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Cult-Cabernet Contenders
November, 2008
by Elin McCoy
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Three tech pioneers from New York are introducing wines that might become the newest sensations in Napa.
``Old-timers used to say this land was only fit for riding dirt bikes and shooting wild pigs,'' winemaker Andy Erickson says with a laugh, as we admire the panoramic view of the Napa Valley from brand-new Ovid Vineyards on a bright, hot July day. He claps on his trademark Panama hat and walks me around the property to admire Ovid's coddled cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc grapes that are growing on 16 acres on windswept Pritchard Hill.
Word of mouth about the project started spreading more than two years ago with the news that Erickson -- winemaker for Screaming Eagle, perhaps the most famous of the so-called cult cabernet producers to emerge in the 1990s -- was crafting the wines and star viticulturist David Abreu had planted the vineyard. Naturally, the first vintage, 2005, was in high demand long before its debut in September, though few had tasted it.
Along with Meteor Vineyard, another winery whose cabernet is on the fast track, Ovid is poised to become the producer of one of the Napa Valley's next cult wines -- even though Ovid's owners don't like that term. ``That makes it sound like a fad,'' Mark Nelson tells me later. ``We want to create the best wine we can from this spot, something that stands on its own no matter what the buzz.''
Nelson and Dana Johnson bought the prime cabernet property in 1998 after selling Ovid Technologies Inc., their New York-based medical software startup, and walking away with $100 million. Nelson, 50, and Johnson, 49, are fascinated by ancient Greece and Rome and like to think historically. The label for the first bottling bears a quote in both Latin and English from Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses that illustrates their wine philosophy: ``Partly we recovered the olde, familiar things, partly we created the wondrous and new.''
Nelson and Johnson made sure their wine had more than poetic associations going for it: They enlisted globe-trotting consultant Michel Rolland and veteran manager Janet Pagano to round out their team. The couple poured in money; built a small, elegant, barn- style winery where every detail is perfect; and priced the first release of the Bordeaux-style blend at $175 ``to let people know we're serious,'' Erickson, 40, says. With fewer than 400 cases to go around, more wine lovers will want it than will be able to have it.
Farther south in the valley, in Coombsville, another technology pioneer turned vintner also debuted his first cabernet this year. Former America Online Inc. Chief Executive Officer Barry M. Schuler and his wife, Tracy, had also lived in New York and bought the land that's become Meteor Vineyard in 1998. The winery released 700 cases of its 2005 cabernet in the spring at $225 a bottle, along with 90 cases of Special Family Reserve at $325.
``I've been in love with the Napa Valley since college,'' Schuler, 55, said when I stopped by to taste Meteor's wines at the end of February. ``I hunted for three years for a great place to live and grow grapes, mostly just to sell,'' said Schuler, who was wearing a black leather jacket, black jeans and a diamond stud earring. ``I thought maybe we'd make a little wine for ourselves, eventually.''
Making wine requires more cash and time than growing grapes, so the Schulers sold their prized fruit to star winemakers such as Dawnine Dyer, Philippe Melka and Erickson. But after Dyer created a private 50th-birthday cuvée for Barry Schuler, the quality of the wine and the lure of releasing a sought-after bottling captured their imagination. Now, Dyer makes Meteor's wine in a partnership with her husband, Bill, and the couple.
Neither the Ovid nor the Meteor has the over-the-top, ultraripe style of many cult cabs; though I wish they were slightly lower in alcohol, both wines show elegance, complexity, savor and balance. And neither property's owners want to be thought of as aiming for cult status.
Nonetheless, they're following the path of the Napa Valley cult cabs that emerged in the early '90s, whose limited supply increased their market value. Current release prices of those wines are astronomical. The Screaming Eagle goes for $750 a bottle, the Harlan Estate for $500 and the Colgin Cellars for $300, to name just three. And older vintages have proved to be good investments. Shanghai-based Internet entrepreneur David Li paid $500,000 for six magnums of the 1992 Screaming Eagle at the Napa Valley Wine Auction in June.
Ever since those cult classics leapt to instant stardom, dozens of wannabes have followed. Not all deserve their hype. ``I look for blue-chip names for clues,'' says Doug Wilder, buyer of California wines at Vinfolio Inc., a firm that advises on and sells wine. ``Top winemakers like Erickson don't jump into projects that are iffy. They have their reputations to protect.'' Wilder says it takes at least a year to anoint a new wine as a ``certified'' cult bottling.
Every new serious Napa cab tickles the antennas of collectors, especially when it's in scarce supply. Don't despair if you can't immediately get on Meteor and Ovid's mailing lists; some customers will no doubt flip their purchases for profit. Also, Napa specialists like Acme Fine Wines and Vinfolio will offer a handful of bottles, and both wineries intend to sell to top U.S. restaurants.
Admittedly, the prices are steep. Are the wines worth it? With 2005 Bordeaux first growths such as Lafite Rothschild and Latour selling for $1,400 a bottle and up, taking a $200 chance on the first vintage of these new wines may be a risky investment, but the pleasure they offer in the glass is a sure thing.
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