The wine making industry lost a giant a few weeks ago. Robert A. Pecota passed away quietly at his Calistoga, CA home. Bob was an owner, winemaker and hands-on businessman. He was an agricultural leader who loved being in touch with the earth and using his superior knowledge to create unique vintages reflective of the terroir. Quiet and reserved, his focus was always on the wine, never on the glamour and glitz.
Having served as a commodities broker for two major coffee producers he segued to the wine business. He began by working in a variety of senior positions for some of California’s top producers. This prepared him to develop his Robert Pecota Winery in 1978. He continued as its visionary leader for 30 years, producing outstanding varietals, especially his Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Kara’s Vineyard – named for his daughter. He sold the winery in 2006 to Jess Jackson of Kendall-Jackson who used it as the base site for his high-end Atalon Cabernet.
I had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Bob many years ago when he would visit my wine store in Ohio. I found him to be extremely intelligent, a dedicated artist and very likable. I was somewhat surprised to find him to be modest and a bit shy. After spending a few hours in our first meeting I asked if we could take a picture together. He agreed… reluctantly. At first, I failed to understand his hesitance. Picture taking was intrinsic to his role. But then I sensed a genuine level of personal discomfort with all the fuss and flattering afforded successful winemakers. He was truly a humble, no-nonsense fella whose focus was always on the work. He was also a dedicated family man and a responsible citizen who gave back to his community.
A True Story
A favorite memory from my days as a wine shopkeeper involves his Cabernet. Back in 1999 when I was just starting out, I had a regular customer who behaved as if he were quite the Cabernet connoisseur. Let’s call him Ernie. Each week Ernie would visit the store seeking whatever new brand of everyday Cabernet had caught his fancy. Virtually every single one was readily available at the local supermarket, but he wanted to come and speak to me about it – boasting of its outstanding characteristics.
Ernie was the type of guy who read a menu from the right to the left. By this I mean that in the purchasing decision, price was the primary characteristic when judging the quality of a product. Only when a wine met Ernie’s budgetary measure would he consider aesthetic characteristics. If the bottle cost less than $10 and did not offend Ernie’s taste buds he proclaimed it superior to most others.
This is a pattern followed by many. My Dad was one. But few then engage in protracted discussions as to the superb quality of the product when compared to those that are highly rated by worldwide experts, as was Ernie’s habit.
Anyway, is was OK with me. Frankly, I found Ernie likeable and rather entertaining. As a fine wine shop we didn’t carry most of his favorites, but in an effort to provide helpful service I would order a bottle just for him. He would return at the end of the week to retrieve his prize.
This pas de deux continued like clockwork for many months.
At Christmas time a rather severe looking woman came into the store asking for advice on a gift for her wine savvy husband. She touted his powerful level of wine sophistication, stressing her desire to please him with a “really good” Cabernet. I inquired at to her budget and she replied $50, which was a pretty hefty price tag twenty years ago.
I suggested that it might be fun for her to challenge her wine enthusiast with a lesser known, hand-crafted vintage, made by a respected boutique winery. She agreed. I recommended Pecota’s Kara’s Vineyard Cabernet and she left with her gift.
Uh Oh.
A month or so passed before the woman returned. This time she was furious. He husband had tried the wine and proclaimed it to be absolute swill! It was inferior product – or the wine had gone sour prior to purchase.
I calmly repeated that the wine had found favor with most national critics. So, whereas it may have tainted, it began life as a quality vintage. I assured her that if the wine had spoiled, she could return the partial bottle to me for a full refund. We stood behind every purchase.
Annoyed but satisfied she departed.
A few days later Ernie came to visit holding the opened Pecota bottle. Oh no! If Ernie was the person described as the wizened wine connoisseur for which the bottle was intended, I now understood the problem.
Purchasing a wine whose characteristics are beyond the level of a consumer’s experience is always mistake. It takes time and experience to learn how to perceive and appreciate the complexity of great wine. For Ernie… years of enjoyment of everyday, commercial Cabs had failed to prepare him to the superb creations of Robert Pecota.
The question was – how to explain this to him without insulting him?
Three Weeks of Rapture
My first thought was to make sure that my assumption was correct. There was, of course, the real possibility that the wine had, in fact, soured. We discussed the possibility as I poured a few ounces into a glass.
My nose told me that the wine was sound. I tasted. Mmmmmm. It was magnificent! Rich, flavorful with abundant fruit and spice, finishing with soft tannin. No sir, this wine was not sour.
I asked Ernie, “How long that the wine been opened?” and he responded, “About three weeks.” Three weeks!!!! Almost any wine would diminish in three weeks. But this wine was still drinking superbly. There was nothing wrong with the wine. Ernie’s wife had simply placed too high an opinion on Ernie’s wine knowledge which lead to an inappropriate wine selection.
I gently explained to Ernie that the wine was very complex. Its characteristics were more sophisticated than many of those he had previously enjoyed. The range of flavors here included leather, tobacco and earthy herb and spices.
He was having none of it.
Ernie was not happy, refusing to even take the bottle with him when he left. He never returned, certain that I had treated him unfairly. But I really couldn’t enable his delusions of wine sophistication to the point of financial loss. So sad.
The experience taught me a lesson about dealing with people and their preconceptions regarding personal wine expertise. I learned to ask what wines the consumer had previously enjoyed to make an appropriate recommendation.
But it reinforced my respect for the outstanding vintages produced by Robert Pecota team.
A Dying Art
Unfortunately, independent, family wineries like Pecota are diminishing in California. They are being consumed by huge conglomerates like Diageo and Constellation Brands that restrict wine making decisions to matters of cost, standardization and uniformity.
Robert Pecota was a great American winemaker. He understood the earth and its influence on wine. He worked a lifetime to create wonderfully complex, elegant vintages.
A good man. A life well lived.
He will be missed.