Beckstoffer, and the problematic transformation of California wine.

[Craig_G]

I did a spit take when I read that Chuck Wagner accused Beckstoffer of doing things for personal financial gain.

Has he met his own son??

Chuck is the son who turned Caymus into a monstrosity, I believe. His son Charlie is now responsible for some sub-monstrosities.

[Philip_G]

As a fellow Millennium, I think Napa is extremely unpopular amongst my cohort because a) the perception of the people who consume it, fairly or no, of being boring steakhouse-goer, expense account types who don’t know any better and are more interested in the label than what’s in the bottle b) the extremely uninteresting “stories” behind most of the producers; Man Who Gets Rich in Other Career Buys Winery or Vineyard and Sells Wine For Lots of Money ain’t exactly riveting and c) the baseline price of admission. It’s mostly the latter, I think, that keeps us from having any kind of connection with the area and the perception that because of land prices and the culture of the Valley, there’s simply no room for scrappy upstarts to go against the grain and make singular, sincere wines that speak of place and have their own voice. From the outside, it mostly seems to be personalities out to capitalize on what they’re producing for either profit or prestige, even if Burgundy vignerons aren’t exactly giving it away for free.

As an aside, I thought this piece was JUST enough of the ol’ journalism adage of “just let them talk and bury themselves” without tipping the writer’s hand one way or the other - a difficult tightrope to walk.

Good points, Sydney.

[Mel_Knox]

Does anybody know anything about the author?

When I first read the article I assumed Eric Asimov had written it and puzzled over the little mistakes.

For example, by the 80s Zinfandel was already a minor player in Napa. Andy doesn’t have a stranglehold on Napa Cab but if you are a newcomer to winery ownership, he might be your go-to guy. He has the famous vineyards.

[RichardFlack]

Interesting. I’ve always thought of wine as synthesis of the skills of the farmer and the winemaker. (Sometimes same person). Now I realise there is the landlord. Third person in this condominium.

I suspect a worse problem than weddings is bridal parties. One winery in PEC has a solution, the car Park is at the end of a long unpaved path from the winery through some scrub that is not really passable in high heels.

[Dale_Williams]

Does anybody know anything about the author?

When I first read the article I assumed Eric Asimov had written it and puzzled over the little mistakes.

Or
The region has unquestionably the best terroir in the United States,

I don’t think unquestionable (Montebello/Santa Cruz being my fave, but lots of candidates). I have a fair amount of old Napa, but depending on defintion I don’t think unquestionable. Most famous for sure,

[Neale_Fisher]

Interesting article - I don’t think Andy Beckstoffer does a good job marketing himself here. Also, I think the article doesn’t tell the whole story, and likely couldn’t in a newspaper article format. It might take an entire book.

I am not privy to a lot of the behind-the-scenes info, but I have always appreciated the way that Andy Beckstoffer allowed a variety of promising winemakers to use his fruit to create their brands. Realm is perhaps the best example of a thriving winery with an interesting story (e.g. not just a rich guy) that would not be what it is unless Andy Beckstoffer had taken a chance on them. Myriad, Carter and Memento Mori are other examples.

This article paints Andy Beckstoffer as a greedy monopolist when I believe that he enables relatively small (but talented) guys to become successful. He has ensured that the winemaking from these fabulous vineyards stays out of large, corporate (and boring) hands.

I am excited by folks who have found other vineyards (Di Constanzo Farella and Montecillo being prime examples) where they can craft similarly fabulous wines at lower price points.

[Cris_Whetstone]

This article paints Andy Beckstoffer as a greedy monopolist when I believe that he enables relatively small (but talented) guys to become successful. He has ensured that the winemaking from these fabulous vineyards stays out of large, corporate (and boring) hands.

Is that true? Does he actually tell corporate brands to go away?

I would guess most corporate types of wineries have no interest in paying that sort of price for grapes. Most often they would probably be avoiding top end luxury vineyards or would seek to own them for themselves to cut costs.

[Scott_Brunson]

Does anybody know anything about the author?

When I first read the article I assumed Eric Asimov had written it and puzzled over the little mistakes.

Or
The region has unquestionably the best terroir in the United States,

I don’t think unquestionable

Tell that to the billionaires

[mmarcellus]

“The generation born between 1981 and 1996 has been blamed for killing everything from napkins to homeownership, and thanks to its passion for hard seltzer, liquid marijuana and other drinkable novelties, it’s been cast as the murder hornet of the wine industry as well”

When reading this, I couldn’t help thinking that this almost exactly coincides with the period of time when a different set of murder hornets completely destroyed most of Napa (and much of the rest of California) for me. The swarm has been slowly subsiding elsewhere in California, maybe there’s hope for Napa yet.

[Steve_Crawford]

This article paints Andy Beckstoffer as a greedy monopolist when I believe that he enables relatively small (but talented) guys to become successful. He has ensured that the winemaking from these fabulous vineyards stays out of large, corporate (and boring) hands.

Is that true? Does he actually tell corporate brands to go away?

I would guess most corporate types of wineries have no interest in paying that sort of price for grapes. Most often they would probably be avoiding top end luxury vineyards or would seek to own them for themselves to cut costs.

many beckstoffer clients are at least partially corporately owned:
B cellars, realm, schrader.

[OwenB]

This article paints Andy Beckstoffer as a greedy monopolist when I believe that he enables relatively small (but talented) guys to become successful. He has ensured that the winemaking from these fabulous vineyards stays out of large, corporate (and boring) hands.

Is that true? Does he actually tell corporate brands to go away?

I would guess most corporate types of wineries have no interest in paying that sort of price for grapes. Most often they would probably be avoiding top end luxury vineyards or would seek to own them for themselves to cut costs.

many beckstoffer clients are at least partially corporately owned:
B cellars, realm, schrader.

Which corporation owns Realm?

[R_Frankel]

Interesting article, and yes it doesn’t exactly paint Beckstoffer in the most flattering light. However, I think most non Berserkers will read this as fairly positive. It’s a classic American story of entrepreneurial success - a guy who through smarts, brand-building, and decades of work built a really valuable business and assets, and is a leader in his community. Sure he stepped on toes along the way and has idiosyncrasies but he’s for sure a wild success.

The negative spin is mostly about how the luxury brand has blown up into something so expensive it’s beyond the reach of most people. And the unsurprising vitriol here basically boils down to two things: Not liking the style of wine made from his grapes, and fury at not being able to afford it. Fun contradiction.

[Jim_Brennan]

And then on the other side you’ve got Caymus who would destroy Napa by making it into the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg of wine. Certainly the shit Caymus sells now would fit right in next to Cotton Candy flavored wine.

[Brian_Tuite]

This is rich. A bunch of 1%ers on a wine board ripping a 1% grape grower.

[K_Tran1]

I believe Beckstoffer plays a big role in the pricing of Napa wine. If he keeps the Beckstoffer To Kalon, Dr. Crane, GIII or whatever at $5k/ton, no one is going to price their grapes more than that. He increased the ceiling year after year, and thus, allowing everyone else to come up.
In the free market, of course, he’s free to do whatever he wants.

[Philip_G]

This is rich. A bunch of 1%ers on a wine board ripping a 1% grape grower.

“The thermometer of success is merely the jealousy of the malcontents.”
― Salvador Dali

[Mel_Knox]

As I see it, wherever you have different groups growing the grapes and making the wine there is going to be a struggle. We can look at the Champagne wars of the early 20th century. Wineries wanted to bring in cheap grapes and wine from the South of France. Growers did not want that. This led to the creation of AOC laws. Now we have jokes about the differences between rich Parisians and peasants in Champagne.

Here we have a struggle between growers, who want to protect the value of their land, and wineries like Caymus, that want the freedom to do as they see fit. As I see it, if you let the wineries do what they want they d have to replace the Silverado Trail with a freeway

Schrader was bought by Constellation. As I understand it, the part of Beckstoffer’s To Kalon that Schrader used was being replanted, so I suppose Mondavi’s ToKalon can be used.

The biggest landowners in the Napa would include:
Treasury…BV, Sterling, Beringer, Stags Leap Vineyard, Etude, Acacia, Provenance…the vineyards are mostly leased
Constellation: Mondavi, the Prisoner, Franciscan,
Silverado …TIAA…New York company that owns around 2500 acres
Laird Family
Beckstoffer
Gallo…bought Stagecoach
Jackson Family
Antinori…big property on Atlas Peak
Napa WineCo/Andy Hoxsey…the other Andy
St Supery…big holdings in Pope Valley

[A_G_Aguirre]

Interesting article, and yes it doesn’t exactly paint Beckstoffer in the most flattering light. However, I think most non Berserkers will read this as fairly positive. It’s a classic American story of entrepreneurial success - a guy who through smarts, brand-building, and decades of work built a really valuable business and assets, and is a leader in his community. Sure he stepped on toes along the way and has idiosyncrasies but he’s for sure a wild success.

The negative spin is mostly about how the luxury brand has blown up into something so expensive it’s beyond the reach of most people. And the unsurprising vitriol here basically boils down to two things: Not liking the style of wine made from his grapes, and fury at not being able to afford it. Fun contradiction.

Multiple non-berserkers have sent me this piece and the reaction has been uniform: not positive. The fact is people care a lot more now about how the things they consume are made and who makes them (food, wine, general goods), especially younger generations. The “vitriol” has little to do with $ or style. In my view it’s about the lack of authenticity and a lack of care for the land. I’ll pay $500 (and have) to taste exceptional wine that is made thoughtfully to reflect its place and time. And at that price, that should also mean the product is respectful to the land, workers and the community at large. Good on him for protecting the land in a legal sense, but that’s only one aspect of true preservation.

[T.Phillips]

@"R. Frankel" post_id=2983451 time=<a href="tel:1589124257">1589124257</a> user_id=17712

Interesting article, and yes it doesn’t exactly paint Beckstoffer in the most flattering light. However, I think most non Berserkers will read this as fairly positive. It’s a classic American story of entrepreneurial success - a guy who through smarts, brand-building, and decades of work built a really valuable business and assets, and is a leader in his community. Sure he stepped on toes along the way and has idiosyncrasies but he’s for sure a wild success.

The negative spin is mostly about how the luxury brand has blown up into something so expensive it’s beyond the reach of most people. And the unsurprising vitriol here basically boils down to two things: Not liking the style of wine made from his grapes, and fury at not being able to afford it. Fun contradiction.

Multiple non-berserkers have sent me this piece and the reaction has been uniform: not positive. The fact is people care a lot more now about how the things they consume are made and who makes them (food, wine, general goods), especially younger generations. The “vitriol” has little to do with $ or style. In my view it’s about the lack of authenticity and a lack of care for the land. I’ll pay $500 (and have) to taste exceptional wine that is made thoughtfully to reflect its place and time. And at that price, that should also mean the product is respectful to the land, workers and the community at large. Good on him for protecting the land in a legal sense, but that’s only one aspect of true preservation.

Agreed. We are millenials and purchase Beckstoffer bottlings. If anything this makes me want to not purchase them.

[Steve_Crawford]

Is that true? Does he actually tell corporate brands to go away?

I would guess most corporate types of wineries have no interest in paying that sort of price for grapes. Most often they would probably be avoiding top end luxury vineyards or would seek to own them for themselves to cut costs.

many beckstoffer clients are at least partially corporately owned:
B cellars, realm, schrader.

Which corporation owns Realm?

partial ownership, prospect hill growth partners. this has been discussed more than a few times on WB before.
overall ‘corporate ownership’ is a pretty vague word and probably using it is inaccurate. as most smaller wineries have ‘investors.’