Warren Winiarski | |
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| Born | 1928 (age 95–96) |
| Occupation(s) | Winemaker and Grape Grower |
| Known for | Award Winning Winemaker and Preservationist |
| Website | WarrenWiniarski.com |
Warren Winiarski (born 1928) is a Napa Valley winemaker and the founder and former proprietor of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars.
Winiarski owns and operates Arcadia Vineyards in the Coombsville AVA of Napa Valley, which produces Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. In 1976, Winiarski won the Judgment of Paris blind tasting for his 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. [1] He oversees the Winiarski Family Foundation, which supports educational and charitable causes, in addition to teaching courses at the St. John's College Summer Classics program in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2017, Winiarski was inducted into the 11th class of the California Hall of Fame by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. for his global efforts to showcase and preserve the quality and history of California wine. The Smithsonian Institution, through its National Museum of American History, awarded Winiarski the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal on November 21, 2019. [2] [3]
Warren Winiarski was born to Stephen and Lottie Winiarski in 1928 in a large Polish section of Chicago, Illinois. His parents owned a livery business in Chicago and his father made honey wine, fruit-flavored, and dandelion wine at home which the family drank on special occasions. [4]
He studied the western classics curriculum at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, graduating in 1952; [4] Winiarski then began his graduate work at the University of Chicago in political theory with Leo Strauss. [5] While at St. John's College, Winiarski met his wife, Barbara and they were married in 1958. [6]
During his studies at the University of Chicago, Winiarski spent a year in Italy (1954–55) studying the political thinker Niccolò Machiavelli. [4] It was during that year he became convinced that he wanted to become a winemaker. [7] He also lectured in the Basic Program of Liberal Education at the University of Chicago while working on his Ph.D. After contributing the chapter on Machiavelli in the Rand McNally textbook, History of Political Philosophy (1963), [5] he shortened his academic studies to an MA degree from the John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought.
In 1964, Warren and Barbara Winiarski moved to Napa Valley, California, [4] where Winiarski accepted a job as an apprentice winemaker working with Lee Stewart at Souverain Cellars, [8] before moving on to be the first winemaker at Robert Mondavi Winery in 1966, while Michael Mondavi was away at National Guard Service. [9] In 1968, Winiarski left Robert Mondavi Winery to make wine in Colorado at Ivancie Cellars. [10] He selected California grapes that were to be shipped to Denver, where they were made into wine. Though Winiarski still lived in California, this project would kick start the Colorado wine industry. [11]
In 1970, Winiarski and several investors bought a 44-acre prune orchard in the Napa Valley and replanted it to a vineyard. [4] He removed the prune, cherry, and walnuts trees on the property and planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. In 1973 Winiarski built a winery near the vineyard and founded Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, and the next year, 1974, he introduced a reserve line, Cask 23. [4] In 1976, Winiarski won the Judgement of Paris blind tasting for his 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. The achievement brought worldwide recognition to California, Napa Valley, and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. [12]
In 1989, Warren chaired the Napa Valley Vintners committee that spearheaded and obtained passage of the California state law, State Senate Bill No. 771 (the Conjunctive Labeling Law), which required any wine bottled after January 1, 1990, and labeled with an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located entirely within Napa Valley must also include Napa Valley on the label "in conjunction with the other AVA designation of the wine." [13] This law helped build brand equity for the individual AVAs as well as the Napa Valley, ensuring the region always had two winners and no losers. The law strengthened Napa Valley's position as a recognized world-class wine region. [14]
In 2003, thirty winemaking alumni and the current winemaking team paid homage to Winiarski through the Hands of Time installation at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. Each placed their hands into limestone aggregate to create a plaque. These plaques were mounted as a monument at the winery to remind those in the future of the opportunity to learn and go on. Those in attendance that day included John Kongsgaard, Bob Sessions, John Williams, Dick Ward, Rolando Herrera, Françoise Peschon, Paul Hobbs and Michael Silacci. Many of these winemakers had spent their formative years at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars with Winiarski. [15]
In 1996, Winiarski and his wife, Barbara, initiated The Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History's American Food & Wine History Project. The project uses food and wine history as a lens for understanding American history by tracing the long and diverse history of wine in the United States. [16]
Winiarski created and taught a seminar at the Red, White and American symposium at the Smithsonian Institution on the 20th Anniversary of the Judgment of Paris. The symposium, much like the Paris tasting 20 years earlier, was a milestone in the history of American wine because it marked the Federal Government's recognition of wine as part of American culture. [16]
In 2012, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon was received into the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. permanent museum collection. [17] The bottle is included in the "American Food & Wine History Project".
The bottle was included in the book, "The Smithsonian's History of America in 101 Objects", by Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian Institution's Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture. Other items chosen for the book from the 137 million artifacts of the museum include Neil Armstrong's space suit, Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, and Lewis & Clark's compass. [18]
On August 1, 2007, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars reached an agreement to be acquired for $185 million by UST Inc. and Marchese Piero Antinori. [19] [20]
Winarski has continued his contributions to the Colorado wine industry. In honor of his influence and mentorship to the state's viticultural heritage, he was invited to participate as a Judge at the Colorado Governor's Cup Wine Competition from 2014 to 2018. [21] In 2018, he was honored with the "Friends of the Colorado Wine Industry" award by the Colorado Association of Viticulture and Enology. [22]
Winiarski currently owns and operates Arcadia Vineyards, in the Coombsville AVA of Napa Valley which produces Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. [20]
The Winiarski Family Foundation has made donations to many conservation and preservation efforts, including those of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, wine and food history research, collecting of wine and food objects, the Smithsonian's Winemaker Dinners, [16] Land Trust of Napa County, [23] the Napa County Open Space District, [24] the Jack L. Davies Napa Valley Agricultural Preservation Fund, [23] If Given A Chance [25] and The Pathway Home, [26] among other organizations
In 2018, the Winiarski Family Foundation made a $50 million matching grant to St. John's College in Annapolis and Santa Fe to help bridge the gap between what it costs the college to educate a student and what the student pays in tuition. The grant allowed the two Colleges to lower tuition costs by $17,000. [27] [6]
In June 2018, Winiarski donated $3.3 million to build the world's most comprehensive collection of wine writers work within the library at the University of California, Davis. [28]
In October 2020, the Winiarski Family Foundation, awarded a $150,000 grant to Western Colorado Community College's Viticulture and Enology Program at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado. The grant established the “Warren Winiarski, Gerald Ivancie Institute of Viticulture and Enology” and provides funding for scholarships, programs and research projects to assist Colorado's winemakers and grape growers as well as offer opportunities for a new generation in the Colorado wine industry. [29]
Winiarski is among the original promoters of the Napa Ag Preserve passed in 1968, [30] Measure J in 1990 and its extension Measure P in 2008, Measure I in 2006, Measure Z 2017 and Measure C in 2018. [30] Since 1990, Winiarski has donated nearly 200 acres to the Land Trust of Napa County, including the Paris Tasting vineyard and his current property, Arcadia Vineyards, in Coombsville AVA. [23]
The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, was a wine competition organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant and his colleague, Patricia Gallagher, in which French judges carried out two blind tasting comparisons: one of top-quality Chardonnays and another of red wines. A Napa wine rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world's best wines. Spurrier sold only French wine and believed that the California wines would not win.
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is a winery founded by Warren Winiarski in 1970 and based in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, California.
André Viktorovich Tchelistcheff was America's most influential post-Prohibition winemaker. Tchelistcheff is most notable for his contributions toward defining the style of California's best wines, especially Cabernet Sauvignon. Called the "dean of American winemakers", industry pioneers, such as Rev. John Staten of Field Stone Winery, Robert Mondavi, Louis Martini, Rob Davis of Jordan Vineyard & Winery, Joel Aiken, Michael Silacci of Opus One, Greg La Follette, of Ancient Oak, and Rick Sayre of Rodney Strong Wine Estates, considered him their mentor. Andre advised Warren Winiarski in launching Stag's Leap Wine Cellars which famously made the 1973 SLV Cabernet Sauvignon that was awarded the most points in the ”Judgement of Paris” wine tasting in 1976. Andre also assisted Ste. Michelle Wine Estates in launching the Anthology program at Conn Creek Winery in 1991.
Heitz Cellar is a California wine producer located within Napa Valley east of the town of St. Helena. An early modern era Napa Valley presence and pioneering exponent of French oak, the estate enjoys a historical renown with the success of its Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, and has also been described as a "master of Grignolino".
Clos du Val, French for “small vineyard estate of a small valley,” was founded in 1972 in the renowned Stags Leap District.
Jess Stonestreet Jackson Jr. was an American billionaire wine entrepreneur, lawyer, racehorse owner, and businessman. He started the Kendall-Jackson wine business with his first wife, Jane Kendall (Wadlow) Jackson. The family's 1974 purchase of an 80-acre (32 ha) pear and walnut orchard in Lakeport, California was converted to a vineyard. As of 2010, Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay was one of the most popular wines on the market.
Paul Draper is a California winemaker who has been the chief winemaker at Ridge Vineyards in California since 1969. Without any formal training in winemaking, Draper first gained recognition for his 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon when it placed fifth at the Judgment of Paris wine tasting. Draper has played a significant role in the history of California wine through his pioneering work in popularizing "vineyard-designated" wines as well as instigating the resurgence of old vine Zinfandel. Along with Ravenswood Winery's Joel Peterson, Draper is considered one of the most important figures in the history of Californian Zinfandel, rescuing the grape from obscurity and demonstrating its full potential as a serious wine. Draper was featured in a short film titled Terroir and directed by Christopher McGilvray which was shown at the 2017 Cinequest Film Festival.
The Stags Leap District AVA is an American Viticultural Area located within the Napa Valley AVA 6 miles (9.7 km) north of the city of Napa, California. The Stags Leap District was the first appellation to be designated an AVA based on the unique terroir characteristics of its soil. The soil of this region include loam and clay sediments from the Napa River and volcanic soil deposits left over from erosion of the Vaca Mountains. Like many Napa Valley AVAs, Stags Leap District is particularly known for its Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1976 at the Judgment of Paris wine tasting, the 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet from the area that would become this AVA won first place in the red wine category, beating out classified Bordeaux estates. Today, the Stags Leap District is home to twenty different wineries.
Colorado wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Colorado. Most of Colorado's vineyards are located on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, though an increasing number of wineries are located along the Front Range.
Dawnine Sample Dyer is an American winemaker and entrepreneur who pioneered the use of champagne-making methods in California's fledgling sparkling wine industry in the 1970s.
California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted Vitis vinifera vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. In the 1770s, Spanish missionaries continued the practice under the direction of the Father Junípero Serra who planted California's first vineyard at Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Quilceda Creek Winery is a boutique winery in Snohomish, Washington specializing in premium Cabernet Sauvignon wine. The winery is named for a nearby creek in Snohomish County. Although the winery facility is located west of the Cascade Range, the winery sources all of its grapes from its four estate vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA and Red Mountain AVA. Quilceda Creek Winery has earned some of the highest reviews and awards of any winery in the United States and was the first American wine from outside of California to earn a perfect 100-point score from wine critic Robert Parker's publication The Wine Advocate. Since its founding in 1978, Quilceda Creek has received an additional seven 100-point scores from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, one 100-point score from Decanter (Magazine) and two 100-point scores from acclaimed wine blog OwenBargreen.com. In addition to critics' praise, one of the highest honors for Quilceda Creek happened when President Barack Obama chose to serve their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley at a White House dinner to President Hu Jintao of China in 2011.
Bottle Shock is a 2008 American comedy-drama film based on the 1976 wine competition termed the "Judgment of Paris", when California wine defeated French wine in a blind taste test. It stars Alan Rickman, Chris Pine, and Bill Pullman and is directed by Randall Miller, who wrote the screenplay along with Jody Savin and Ross Schwartz. It premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.
Hagafen Cellars is a winery located in the Napa Valley. Founded in 1979, it was the first kosher winery in California, and is "the first of the upscale kosher brands." The winery is owned and operated by winemaker Ernie Weir and his wife, Irit Weir.
Silver Oak Cellars is a family-owned, California winery dedicated to producing only Cabernet Sauvignon. Silver Oak was established in 1972 by Ray Duncan and Justin Meyer. It is currently operated by Ray's sons David Duncan, who serves as the President and CEO, and his brother, Tim Duncan, who serves as Executive Vice President. Silver Oak has two wineries; one in Oakville in the Napa Valley and one in Healdsburg in the Alexander Valley. The Duncan Family also established Twomey Cellars in 1999, which has wineries in Calistoga and Healdsburg.
Justin Meyer was an American vintner, enologist, and monk of the Christian Brothers. He was the founder along with Raymond Twomey Duncan of Silver Oak Cellars in 1972, a successful winery based in the Napa Valley and Alexander Valley. Today Duncan's sons David Duncan and Tim Duncan run Silver Oak Cellars, as well as Twomey Cellars, established in 1999. Meyer sold his share of the company to Duncan in 2001. One of California's top wine experts, he was president of the American Vineyard Foundation in the 1990s and also held numerous other positions in the wine industry. The San Francisco Chronicle cites Meyer as "one of the legends of the Napa Valley".
David Duncan is an American vintner and entrepreneur. The President and Chief Executive Officer of Duncan Oil, he is also the President and Chief Executive Officer of Silver Oak Cellars and Managing Partner of Twomey Cellars, successful wineries in northern California, operating in the Napa, Alexander and Russian River Valleys. He is the son of late Raymond Twomey Duncan, an oil and wine entrepreneur who co-founded Silver Oak in 1972 with Justin Meyer. Silver Oak is a family-run and owned business, and his brother Tim Duncan is Executive Vice President of the company. ColoradoBiz says that David Duncan is "as much a hands-on winery president as he can be", as president of a winery that has "reached cult status" for its Cabernet Sauvignon production.
Baldacci Family Vineyards is a California winery located in the Stags Leap District AVA of Napa Valley. Founded in 1998, Thomas and Brenda Baldacci were entranced by the beauty of the Napa Valley and the timeless heritage of the Stags Leap District. The generations before had left a deep and abiding affinity for the land from which came not only their livelihood, but their legacy. For the Baldacci’s, family is everything. When they purchased the Stags Leap property, over 18 years ago, Thomas and Brenda knew that they had found a place for their clan to stay connected through the generations. As each new vintage unfolds, they look forward to sharing their wines and their story, with you.
Cakebread Cellars is a Napa Valley winery known for its Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc wines, which are internationally distributed. Founded in 1973 by Jack and Dolores Cakebread in Rutherford, California, the winery produces approximately 200,000 cases of wine per year.
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