The Henry Wine Group - Sept - Dec 2017

The Henry Wine Group

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A Visit to...

BY PETER NEPTUNE, MS, AIWS, CWE, FWS Senior Vice President, Corporate Training & Wine Education for The Henry Wine Group

The Henry Wine Group began representing Frog’s Leap Winey on July 1st of this year. This news brought me a great deal of joy, as I have secretly coveted (I know, a deadly sin) this particular brand for some time. I liked the wines (a lot), I knew they were organically farmed (important to me) and I just thought that the label was super cool and that there had to be something behind it (boy is that true). So, I looked at my schedule and cleared a couple of days and made my way to the Rutherford AVA of Napa Valley at the end of July. I drove down the Silverado Trail to Conn Creek Road, hung a right, and looked for the big Red Barn. There it was, and I was at the winery. This iconic old barn was renovated and then purchased by Frog’s Leap in 1995.

I was met at the winery by Kristy Byrd, the California Sales Manager, and Michelle Williams, the Sales Manager. We relaxed on the deck of the tasting room, a beautiful spot overlooking the orchards and gardens of the property, with vines stretching out in the distance. All organically farmed, of course. We quaffed the current releases (tasting notes later) and marveled at our good fortune, to be alive and here and able to take in such a lovely place on such a lovely day. We walked the property and poked our head into the Red Barn, which has been lovingly restored to its proper iconic majesty. I knew that the property was organically farmed (CCOF in 1989), but I did not know that all of the vineyards that produce Frog’s Leap wines are Dry Farmed as well. Dry Farmed? In the Napa Valley? John gets his degree in Oenology at UC Davis in 1977. He returns to New York for a few years, then back to Napa, and finally, he and Larry release their first vintage of Frog’s Leap Sauvignon Blanc in 1982. John begins fashioning Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Zinfandel. By 1988 John had become convinced that organic farming will produce healthier vines, better grapes, and therefore finer wines. He enlists the aid of Bob Cantisano, who teaches John the protocols of organic and helps him convert his vineyard. Others in Napa Valley such as Andy Hoxey (Ghost Block) and Lee Hudson join in on the movement. A year later, after hiring Frank Leeds to oversee farming operations, the fruit from Frank’s family vineyards in Rutherford become a valuable fruit source, and dry farming is introduced and followed in earnest. This dry farming thing really intrigued me. The next day I joined John and his son Rory (no slouch in the viticulture/winemaking arena either) for a tour of the historic Rossi Vineyard (acquired in 2007) in the famed Rutherford Bench. As we walked the vineyards we looked at the basis of dry farming – establishing healthy St. George vines to graft upon.

At this point I should introduce the cast of the story. Enter a young John Williams, fresh to the Napa Valley from upstate New York. He meets one Larry Turley. Larry helps John get a job working for Warren Winiarski at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. John has a hand in bottling the ’73 Cabernet which wins the 1976 Paris tasting. One night, after being overserved, John and Larry agree to create a winery together, using Larry’s property, and old frog farm, as its base, and decide on the name Frog’s Leap.

September–December 2017

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