The Next MACDONALD?

Chris_Seiber · September 27, 2018, 8:42pm

I think Burger King was the next McDonalds

Bill_Tex_Landreth · September 27, 2018, 8:57pm

FTW

blarmston · September 27, 2018, 9:13pm

Shake Shack is the next McD, but SS is actually decent food…

Robert_Dentice · September 27, 2018, 9:20pm

Well coming from the first person to write about MacDonald on any wine board and to organize their first winemaker dinner this is very easy - Ketan Mody.

The current release wines are from purchased fruit…just wait until the Diamond Mountain estate wines come online.

Anton_D · September 27, 2018, 9:47pm

I think W & M is a good call.

Bud_Carey · September 27, 2018, 10:15pm

Agreed.

Roy_Piper · September 27, 2018, 11:53pm

To be the next MacDonald, you will need fruit as good as MacDonald. That presents a problem.

David_Baum · September 28, 2018, 12:01am

I know one with potential. Met a gal in a tasting room whose family owns a vineyard several years ago. They all have regular jobs but make a little wine they sell direct to locals and a few others but very off the radar. The vast majority of their grapes are sold to their neighbor that makes one of the iconic cult type wines that has sold above $200 in Napa for years. If they ever put their grapes in the hands of a great winemaker who knows what they could produce. Next visit up Im gonna try to set up a tasting with them to check out their wines. Dont bother asking who it is for now:)

AlexS · September 28, 2018, 12:13am

This.

That said, I’ll add in another vote for W&M, first bottle of the 2014 I tried a couple months ago blew me away. One more to add in as well:

Ceritas

lucaslabelle · September 28, 2018, 12:36am

Mic drop

ToddFrench · September 28, 2018, 1:42am

Great point, and the whole reason the wine is what it is.

David_Baum · September 28, 2018, 2:06am

In the literal sense yes but in the figurative less so. The next Macdonald doesnt have to be a similar wine or be its equal. The next Macdonald could be another great small production wine from another great family with a long farming history in the valley that decided it was time to honour their ancestors as Alex and Graeme have done. Im sure there are lots of farmers in Napa growing great fruit and selling it off or leasing their land to name brand wineries. While I love MacD as much as anyone lets not be so myopic as to think there isnt another great story waiting to be written out there.

ykwon · September 28, 2018, 2:10am

Agreed. But I still want some Macdonald…

Bill_G · September 28, 2018, 2:23am

Well I caved again based on the recommendations and hype…just got a three pack of W&M.

Cheers!

B

mstockley · September 28, 2018, 2:39am

Which is why I asked the ignored question to the first response by Bill T L concerning W&M. “How old are the vines?”

Bill_Tex_Landreth · September 28, 2018, 3:02am

Segui will have to answer that. I just buy the stuff.

miguelluna · September 28, 2018, 1:12pm

Hi all,
Bill Tex mentioned that our new project La Pelle Wines came up in this thread, so I decided to come and say hi. La Pelle is a partnership between Maayan Koschitzky (Director of Winemaking for Atelier Melka) Pete Richmond (Founder of Silverado Farming Co.) and I. Pete and I are partners at Silverado Farming Co. we farm high end vineyards in Napa and Sonoma (Dana Estates, V29, Melka Estates, Accendo Cellars, Platt Vineyard…). La Pelle means The Shovel in French, and we chose it as our symbol because it is the only tool used both in the vineyard (planting vines) and the winery (digging grapes from tank after fermentation). We believe wine is made in the vineyard and winery equally. The main concept of the brand is we ONLY source fruit from vineyards we (SFC) farm and have complete control of everything that happens to our grapes. Owning a Vineyard Management Co. allows us to have an “Estate Model” without owning a vineyard (we are working people and don’t have the $$$$$ needed to buy land in Napa). Maayan and I do all the production, we select the best vineyards and make all the decisions from pruning to harvest to winemaking all the way to blending. Check out our website www.lapellewines.com and this article in the Robb Report for more info La Pelle is Napa’s Newest Wine Label to Watch – Robb Report

Robert_M_yers · September 28, 2018, 1:29pm

most of those mentioned aren’t really a project analogous to macdonald- winemaker owns the estate.

I think it’s even more complicated than that for MacDonald. I believe they don’t own it (at least yet) but they are buying grapes from their family. Isn’t that right?

If the intent of the OP is something like “what will be the next wine to have a resale value 2x-3x its list price, obviously it’s going to have to be an excellent wine with a way of catching interest, but you also have to understand the philosophy of the owners. MacDonald has gone from $150 for 2010s (according to the other thread) to $165 for 2015s, and I believe that restraint is largely because they understand the value of a stable and loyal relationship between the business and customer. When they talk about their longstanding relationship with Mondavi, it’s not just a story. I believe they really value that way of doing business. They could raise the price to $250 and likely sell out, but it would mean turning over a significant part of the customer base. I asked Alex about this last year and he said something similar to the above. Sure enough, the price did not change this year.

Yeah but Schrader also said similar things 5 or so years ago. I hope your right though and these guys can truly hold the line.

Anton_D · September 28, 2018, 3:16pm

Hi all,
Bill Tex mentioned that our new project La Pelle Wines came up in this thread, so I decided to come and say hi. La Pelle is a partnership between Maayan Koschitzky (Director of Winemaking for Atelier Melka) Pete Richmond (Founder of Silverado Farming Co.) and I. Pete and I are partners at Silverado Farming Co. we farm high end vineyards in Napa and Sonoma (Dana Estates, V29, Melka Estates, Accendo Cellars, Platt Vineyard…). La Pelle means The Shovel in French, and we chose it as our symbol because it is the only tool used both in the vineyard (planting vines) and the winery (digging grapes from tank after fermentation). We believe wine is made in the vineyard and winery equally. The main concept of the brand is we ONLY source fruit from vineyards we (SFC) farm and have complete control of everything that happens to our grapes. Owning a Vineyard Management Co. allows us to have an “Estate Model” without owning a vineyard (we are working people and don’t have the $$$$$ needed to buy land in Napa). Maayan and I do all the production, we select the best vineyards and make all the decisions from pruning to harvest to winemaking all the way to blending. Check out our website www.lapellewines.com and this article in the Robb Report for more info La Pelle is Napa’s Newest Wine Label to Watch – Robb Report

Hey! Welcome!

I give Bill Tex Landreth full credit for turning me on to your wine and joined specifically due to this very thread/website, so kudos to Todd, as well.

I am enthused, and also excited about the sauvignon blanc!

I’ve tried Wine Searcher and had no luck, will 2016 be your first reserve cab release?

I thought I would try to shop back in time and check out earlier releases, as well.

Hope you like it here.

NED_VALOIS · September 28, 2018, 3:31pm

Well I …just got a six pack of W&M. (TOO)