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The
Man who put
California on the Wine Map This month The Arbor is featuring The Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine Supreme Knight Warren Winiarski, the distinguished Napa Valley winemaker who put California on the wine map when his 1973 Stag’s Leap Cellars triumphed over Bordeaux wines at the famed 1976 Judgement of Paris. But Winiarski is not just a winemaker. Now 93 years old, he has a nearly 60-year history as a wine pioneer, philanthropist and conservationist. His story is as much an inspiration as it is remarkable, and KOV is privileged to honor this man who holds a place in the California Hall of Fame for his global efforts to showcase and preserve the quality and history of California wine. Warren Winiarski was born in Chicago in 1928 and grew up in its close-knit Polish community. His interest in the humanities led him to attend St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, and then graduate school in political science at the University of Chicago. As a graduate student of political philosophy, he traveled to Italy between 1954 and 1955 to research Niccolò Machiavelli and other political thinkers. This is where he discovered wine. Winiarski returned to Chicago to complete his master’s degree and work toward a doctorate. He also became a lecturer in the Liberal Arts at the University but wine’s siren call continued to attract him. In 1964, he packed up his family and headed west. It was the beginning of the fine wine growing renaissance in Napa Valley and Winiarski wanted to be part of it. Winiarski started his wine journey as an apprentice at Souverain Cellars, and after two years, joined the Robert Mondavi Winery
as their first winemaker, while Michael Mondavi was fulfilling his duties in the National Guard. While in Napa, Winiarski developed an appreciation for French wines, and this led to a vision for what he hoped to achieve in Napa; to produce Bordeauxstyle wines with the classical structure and elegance of French first growths but exhibiting the regional character of California. In 1970, based on his experience and his growing recognition as a winemaker, he was able to find a group of investors to purchase a former 50-acre prune orchard. They planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, naming the property Stag’s Leap Vineyards (known today as S.L.V.). In 1972, the family and another group of partners bought 44 more nearby acres as a winery site and in 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars opened its doors, not knowing that a wine revolution was about to occur in California, and in Napa Valley in particular. The year was 1976, and Winiarski had just produced his second harvest (1973) at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars when wine merchant Steven Spurrier organized a blind tasting of top California Cabernets and Chardonnays to match against Bordeaux red wines and White Burgundies. To everyone’s surprise — especially the judges, who were among the best tasters in France — the winning wines, in both the red and white categories, were from Napa, California. Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon won first place among ten red wines. Today, a bottle of Winiarski’s 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon (along with a bottle of
By Nan McCreary continued >>>
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The Arbor
