These last few months have been difficult. A friend of mine was killed in a car accident in Wine Country in December. Mark Heinemann was a great guy with a helping heart. He worked for Demptos Cooperage and knew more about wine barrels than I could understand. And he knew the Wine Country wine people and seemed to love them all. But, another legend who just left this Earth on March 14 at 86 years of age in search of better vineyards, is James Barrett.

In 1976, I was working for TWA as a marketing executive and was starting to get into wine. On that particular night I was getting ready to travel home and had the unread NY Times under my arm, I settled into my seat on the train and caught the headline: Paris Tasting Trial Won By 2 Napa Winemakers. The Chardonnay selected as the best of all in France was from Chateau Montelena. The winemaker was James Barrett. Mr. Barrett accomplished this after purchasing an old Calistoga winery in 1973 and restoring the winery. Then producing a winning wine in 3 years. Amazing.

That was exciting to me because after spending a lot of time in Paris with TWA, I felt that the French knew that they were smarter, more sophisticated and refined than any American, and much of their prestige was based on the culture of wine and culture. artistic mind. you these are / were symbiotic with the French.

Reading about a California red and white wine that reached the pinnacle of critical acclaim touched my heart immensely. I enjoyed sending an intercompany telex to our offices in Paris asking: could there be an error in a blind tasting conducted in Paris by all the French judges? God forbid the French had lost their touch, not to mention their self-esteem.

This tasting was and still is unique because it made an impact that was heard around the world. The French judges wanted their ballots back and destroyed, the tasting took place at the InterContinental Hotel (which was owned by Pan American Airlines) and the party sponsor was a Paris wine merchant who was actually English.

Another interesting aside from this story is that Mr. Barrett was the owner of a Napa winery that obtained his grapes from a Sonoma vineyard. Mike Grgich was his winemaker and Mike turns 90 on April 1, 2013. Mike owns Grgich Hills Estates today.

Mr. Barrett did the impossible with a white wine. Prayers to his family and the company that turned into a really fine winery that made us all proud.