,
always a tech guy. Kind of classic background, you know,
(30:12):
undergrad in a STEM in engineering and then I'm sorry sorry,
under undergrad and undergrad in stam mechanical engineering, and then
on onto business. So you know, like selicon ballet, pretty
much across the board. The STEM degree one way or
another is sort of your union card, right, and then
(30:34):
the rest is business. That was a very good answer.
I may started wandering on.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
You there, I do know, No, I mean it was you.
You followed a straight path, and and that's but racing,
So what kind of what kind of racing did you do?
Speaker 3 (30:46):
So this was the path that most Formula one guys
come up through which is is go kart racing. Average
age of the guys that do that is probably mid
thirties or something like that. So that's I didn't. I
was never a ball and stick guy. I was a
you know, motorsports.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Wow, I'm curious if you have a favorite racer.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Dan Gurney, Dan Gurney.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
And yeah, and if if Dan Gurney were to arrive
here today or win another race. I know he's lit older,
so I don't think he's gonna do yeah, kind of dead,
but let's just say he was alive and won a
raser he came here. Which of your wines would you
want to celebrate with him?
Speaker 3 (31:29):
A geez, well, I don't think I'd want to get
too distracted with my wines. I'd be wanting to pick
his brain and what we're drinking right now. This garnache
block would probably be a good starter for that. Yeah, yeah, okay,
I think so, okay, maybe one of those you know,
humble the other way, you know, i'd be down on
my knees, you know, doing that.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Well might be reciprocated, maybe, you know, maybe. So when
you're not working, how do you like to spend your
free time or do you have free time? I know
we're on your property. You also have courses in alpacas.
I don't know if that takes up all your time.
But what else do you like to do in your
free time?
Speaker 3 (32:04):
You are a smart girl, you know darn well that
on the farm there's always something broken. There's the tractor
that isn't working right, there's the arena.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
That needs no free time.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
There there is not a lot of free time. The
only the only free time is my wife and family
are from the New England area. We have a home
up in Maine on a lake, so that's our big
break is to run off up there and goof off.
So it's probably seeing families. The other thing I have.
I have son and daughter in law and Pelly, so
you know, go back there for a week in theatles,
(32:35):
it's projects.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
On the farm.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
Well, the giant yet the yellowstone John Dutton quote, there
is no Sunday on the farm.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
That's right, because the animals don't sleep, they don't take
a break, and nothing takes away. The vines don't.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Vines don't take a break.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
No, no, not at all. Yeah, you know, free time
is an elusive thing and sometimes one could laugh you
are sort of that stereotypical of I don't know if
you intended this, but you retire from tech and buy
a farm and live on it and oh my god,
you're not retired anywhere.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Yeah, well, I mean it's not how it should be
right to.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Start another business.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
So I've got this and another little one that I do.
It's fascinating, right, that's fun and it keeps you going.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
And so your wife is not a wine drinker. She
doesn't taste wine at all, or she's just not very
into it.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
You'll drink wine a little bit, but if you tell her,
for the most part, she's she's not a big wine person.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Been So for a romantic evening, you can't woo her
with some special bottle.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
When we were courting, maybe she let me think that
by buying her a nice bottle of you know, of
champagne of some sort. But not anymore. No, not anymore.
You know who I am.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
So I'm curious when when you're working or how you
live your life, is there a piece of advice somebody
gave view along the way, a teacher, a mentor, a parent,
a friend that you feel is sort of at the
essence of how you approach life or work.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Boy, you are you told you told me you'd try
to kind of catch me on my heels a little bit,
and you're a kid. I find that, and particularly now
that I really value community and being very deliberate in
(34:34):
choosing the people I want to spend time with and
and with that the activities that I want to be
involved in. And frankly, that was part of doing the winery.
It was a you know, besides the history and the
intellectual challenge and you know, having my butt kicked about
what I thought I know and now know that I don't.
(34:57):
The the engagement with themmunity and having the time for
the really interesting people that are that are a part
of the broader wine community, as well as how much
I enjoy the liver More community and being part of it.
That was a adverse.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
That was a deflection as to the question, is there
a piece of advice that was given to you?
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Advice? The advice I think that I think the advice
and I kind of gave myself this and it was
probably a compilation of several others. Is recognizing the importance
of that and at whatever time of your life you
can saying no, this is this is the next phase
of your life, whether you can get something you can
(35:42):
start to do in your twenties or because of career
connections or work that you can't. The importance of being
very deliberate about.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
That, deliberate about what you're doing and be present at
that time.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
In that, and the choice of who you want in
your life and the other choices in your life that
you're making that drive that.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
So you tied it together. We got it.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
So, so when you look back at your career, which
predates owning a winery, what would you say is one
of your proudest achievements.
Speaker 3 (36:16):
Oh, took a took a very very broken company, grew
it nicely, and most importantly, grew an awesome team. Ultimately,
it was able to to groom my successor for what
is now a half a billion dollar business and something
that started with roots that were very very small. And
(36:38):
so seeing that team, seeing all those individuals grow what
they've each been able to accomplish. Absolutely. Number One.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
We get to another company, or you don't say it, you.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
Know it's it's a it's part of a company called
Benchmark Electronics. It's their their Benchmark Electronics core business is
UH is building electronic contract manufacturing, Okay, very much. A
subset of that is the business that I had started
(37:10):
and was so tied into, which is now just an
awesome piece of that and is typically their biggest money
maker as well.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
Wonderful. Well, you know, you can take that sort of
thing with the aspiration mixed with the humbleness that you've
learned in this industry, and maybe there's hope to do
that in the wine world.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
I'm trying to keep my I'm trying to keep my
ego in check, Allison.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
It's important to do that.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
I don't want to go get all wound up and
grow another business and get too carried away with it.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Very true. I think I think wine is a business
that it has a bigger It should over always overwhelm
your ego. It should be bigger than your ego.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
Yeah, you just never overwhelm the wine. That's that's a
great way of putting it. Yeah, that's a really good
way of putting it.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
Well, I'm going to write that down when we Okay.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Well, if you forget, you can always listen again and
you'll remember. So complete this sentence. For me, a table
without wine is like.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
I should have been ready for this one. I think it.
You know, it's that overused term of black and white
versus color. The wine adds the color to it, yeah,
is without color.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Okay. So now we have a very colorful table. Your
wines are on the table. We're sitting at a table.
It's full of color, and there's an empty seat sitting
right next to you. And I'm wondering who, from any
walk of life, living or deceased, any any walk of life,
would you like to be sharing a bottle of your
wine with.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
This is gonna sound way wacky, but it's my current
current group of of of study. But believe it or not.
George Washington, okay, and not for the trite reasons, but
knowing what he went through and the sacrifices he made.
(39:11):
I've finished a couple of his biographies, right, and the
sacrifices that he made because he felt so strongly for
the future of the country and some things that were
that he normally wouldn't have wanted to do. And I
don't mean just where he wanted to spend his time,
but it was a value structure because he could see
the value of the bigger picture than what he was
(39:33):
trying to accomplish.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
You just want to pick his brain. But you know
he was a big Madera drinker.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
You're going to teach me about that. I know he drank,
why but I didn't know it was Madera.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
Yeah, well the our founding fathers drank Madera when they
signed the Declaration of independence?
Speaker 3 (39:47):
Was it Madera or were they doing a punch? I
think they were Darra. We may have to argue.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
Island of Madera would like to tell you this is
what they lead with. It is it's a significant thing,
and it is written and it is real, okay, in
in books and in historical fact. But you know so,
so you know he drinks, so that would be great.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
I drank and I know what you want, so he
wanted to do and so yeah, there you go.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Wonderful, wonderful. Well I'm curious now we get to you
sort of started this one. But Desert Island three wines,
but three wines, auld Jake.
Speaker 3 (40:23):
Let's see. I like Italian barrietals a lot, so I
better I better have a sangio.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Any particular region or producer.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
No, just just a good solid sangio.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
I mean, I may are you talking kianti brunello.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
I mean I would probably I would probably lean to
generally lean towards a brunello just because I know that'll
that'll age longer. Okay, generally cape broadbrush. I better do
one of those. I think I need a rioha okay,
And I think I need my lass suton, a stainless
(41:01):
steel shard Okay.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Like, hey, you get specific about one, but you know
generally any rioha, but I know exactly my shard may well.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
Yeah, yeah, of course.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Because you're a shard guy. So let's talk shard and
we're gonna talk music. We're gonna play our little game
because we're coming to the end of this of pairing
wine with music, because wine makes us feel certain ways,
as you have spoken about, and music also makes us
feel that way. So I want you to equate your
wine to a song genre or musician. And you said
you make a couple different styles of chardonay, so I
(41:37):
want to play with your shardonay start with that. And
you have the the most austere shardinay, let's start with that.
Speaker 3 (41:48):
Well, So my most austere sharday all stainless, and we
when you move crazier with it, and that there's a
lady I work with as a consultant just as a
is a rock star, and she and I were messing
around with various types and we we took this and
really kept oxygen off of it. We made it more
(42:09):
like a SOB blunk. And so, just to be a
little bit techy, I named it austin Etic. And on
the back of the label it's instead of saying you
know what kind of oak is used and what forest
and everything, it says face centered cubic. The geeky part
of that is it's the type of stainless steel that
(42:32):
the tanks are made of. Okay, so I would think
that that would make it kind of like a heavy
metal of some sort. Okay, And okay, I'm gonna I'm
gonna beander all around. You told me not to meander,
but I'm gonna kind of take the mic here a
little bit of meander. So this isn't quite heavy metal.
But the other wine that I did that's sort of
(42:53):
like like that that gets to be pretty rock is
I was making a port style wine, made port stuff,
selling a port stuffe But of course you can't call
a port My wife's favorite band is Barrowsmith. Okay, so
I called it sweet Emotion.
Speaker 2 (43:10):
Okay, So there, well that was a given one. So
we is there a particular heavy metal band that you
would put with your first Shardenay?
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Oh no, you got me totally tripped up here, because
I usually don't listen to heavy metal.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
While I'm working in the Metallica.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
I don't know. Yeah, that's.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Okay. And then you talked also about your more heatey
Burgundian style Shardenay. So you've described that one a little bit,
So tell me how you would pair that with music.
Speaker 3 (43:41):
Oh on the Okay, I got one, all right, I
got I got one for that. Cake did a song
quite a while ago. It was the name of it.
Short skirt and a long jacket, Okay. He wanted a
woman with a short skirt and a long jacket, meaning,
you know, she looked very business type, looked very you know,
(44:03):
buttoned down and efficient to start with, but was still
playful enough to have that have that short skirt and
be fun.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
And that's your wine. I love it perfect. Okay. I've
been sipping on your grenache blank if as we've been
telling you, we've both been sipping on it. So how
about your grenache blanc. It's got texture, beautiful acidity.
Speaker 3 (44:24):
Hmmm, I would probably Oh, there are a couple of Okay,
this is more goes to the memory of bottling this wine. Okay,
(44:46):
I was doing it with my daughter. She's a chemist,
helps me in the winery once in a while, so
a real smart set of hands. We were, we were,
we bottled this. We bottled this together, and I want
her to keep you. Really, she's twenty six years old.
So there was a belly Eilish song. She was introducing
me to birds of a feather.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
Okay, I like that.
Speaker 3 (45:10):
It's kind of a stretch, but no, no, it works.
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Okay, it's what works for you music wise. I can't
tell you. I might have a totally different image. And
then let's do one more. I know you haven't bottled
it yet, but you did talk a little bit about
your cab fronk, so that's the capron.
Speaker 3 (45:34):
Well, I think that is going to be an incredibly
sexy wine. So probably love and happiness.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
Okay, Oh, I do have one more. Okay, your hard
work to make by hand sparkling wine.
Speaker 3 (45:49):
Yeah, what a knucklehead han, Yeah, all right, I'll go
this date. This is a little bit dating. How about
tie to the Whipping Post Pallman Brothers.
Speaker 2 (46:02):
Okay, there you go, see you did it? And what
an array for the guy? What an array of music? Wow,
I'm impressed. I'm impressed. Well, this brings me to my
last question. You have survived, you have made it. My
last question for you is what wine region in the
world is at the top of your bucket list that
(46:23):
you want to get to.
Speaker 3 (46:25):
You know, I would really like to get way behind
the curtain in Burgundy and I want to the things
that I'm doing with Chardonay that I think are just
so awesome in what as a result of what I
understand how things are done there. I would like to
be able to get deep there and learn for real
(46:45):
about the subtleties that go on in that part of
the world.
Speaker 2 (46:48):
Okay, And if somebody wants to come here, this is
the second part of that same question. If someone wants
to come here, what will they experience? How can they
find you? Where can they find you when you owe
been What can they find when they come here?
Speaker 3 (47:02):
Okay? To be able to find us? It's it's it's
We're our Our website is prout Wine dot com www
dot prout Wine dot com on there is my cell number.
So so it's not like you're talking right to you,
it's right to me. And then we again, we are
in Livermore. We are on absolutely on a farm, and
(47:26):
so it's not you're not going to going to find
the muffler shop down the street. We are the biggest
The biggest distraction here will be the horses, or the alpacas,
or the chicken scream and etche in the backyard, or.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
Two little dogs that that come and run and greet
you when.
Speaker 3 (47:39):
You got We definitely have the greeting department. We are
only open two days a week during summer. We do
Thursday evenings toast the sunset, nice pretty area on the
farm with old trees covering it.
Speaker 2 (47:52):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (47:52):
And then Saturdays from twelve to five. Can we live
right here? I think I would use up my wife's
patience if we were doing doing more than that. And
again in the middle of town, in the middle of Livermore.
Speaker 2 (48:02):
So you're open Thursday nights and Saturday's Saturday twelve to five.
And then ever by appointment.
Speaker 3 (48:07):
Oh absolutely, thank you. Yes, So we have appointments, whether
it's whether it's you know, a large enough group to
appropriately open and give them the full experience. We really
focus on on having guests be doing wine make or
wine tasting like it like like it should be so
(48:28):
very engaged. Ninety percent of the time. I'm in the
winery during that time, so as people have questions and
want to just geek out, we can do that wonderful.
Speaker 2 (48:38):
So head out to Livermore Vali. Just outside the city,
like literally in the city is Prooit Farms and you
can find them here. And Bob, thank you so much
for joining us today. And I'm going to raise a
glass and like cheerers. That was a good one.
Speaker 3 (48:59):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (48:59):
You're listening to a new episode of Wine Soundtrack USA.
For details and updates, visit our website windsoundtrack dot com.
Welcome to Wine Soundtrack USA. Listen to the passion with
which producers narrate their winery and their world. Team thirty
answers discover their stories, personalities, and passions.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hello, friends and listeners of Wine Soundtrack. This is Alison
Levine and today I'm sitting in the lovely, cozy, charming
tasting Room Winery with Bob Pruitt, owner of Pruit Vineyards
or Pruit Farms, I should say, in the Livermore Valley. Bob,
Welcome to Wine Soundtrack. Tell me a little bit about
Prewitt Farms.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
First off, thank you, glad you're here. We're going to
have fun chatting today. This was This was not a
situation where it was my long term dream to have
a winery. I'm out of the world of tech. There's
no shortage of hubris when it comes to a Sulican
valley type. So I'd spent my previous life spinning around
the world, gone eighty percent of the time on airplanes,
(00:55):
whether it's Asia or Europe or wherever. But you know,
Selican valley types. We think we can solve all of
the world's highest value problems, and frequently do. And then
I got into wine making. Had always been a collector,
but I got into wine making and got humbled really fast.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
And as you became a farmer.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Became a farmer, became a wine maker. And here I
thought I could solve problems and oops didn't know. So
fortunately here in town and there were more. There's there's
a lot of a lot of other wineries and wine
makers that are quite helpful and have given me guidance
over the years. And so that's where we're sitting. That's
where we're sitting today.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
That's great, So Proof Farms, you established it in.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
What year we opened the tasting room? Coming up on
two years ago? Literally next month's when we opened the
tasting room.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
But this property is much older than that. Can you
tell a little bit about the property because you bought
it two years ago, but vineyards were already here? How
many how many acres is the whole property?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
So I missed it, midst led you a little bit.
You rolled about three questions into that way to stay
up with. The property is a little over twenty two
acres and we're in the middle of town, which is
just an incredible, incredible thing. My wife and I feel
just really really fortunate to be stewards of this. We
bought the property twelve years ago. The properties have it
(02:16):
was a really interesting history in that it was originally
purchased by German immigrants in eighteen seventy nine. The first
grapes were planted here in eighteen eighty and the building
that we're in and our home were built in eighteen
eighty one. Like I said, German immigrants. They had it
for about forty yearssh through the end of World War One.
(02:42):
I mean, putting all this together is a kind of
mind blowing a little bit, particularly in California, right, longevity longevity, Yeah,
And then the Winties owned it for about eighty years.
They're incredible stewards of the valley. Another gentleman had it
for a short time, and then again my wife and
I bought it twelve years ago.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
And how many acres total planted di vines?
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Oh, some very small amount acre and a half we
had more took it out. The infamous Nema toads took
us out. So we're letting the land sit fallow, recover
a little bit. And we're in town, so it's not
like we can use bio fumagins or anything else in
this way.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
So you're not using any herbicides or anything like that. People,
Oh no, you're spraying. You're just you have to give
it time to let the soil kind of recover. And
so you have an acre and a half. So what's
your total case production?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
We do about six hundred acres, I mean, excuse me,
excuse me, six headed cases cases, about six hundred cases.
So of course I buy a lot of fruit.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
And where are you buying fruit from? Is it Livermore
Valley or do you go beyond the borders of your community?
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Beyond the borders of the community. So over the years,
I've purchased wine from NAPA, I've purchased wine from various
places in the Sierra Foothills, and then now that I
have a good enough network in the Livermore Valley, I'm
purchasing more and more here because the fruit is is
just beautiful for some of the barrietals I'm making.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
And what are those varieties that you work with?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
So my probably my signature is various styles of chardonnay. Again,
I think it's an awesome grape to work with if
if treated properly, and then beyond that gren blanc we'll
all do a Vigna. I've got a couple of ross
that I do, a Malbeck, I'm r low, a cab
(04:27):
and what I'm really excited about is is a Chellable
red that that we're releasing here in the next couple
in the next couple of weeks. And cap fronc oh yes,
and absolutely cab fronk.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, the new signature grape of Livermore, I mean, and
with the chillivil Red blend, which we can talk about later.
I know that it's a blend of Bordeaux varieties, rode
rities and secrets you won't tell me because I've already tried.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
That is true. And then and then going back to
cab franc So, as I mentioned, Livermore is very collaborative
amongst the wine making community, and so I didn't know
three years ago just what fruit to buy. I've since
found that out. Being new to this, I was going
(05:09):
to take time for a long learning curve. So found
what several winemakers told me was the absolute best you
could get if you could get it, and I did.
And so sitting back there is some just absolutely beautiful
cab Fronk which I'll release later this year.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Great. Great, So with about six hundred cases. I'm going
to make a guess here that you're one hundred percent
direct to consumer, But are you in any markets, any
restaurants locally or in any other markets outside of this region.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Your guess is right on direct.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
To consumer online and in the tasting area.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
And then the only other thing is in there's one
of the one of the stores here that I work
with where I have some of my wine in His
place is called the Cheese Parlor, great place in town.
Good friend.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I've heard that mentioned quite a bit.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
We had, We have all kinds of fun working together.
Last year, we the owner of that and I teamed
up to compete in one of the local competitions here
in Livermore called Taste Star Tearwall and so it's the
perfect pairing and so we won.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Where was your perfect pairing?
Speaker 3 (06:11):
We had this? Well, first off, his name's Brandon. Would
great guy to work with. So we had a big, opulent,
very rich, California style shard. And then the pairing that
Brandon put together went with that and with a lot
of work, we took probably a month going through a
lot of different wines and a lot of different tastes.
(06:31):
It was a let's see a bufferolo cheese from Italy.
It was a cured beef from Vermont. It was a
pinch of spiced pecan, and it was a very small
piece of tarragon, all configured to be one byte.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Okay, well, we're going to table that. I'm going to
come back to that, Okay, but we'll remember this before
we get into that one bite and how amazing it was.
I want to know what is your first memory relevant
to wine? I mean, were you a kid, Was this
in your later years? But when did wine become something
you were even aware of?
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Well? Okay, so well, immediately we'll scratch off any discussions
of the dumb things you do in high school and college.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Right, it was wine a part of that? I mean,
alcohol was, but was wine?
Speaker 3 (07:24):
What knucklehead doesn't drink Boonez Farm as a kid? Right?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
True, I'm guilty, I'm healthy.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
But as far as what counted, probably since I am.
My family's been in northern California forever mid eighteen hundred,
psych forever and so you know, going over to NAPA, right,
And this was back in the day where it was
much more approachable, much more accessible, much better costs than
it is now. And so I think that the trips
(07:55):
to Napa were probably the most now.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
As a kid with your parents or as a young
adult adult. And so you said that you worked in tech,
you traveled around the world, you started collecting wine. Was
there a particular wine that you that comes to mind
as one of those Aha moment wines? I'm sure there
have been a few. When you get to travel around
(08:17):
the world and drink good wine. Those happen more than once.
But is there one that stands out an Aha moment?
And if you can tell me what that wine was
and what the experience or occasion was.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Yeah, I maybe two. I don't know that there's a
singular Aha moment, but as far as as collecting, and
you know, like we do, having sellers and you know,
next thing, you know, you got a hell of a
lot more wine than you're going to be able to drink.
I think two. Probably one was a Italy trip my
(08:53):
ex wife and sons who were very young at the time,
and going to let's see Montecino and the castle that's
up on the top of the hill, and my ex
and I were drinking wine and the boys are running
around thinking it was just the greatest thing. Ever, because
they could see where the hot oil was poured out
(09:13):
of the castle to keep the intruders out, and we're
enjoying just an awesome glass of wine. So I think
that was one. And then the other was a friend
who owns a very nice wine shop in Pleasanton actually
was stepping me through the various types of white Burgundy
(09:34):
chardenay of course all and we went through probably a
half a dozen, you know, north to south, you know,
montracheta Shibli, and just had a great time. And so
that was the other aha moment of what a what
a nice grape that really could be when when treated.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
And when you did that Burgundy tasting, were you already
making wine thinking of making wine? Or this is long
ago and it maybe set you on as to why
you're such a fan of shardinay.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Ooh good, good question. I think now it wasn't that
long ago, maybe maybe ten years, but it just was
a good eye opener.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
For me, right because you weren't making wine back then.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
It was definitely not making collecting but not making.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Okay, So speaking of collecting, what do you collect? If
we walk into your home, what would we find in
there or in your storage unit? Or wherever you keep
the good wines are you Are there particular varieties you
collect certain regions or is it local, international, or a mix.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
It's I probably should do a little more history with
that than current, because currently I just don't collect wine
because I want to drink you know, a friend's wine,
that's one of the wine makers here in town, or
I'm trying something like that. So I'm not collecting per
se and you run out of capacity, right, you can
only drink so much wine. But before then, what I
really enjoyed was, you know, the variety of regions and
(11:01):
that and the stories that go and the history that
goes goes with it, and so I would probably leaned
more towards the Italians. You know, if I was on
the Desert Island and I had to take the tube,
hopefully I'm not taken.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Away from We're gonna We're gonna ask that later, So
I wouldn't save that one. Save that.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
No.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
But but is there a particular region or you were
just enthralled with kind of Italy?
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Uh? It was. It's the It's the varietals, including just
where they are, where they are grown. So I'm not
just locked into Italian wines that have to be from Italy.
It's the Italian variety.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
But were you more drawn to I mean more a
fan of Tuscany or Piedmont or basically Tuscany, Piedmont, Veneto,
you name it, you loved it pre.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Dominantly Tuscany, predominantly Tuscany.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah. And so now, okay, so you had your collection
and now you're drinking a lot of local wines. We'd
find a lot of Italian wines if we go deep
into the cellar. I'm sure is there anything you opened
up recently that drank really well?
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Oo oo oo ooh, good question, But it violates everything
I just said everything. I just said. Yes, small winemaker
who is He has his tasting room just south of Sacramento.
Another guy that's been in California forever and he's pulling.
(12:29):
He's pulling fruit from property he leases, either by Napa
or up in the Sier foothills. And it was a
huge surprise. A fellow's name is Todd Taylor pulled one
of his his cabs, maybe a slight blend, but predominantly cab,
and it was a pleasant, pleasant surprise, very even though
(12:50):
it was Napa fruit. It wasn't big in your face.
It was exceptionally balanced. And yeah, one of those just
surprises because you weren't expecting anything.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
You know, you just do you know what the vintage was?
Was it a newer a vintage or was this a
wine that's had.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Had an age maybe maybe twenty nineteen, twenty twenty Okay, yeah, okay,
So I hadn't thought about that. I'm glad it kind
of prodded me on that one.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yeah, you never know, you know, we drink We're lucky
to drink wine a lot. It's open all the time,
so we are spoiled sometimes, you know, you have to
remember what you even drink last night.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
That's true, there is That is true.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Not because you drink too much. So I'm curious. You know,
you're a big fan of chardonay, as you were saying,
and you're working with other varieties, and you were talking
about how you like Italian grapes, you know, from the
regions that are in specifically Tuscany. But do you think
there's a such thing as a perfect variety.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
No, because it's all about who you're with. It it's
the food, it's who you're with, it's the experience. So
so no, I think, I think no, not even had
some or just real oddball, but the experience worked. The
experience worked.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
So oddball wines are not normally the norm. You're making
a red chillible because you got challenged by seeing it
out there and tasting one that you thought you could
do better. You know, I'm curious, especially coming from the
wine collector world and now being a wine maker making
a very small amount in a region, how do you
(14:27):
approach wine critics and scores? What do you think of them?
I mean, when you were collecting wine, was that a
really important part, and now as a wine maker, is
that a thorn in your side, something you aspire to
or something that is just not relevant at this point.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
I mean, I'm just curious, very good and quite provocative question.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Atally, So let's see the answer.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Okay, let's see. I think as a collector, probably started
with just the curiosity of scores and then the correlation,
and then you get to the point where you know,
you maybe have a circle of friends and you do
that once a month, get together where everything's blind and
(15:07):
you all agree that you know it's going to be
something interesting and something you can go buy without breaking
the bank, and so I became less enamored with scores.
I might have used those as a guidance, some guidance,
but less enamored with scores. And part of what I
(15:28):
have found is, you know, now on the on the
making side, is that it is the scores are quite
capricious and certainly carry regional bias.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
And it's so it's a different perspective when you're making
wine and you're especially not in you know, one of
the the star regions.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Yeah, I mean we can if if in my naive view, again,
as I told you, I'm very new to this, okay,
and I know you interview people that are generational, but
in my naive view, I just just really find I
want to focus on what my customers like and what
(16:17):
I like, and you know, generally speaking, these are customers
that are quite discerning, so I trust their judgment. I
really appreciate the feedback they can give me about the
wine styles, and so I am finding over time that
that is more important than getting a score, even though
(16:37):
if your goal is getting a score, you can do that.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
I mean, if you get a good score, you're not
going to toss it out.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
But yeah, it's always well, I will.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Say that I haven't tasted through all your wines yet,
but I've been sipping on your Grenache blanc and I
like it, So that's all that matters.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Yeah, that's how I look at it. Yeah, and I
think this one, this one has got a goal. I
can't remember where two years ago or something, but.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
It didn't even matters.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
That's where I get to anymore as well. If you
enjoy the company, if you enjoy what it pairs with,
both both both food and company, that's the most important part.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So getting down to you as a wine drinker, Redwater Rose.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
I think I'm going to be the broken record. It gets,
it gets the same. What's what's the food, what's the environment,
what's the time? So all of the above, all the above, and.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
It's still are sparkling, Yes, the same, Okay as a collector.
As a wine drinker, it's hard to say.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
There's it's what's my mood, it's what I'm doing. I
do a I do probably a knucklehead move, but I
also do a sparkler out of the chardonnay a small amount,
and we do it all in house, meta champinwall, every
bit of it in house. Small amount, but you know,
and it is a royal pain in the rear to do.
(17:56):
It is incredibly labor intensive, but maybe that's what it
makes it taste by and it makes my customers like
it that much more because they know that, you know,
what we went through to create it.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
So yeah, So for somebody who hasn't had the pleasure
to taste your wines yet, what do you think they're
missing out on?
Speaker 3 (18:15):
This may sound a little bit cliche, but it's it's
being very respectful of the of the grape. And I
know a lot of winemakers say that, but as as
an example, what we do, you know, knowing that the
book comes out of that that fingyard that's right here,
(18:35):
and it's okay, it's five hundred feet from coming off
the vine to being in the bottle and not trying
to distort it and not trying to chase a trend
other than my chillibol read because I felt like that
challenged and instead just saying, here's what the here's what
the fruit is going to give us. Here is what
(18:58):
I think is being respect full of that grape. Here
some of the traditional methods that I think create a
great foundation to start the wine making with and then
whore may go after That is a different point, particularly
like with the sharp nays.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
So if space aliens were to land on your property
right now, come knocking on the door, which of your
wines would you want to welcome them with to say
welcome to profit farms.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Well, if my guess is, given your clout, you probably
had some influence on these space aliens already. Maybe I don't,
but I'm going to assume that's the case. They're not
rookie space aliens, okay, So instead of rut theford dust,
then maybe they had a little bit of saturn dust,
(19:42):
you know, maybe something like that. You know, so they
understand that. So what would I want to pour them?
And it's just one, right, just.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
One wine that says welcome to prove farms. This, you
know that you think is well, it's how you interpret it.
It could be the wine you welcome with them with,
or it could be the wine that you think represents
who you want them to know you as well.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Obviously, these space aliens are pretty darn smart because they've
already already, you know, they figured out how to get around,
and they came here and they got your opinion, right,
So they sought you out. So I think there's one
of the styles of my shard that it's done in
the style of southern white burgundy, and it's and it's
pretty heady. It's pretty pretty uh complicated. I don't mean
(20:27):
that in a negative way.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
It's got layers and it's got.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Layers that's complex. There's just a lot going on in
it that I think, that's what I would would warn.
It's done a neutral oak in the same style of
that of that region. Fruit's rich enough to be there.
I use a yeast that's that was extracted from from
some findings in that region. It's it's nice.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
So I want to go back to you mentioned working
for weeks to come up with the perfect pairing to
go with your chardonnay. One of your startin is how
do you, on a regular basis approach food and wine pairing.
Is that an important thing to you? Is it something
that you take very seriously or do you have a
more nonchalant attitude about it? And if you yeah, and
(21:14):
if you do take it seriously, what are sort of
the rules you follow?
Speaker 3 (21:18):
I think it there's there's a couple of things built
into that. I think if you have been arounded enough.
What may look nonchalant may just be because you pretty
much already have a good sense of where that's where
that's going, right, especially especially I find now when I
was not in the making mode but in the collecting mode,
(21:38):
with you know, big sellers and all that, I would
get over the top about it because you had, you know,
hundreds of bottles there, and if the first one didn't work,
you'd say, oh, yeah, that that sanjo should have worked
just great with it. But it's not quite right. So
I'm gonna go over and grab this brunello, you know,
different version of that and try it with that, and
(21:58):
then it'll be perfect. And so, you know, so I
get pretty wacky about it then, but now not as
not as much. And I'm probably fairly fairly traditional, so.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Kind of white wine and fish, red wine and me
the general rules.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Pretty pretty much. Yeah, And I mean all of us,
all of us love that, you know, that big Napa
cab and a steak, and occasionally I'll do that, but
I tend to lean more towards you know, less less
big impact wines, you know, a little more towards old world,
you know styles, And I do that in my wine
(22:34):
making as well as in my palate.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Yeah, that's so that nothing overwhelms food or nor wine
should overwhelm the other.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Yeah, I think so. I think so.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
So you're living here on your property. I know you
only have an acre and a half at this point,
but you've got planted, but you've you've got vineyards right
outside your door. You wake up and see them every
day and.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
You rooster hollering and all the rest of Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
And the vines were here in the ten years that
you were living here before you started making wine, right,
so you have a familiarity with these vines. They're not
new to you, they're not recently planted, and you're a
total newbie in this. I'm curious, over the years that
you've been here and in the few years you've been
making wine, do you see a lot of variation each year?
(23:19):
I know every vintage shells a different story, so I'm
not saying there is a variation for me to her,
but do you see a lot of consistency in a
region like this?
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Again, another good question. You've done this once or twice before,
so again as we had more and again nematodes. But
you know, it's interesting. I was having a conversation with
a wine making buddy of mine on exactly this point
(23:50):
of what's a good vintage and what's a bad vintage
or less good vintage out of this vineyard, and I
told him that I thought I was only just now
getting to the point of being able to answer that.
And the reason was, I thought, in my wine making
(24:10):
skill and my just basic understanding of the vineyard, that
I still had big levers I was pulling versus the
fine tuning of knowing what the vineyard was creating that
particular versus not. And don't get me wrong, I don't
mean the extremity of like when we had fires or something.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
That's just those extremes are anomalies.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
I take the extremes out. I don't think I have
gotten to the point of really being able to say
what was good and what was bad, because in the
winery there's so many other things that I can do
with the wine and am learning about the wine that
I think override that.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
And over time you'll be more familiar with the vineyard
to realize how important that plays a part here versus
the manipulation or lack of manipulation you do in the wine.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Exactly, and you know for some of the reds that
I do. Absolutely. There's one vineyard that I that I
use up in the Sier foothills, very old cabernet vines,
which is you know, there's a lot of old, old
vines in you don't see as many old vine caps
that vineyard. I certainly recognize what was good and what
(25:25):
was what was bad. This vineyard it hasn't had any bad.
I think it's pretty darn consistent. But I will, I will, we'll,
we'll back away from that and saying how much is
that and how much is my wine making skill and
learning the vineyard?
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Wait till your humbleness really kicks in in about five
years ago. It's all about the vineyard. I'm just a
steward of the land, and I have no control beyond
what mother nature does.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Maybe, so you have an acre and a half, it's
not that much. It's pretty manageable in terms of physically
walking through it. I'm sure you spend time in your vineyard.
How how intimately familiar are you with your your vines?
Do you have a relationship of communication with them? Do
they talk to you? Do you talk to them in
(26:12):
some way?
Speaker 3 (26:13):
Yeah? So, yes, certainly walk certainly walk through there, just
you know, enjoy the heck out of it. I'm probably
not as intimate with them as I might be otherwise,
and that in starting this business, the combination of wine
making and g is the pos right. And oh, by
(26:33):
the way, the irrigation system broke down and the tractor
needs fixing. Yeah, I probably don't have time to be
out there getting this intimate with those wines as I
might otherwise be.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
But no, you got a couple of years. You gotta
you gotta build that relationship with them, you know, if.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
You want them to grow well, yeah, I want them
to grow well. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
So have you and your wife or I don't know
if your team is much bigger, but have you and
your wife established any sort of good luck rituals that
you'll do at the start of harvest?
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Oh? Good god? Yes. So, first off, my wife is
not a wine drinker. Okay, Oh no, she's a CFO
in Silicon Valley, so no, she's not. She is not
a wine drinker. So as far as her, no, my
other wine making friends, we absolutely have good luck rituals,
and one of those is, you know, your your start
(27:26):
shardenay a day is frequently the longest day at the
press because you're doing I mean you've talked to almost
any wine maker and they say, oh God, shardenay day,
Oh jeez. So we're starting at four thirty or five
in the morning. I used to use my own equipment
to do that. Now I work with a couple of friends.
And of course, at the beginning of that day, to
make sure it's going to go well, you need to
(27:46):
do a safety meeting, and so you go over to
the to the to the Z safety cabinet and you
talk about safety, and you open up the Z safety
cabinet and you get out some bourbon and you keep
each other a shot of.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
That average four thirty in the morning, yes.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Man, as a good shot for safety elixir, you got
to have a safety elixir. So you know, we'll do that.
And then other times at the beginning of a good
a good bottling session, that group usually starts a little
bit later, so for them it is a it is
a sparkler, so you know, a safety elixir there as well.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
I like it safety elixirs as good luck rituals. It
works for me. I'm going to move away sort of
from the vineyard information and talk to you a little
bit more about you as a wine as a human,
not as a wine drink. As a human. You had
another career in Silicon Valley? What were you in sales
(28:40):
or were an engineer?
Speaker 3 (28:42):
I was a one of those one of those darn
CEO types. Ah okay, so I had had been in
that in that space. The world that I was in
was semiconductor capital equipment, the machines that make computer chips,
and so obviously that was was a pretty demanding space.
Owned owned companies, bought companies, sold companies. Ultimately sold my
(29:05):
company to another low ch much larger, publicly traded company.
I was so emotionally invested in it. I didn't want
to step away, So I continued to run that for
another ten or fifteen years, and then when COVID hit,
I finally stepped away, but had factories in Malaysia and
Mexico and two or three here.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
So that it's quite an achievement. But I'm wondering, when
you were a little boy, was that your aspiration to
be the CEO of a tech company or what did
you want to be when you were a little boy.
When you were a little boy, what did you want
to be?
Speaker 3 (29:35):
When you grew on to be when you grew up.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Oh, good god, I guess more realistically than more realistically
than as a six year old boy. But when you
were a young, you know, teenager kind of planning your future,
what did you did you have other aspirations?
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Both my brother and I grew up racing cars. He
went on to it and had an extremely successful career
and as a winemaker as well. And for me, no,
I felt more technical, entrepreneurial. Yeah, so I just kind
of had that that dich So always a tech guy, Yeah,
always a tech guy. Kind of classic background, you know,
(30:12):
undergrad in a STEM in engineering and then I'm sorry sorry,
under undergrad and undergrad in stam mechanical engineering, and then
on onto business. So you know, like selicon ballet, pretty
much across the board. The STEM degree one way or
another is sort of your union card, right, and then
(30:34):
the rest is business. That was a very good answer.
I may started wandering on.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
You there, I do know, No, I mean it was you.
You followed a straight path, and and that's but racing,
So what kind of what kind of racing did you do?
Speaker 3 (30:46):
So this was the path that most Formula one guys
come up through which is is go kart racing. Average
age of the guys that do that is probably mid
thirties or something like that. So that's I didn't. I
was never a ball and stick guy. I was a
you know, motorsports.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Wow, I'm curious if you have a favorite racer.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Dan Gurney, Dan Gurney.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
And yeah, and if if Dan Gurney were to arrive
here today or win another race. I know he's lit older,
so I don't think he's gonna do yeah, kind of dead,
but let's just say he was alive and won a
raser he came here. Which of your wines would you
want to celebrate with him?
Speaker 3 (31:29):
A geez, well, I don't think I'd want to get
too distracted with my wines. I'd be wanting to pick
his brain and what we're drinking right now. This garnache
block would probably be a good starter for that. Yeah, yeah, okay,
I think so, okay, maybe one of those you know,
humble the other way, you know, i'd be down on
my knees, you know, doing that.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Well might be reciprocated, maybe, you know, maybe. So when
you're not working, how do you like to spend your
free time or do you have free time? I know
we're on your property. You also have courses in alpacas.
I don't know if that takes up all your time.
But what else do you like to do in your
free time?
Speaker 3 (32:04):
You are a smart girl, you know darn well that
on the farm there's always something broken. There's the tractor
that isn't working right, there's the arena.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
That needs no free time.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
There there is not a lot of free time. The
only the only free time is my wife and family
are from the New England area. We have a home
up in Maine on a lake, so that's our big
break is to run off up there and goof off.
So it's probably seeing families. The other thing I have.
I have son and daughter in law and Pelly, so
you know, go back there for a week in theatles,
(32:35):
it's projects.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
On the farm.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
Well, the giant yet the yellowstone John Dutton quote, there
is no Sunday on the farm.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
That's right, because the animals don't sleep, they don't take
a break, and nothing takes away. The vines don't.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Vines don't take a break.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
No, no, not at all. Yeah, you know, free time
is an elusive thing and sometimes one could laugh you
are sort of that stereotypical of I don't know if
you intended this, but you retire from tech and buy
a farm and live on it and oh my god,
you're not retired anywhere.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Yeah, well, I mean it's not how it should be
right to.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Start another business.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
So I've got this and another little one that I do.
It's fascinating, right, that's fun and it keeps you going.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
And so your wife is not a wine drinker. She
doesn't taste wine at all, or she's just not very
into it.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
You'll drink wine a little bit, but if you tell her,
for the most part, she's she's not a big wine person.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Been So for a romantic evening, you can't woo her
with some special bottle.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
When we were courting, maybe she let me think that
by buying her a nice bottle of you know, of
champagne of some sort. But not anymore. No, not anymore.
You know who I am.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
So I'm curious when when you're working or how you
live your life, is there a piece of advice somebody
gave view along the way, a teacher, a mentor, a parent,
a friend that you feel is sort of at the
essence of how you approach life or work.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Boy, you are you told you told me you'd try
to kind of catch me on my heels a little bit,
and you're a kid. I find that, and particularly now
that I really value community and being very deliberate in
(34:34):
choosing the people I want to spend time with and
and with that the activities that I want to be
involved in. And frankly, that was part of doing the winery.
It was a you know, besides the history and the
intellectual challenge and you know, having my butt kicked about
what I thought I know and now know that I don't.
(34:57):
The the engagement with themmunity and having the time for
the really interesting people that are that are a part
of the broader wine community, as well as how much
I enjoy the liver More community and being part of it.
That was a adverse.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
That was a deflection as to the question, is there
a piece of advice that was given to you?
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Advice? The advice I think that I think the advice
and I kind of gave myself this and it was
probably a compilation of several others. Is recognizing the importance
of that and at whatever time of your life you
can saying no, this is this is the next phase
of your life, whether you can get something you can
(35:42):
start to do in your twenties or because of career
connections or work that you can't. The importance of being
very deliberate about.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
That, deliberate about what you're doing and be present at
that time.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
In that, and the choice of who you want in
your life and the other choices in your life that
you're making that drive that.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
So you tied it together. We got it.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
So, so when you look back at your career, which
predates owning a winery, what would you say is one
of your proudest achievements.
Speaker 3 (36:16):
Oh, took a took a very very broken company, grew
it nicely, and most importantly, grew an awesome team. Ultimately,
it was able to to groom my successor for what
is now a half a billion dollar business and something
that started with roots that were very very small. And
(36:38):
so seeing that team, seeing all those individuals grow what
they've each been able to accomplish. Absolutely. Number One.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
We get to another company, or you don't say it, you.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
Know it's it's a it's part of a company called
Benchmark Electronics. It's their their Benchmark Electronics core business is
UH is building electronic contract manufacturing, Okay, very much. A
subset of that is the business that I had started
(37:10):
and was so tied into, which is now just an
awesome piece of that and is typically their biggest money
maker as well.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
Wonderful. Well, you know, you can take that sort of
thing with the aspiration mixed with the humbleness that you've
learned in this industry, and maybe there's hope to do
that in the wine world.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
I'm trying to keep my I'm trying to keep my
ego in check, Allison.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
It's important to do that.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
I don't want to go get all wound up and
grow another business and get too carried away with it.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Very true. I think I think wine is a business
that it has a bigger It should over always overwhelm
your ego. It should be bigger than your ego.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
Yeah, you just never overwhelm the wine. That's that's a
great way of putting it. Yeah, that's a really good
way of putting it.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
Well, I'm going to write that down when we Okay.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Well, if you forget, you can always listen again and
you'll remember. So complete this sentence. For me, a table
without wine is like.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
I should have been ready for this one. I think it.
You know, it's that overused term of black and white
versus color. The wine adds the color to it, yeah,
is without color.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Okay. So now we have a very colorful table. Your
wines are on the table. We're sitting at a table.
It's full of color, and there's an empty seat sitting
right next to you. And I'm wondering who, from any
walk of life, living or deceased, any any walk of life,
would you like to be sharing a bottle of your
wine with.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
This is gonna sound way wacky, but it's my current
current group of of of study. But believe it or not.
George Washington, okay, and not for the trite reasons, but
knowing what he went through and the sacrifices he made.
(39:11):
I've finished a couple of his biographies, right, and the
sacrifices that he made because he felt so strongly for
the future of the country and some things that were
that he normally wouldn't have wanted to do. And I
don't mean just where he wanted to spend his time,
but it was a value structure because he could see
the value of the bigger picture than what he was
(39:33):
trying to accomplish.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
You just want to pick his brain. But you know
he was a big Madera drinker.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
You're going to teach me about that. I know he drank,
why but I didn't know it was Madera.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
Yeah, well the our founding fathers drank Madera when they
signed the Declaration of independence?
Speaker 3 (39:47):
Was it Madera or were they doing a punch? I
think they were Darra. We may have to argue.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
Island of Madera would like to tell you this is
what they lead with. It is it's a significant thing,
and it is written and it is real, okay, in
in books and in historical fact. But you know so,
so you know he drinks, so that would be great.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
I drank and I know what you want, so he
wanted to do and so yeah, there you go.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Wonderful, wonderful. Well I'm curious now we get to you
sort of started this one. But Desert Island three wines,
but three wines, auld Jake.
Speaker 3 (40:23):
Let's see. I like Italian barrietals a lot, so I
better I better have a sangio.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Any particular region or producer.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
No, just just a good solid sangio.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
I mean, I may are you talking kianti brunello.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
I mean I would probably I would probably lean to
generally lean towards a brunello just because I know that'll
that'll age longer. Okay, generally cape broadbrush. I better do
one of those. I think I need a rioha okay,
And I think I need my lass suton, a stainless
(41:01):
steel shard Okay.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Like, hey, you get specific about one, but you know
generally any rioha, but I know exactly my shard may well.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
Yeah, yeah, of course.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Because you're a shard guy. So let's talk shard and
we're gonna talk music. We're gonna play our little game
because we're coming to the end of this of pairing
wine with music, because wine makes us feel certain ways,
as you have spoken about, and music also makes us
feel that way. So I want you to equate your
wine to a song genre or musician. And you said
you make a couple different styles of chardonay, so I
(41:37):
want to play with your shardonay start with that. And
you have the the most austere shardinay, let's start with that.
Speaker 3 (41:48):
Well, So my most austere sharday all stainless, and we
when you move crazier with it, and that there's a
lady I work with as a consultant just as a
is a rock star, and she and I were messing
around with various types and we we took this and
really kept oxygen off of it. We made it more
(42:09):
like a SOB blunk. And so, just to be a
little bit techy, I named it austin Etic. And on
the back of the label it's instead of saying you
know what kind of oak is used and what forest
and everything, it says face centered cubic. The geeky part
of that is it's the type of stainless steel that
(42:32):
the tanks are made of. Okay, so I would think
that that would make it kind of like a heavy
metal of some sort. Okay, And okay, I'm gonna I'm
gonna beander all around. You told me not to meander,
but I'm gonna kind of take the mic here a
little bit of meander. So this isn't quite heavy metal.
But the other wine that I did that's sort of
(42:53):
like like that that gets to be pretty rock is
I was making a port style wine, made port stuff,
selling a port stuffe But of course you can't call
a port My wife's favorite band is Barrowsmith. Okay, so
I called it sweet Emotion.
Speaker 2 (43:10):
Okay, So there, well that was a given one. So
we is there a particular heavy metal band that you
would put with your first Shardenay?
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Oh no, you got me totally tripped up here, because
I usually don't listen to heavy metal.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
While I'm working in the Metallica.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
I don't know. Yeah, that's.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Okay. And then you talked also about your more heatey
Burgundian style Shardenay. So you've described that one a little bit,
So tell me how you would pair that with music.
Speaker 3 (43:41):
Oh on the Okay, I got one, all right, I
got I got one for that. Cake did a song
quite a while ago. It was the name of it.
Short skirt and a long jacket, Okay. He wanted a
woman with a short skirt and a long jacket, meaning,
you know, she looked very business type, looked very you know,
(44:03):
buttoned down and efficient to start with, but was still
playful enough to have that have that short skirt and
be fun.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
And that's your wine. I love it perfect. Okay. I've
been sipping on your grenache blank if as we've been
telling you, we've both been sipping on it. So how
about your grenache blanc. It's got texture, beautiful acidity.
Speaker 3 (44:24):
Hmmm, I would probably Oh, there are a couple of Okay,
this is more goes to the memory of bottling this wine. Okay,
(44:46):
I was doing it with my daughter. She's a chemist,
helps me in the winery once in a while, so
a real smart set of hands. We were, we were,
we bottled this. We bottled this together, and I want
her to keep you. Really, she's twenty six years old.
So there was a belly Eilish song. She was introducing
me to birds of a feather.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
Okay, I like that.
Speaker 3 (45:10):
It's kind of a stretch, but no, no, it works.
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Okay, it's what works for you music wise. I can't
tell you. I might have a totally different image. And
then let's do one more. I know you haven't bottled
it yet, but you did talk a little bit about
your cab fronk, so that's the capron.
Speaker 3 (45:34):
Well, I think that is going to be an incredibly
sexy wine. So probably love and happiness.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
Okay, Oh, I do have one more. Okay, your hard
work to make by hand sparkling wine.
Speaker 3 (45:49):
Yeah, what a knucklehead han, Yeah, all right, I'll go
this date. This is a little bit dating. How about
tie to the Whipping Post Pallman Brothers.
Speaker 2 (46:02):
Okay, there you go, see you did it? And what
an array for the guy? What an array of music? Wow,
I'm impressed. I'm impressed. Well, this brings me to my
last question. You have survived, you have made it. My
last question for you is what wine region in the
world is at the top of your bucket list that
(46:23):
you want to get to.
Speaker 3 (46:25):
You know, I would really like to get way behind
the curtain in Burgundy and I want to the things
that I'm doing with Chardonay that I think are just
so awesome in what as a result of what I
understand how things are done there. I would like to
be able to get deep there and learn for real
(46:45):
about the subtleties that go on in that part of
the world.
Speaker 2 (46:48):
Okay, And if somebody wants to come here, this is
the second part of that same question. If someone wants
to come here, what will they experience? How can they
find you? Where can they find you when you owe
been What can they find when they come here?
Speaker 3 (47:02):
Okay? To be able to find us? It's it's it's
We're our Our website is prout Wine dot com www
dot prout Wine dot com on there is my cell number.
So so it's not like you're talking right to you,
it's right to me. And then we again, we are
in Livermore. We are on absolutely on a farm, and
(47:26):
so it's not you're not going to going to find
the muffler shop down the street. We are the biggest
The biggest distraction here will be the horses, or the alpacas,
or the chicken scream and etche in the backyard, or.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
Two little dogs that that come and run and greet
you when.
Speaker 3 (47:39):
You got We definitely have the greeting department. We are
only open two days a week during summer. We do
Thursday evenings toast the sunset, nice pretty area on the
farm with old trees covering it.
Speaker 2 (47:52):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (47:52):
And then Saturdays from twelve to five. Can we live
right here? I think I would use up my wife's
patience if we were doing doing more than that. And
again in the middle of town, in the middle of Livermore.
Speaker 2 (48:02):
So you're open Thursday nights and Saturday's Saturday twelve to five.
And then ever by appointment.
Speaker 3 (48:07):
Oh absolutely, thank you. Yes, So we have appointments, whether
it's whether it's you know, a large enough group to
appropriately open and give them the full experience. We really
focus on on having guests be doing wine make or
wine tasting like it like like it should be so
(48:28):
very engaged. Ninety percent of the time. I'm in the
winery during that time, so as people have questions and
want to just geek out, we can do that wonderful.
Speaker 2 (48:38):
So head out to Livermore Vali. Just outside the city,
like literally in the city is Prooit Farms and you
can find them here. And Bob, thank you so much
for joining us today. And I'm going to raise a
glass and like cheerers. That was a good one.
Speaker 3 (48:59):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (48:59):
You're listening to a new episode of Wine Soundtrack USA.
For details and updates, visit our website windsoundtrack dot com.
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