Jim Allen/SequoiaGroveWnry

Many of you have, over the yrs, met JimAllen, founder/owner of SequoiaGroveWnry. I have, of course, followed Jim from (before) the very start.

I take, in all modesty, full credit for SequoiaGrove. Back in the late '60’s/early '70’s, Jim was a home builder in SantaFe. He was also an Economics professor at College of SantaFe. He had a plot on his land and started growing grapes and making wines. BacoNoir & the usual cold-hardy stuff (it was a North-facing slope). The wines were absolutely dreadful. Jim was one of the founders, in the early '70’s, of the NewMexico Wine&Vine Society.
Jim started coming up to my wine tastings in the mid-'70’s and got totally hooked on wine. By the late '70’s, he was so smitten by wine that he decided to chuck his day jon and buy a vnyd in Calif and make wine on a commercial scale. I made it clear to Jim it was the stupidist thing I’d ever heard of. He talked to DarrellCorti, who assured him it was the stupidist idea he’d ever heard.
Despite our nay-saying, Jim found a Cab vnyd for sale (on Hwy 29, right across from F.JustinMiller/MillerwayProcess and MondaviWnry, adjacent to JackCakebread). He took the plunge & founded SequoiaGrove, named after the huge grove of sequoias there on the property. He & his wife (then), Barbara, lived on the house on the property. Jim’s brother, Steve, lived in a little trailer out back of the house and did the vnyd management. He made his first wines at MikeRobbins SpringMtnVnyd, using AndreTschelitov as his consultant. The wines were quite good right out of the gate. He eventually converted the barn on the property into a wnry (now the tasting room) and, later, built the bigger wnry behind it.
I visited Jim one Spring shortly after he bought the property and had his first vintage under his belt. He was so proud of the vnyd that, as we walked it, he fired up the wind machine to show me how it was used for frost protection. In the next few hrs, he got several calls from neighbors about what he knew about the weather that they didn’t know!!

He drove SequoiaGrove to success based on its Cabernet program. It was named Wnry of the Year one year by WineEnthusiast magazine. He eventually sold the wnry to Kobrand, the present owners. Early on, Jim hired MikeTrujillo to take over the winemaking duties & taught Mike much of what he knew. Mike continues to be the consulting/executive winemaker at SG.
After breaking a leg a few yrs ago, that didn’t heal properly, he returned to SantaFe to live in his old house off CanyonRd to be near his daughter, Alicia. He also has a son who lives in Australia. He has been pretty immobile for the last yr. I have been going over to visit Jim most every weekend for the last yr and share my dinner wine w/ him. Sometimes he’d pull an old SG Cab from the '80’s out of his stash. They have universally been amazingly good. Sometimes we’d have lunch or some apps together.

For the last few weeks, I’ve not been able to raise Jim on the phone to arrange my weekly visit. I got a call from Alicia that Jim has been in the hospital & diagnosed w/ acute kidney failure. He’s now at home under Hospices care and sleeps much of the time as things wind down, but is still able to have visitors.
Fortunately, Jim ignored my advice & went on to great success in the wine biz. Just like my kids always ignored Dad’s advice. Sometimes…Dad’s don’t know it all…though they may think they do.
Jim has written a book on his experience in founding SequoiaGrove, with a lot of anecdotes about many folks in the NapaVlly wine biz. It exists merely as a typewritten manuscript in a loose-leaf binder (for those of you who remember what a typewriter was). It probably will never be published. I’m hoping Alicia will scan it in and put it out there on the InterNet in .pdf for folks to read. The parts that I’ve read are quite interesting.
Things continue at SequoiaGrove and, from my tastings, the wines are the best they’ve ever been. The winemaker is Molly Hill. Molly’s very smart & very competent…obviously, though, no relation to yours truly.
I’ll probably go visit Jim several times over the coming weeks. So sad…the end of an era and a great run for SequoiaGrove.
Tom

Great story Tom - I have visited and had some epiphany wines from SG many moons ago. My memory of winery has always been dark, rainy, cold probably because that was the weather that day.

Moral of the story? Follow your passion and take all advice with a grain of salt.

Your a good man for visiting your old friend in his last days.

Once worked with a colleague who pretty much only liked to

a) eat at Mortons
b) drink Sequoia Grove

Thanks for sharing the backstory.

One of the better cali cabs I ever had was a case of the 1993 SG cab. It went for a song even then and was always the crowd favorite at wine dinners.

Nawh, Tom…when you’re looking in my rear view mirror…we prefer to refer to them as “long time friends”.
Over the last year, I’ve learned quite a lot from visiting w/ Jim…lots of inside stories of who are the good guys
and who are the jerks in the NapaVlly. He’s got lots of stories to tell.
Tom

Jim’s daughter, Alicia, has started a CareingBridge Site to update us on Jim’s condition:
JimAllenCaringBridge

Will be going by to visit Jim this afternoon w/ another friend of his.
Tom

Thanks for the genuinely heart-touching story, Tom. I am sad to hear that your friend is in hospice care, but I hope that the people there help keep him comfortable.

I always appreciate your “rear-view mirror” reflections. I love the stories and the color they add to the cultural snapshots of the wine world.

Went by Thurs to visit Jim for almost an hr. Doesn’t look very good. Most of the time he was asleep/sedated. But there were about 5 of us there jabbering away & I suspect Jim was hearing much of what was going on around him…as is often the case in these circumstances. He finally woke up, had some water & milk, and could recognize who was around him. I pointed out, when he choked a bit on the milk, that it probably had too much tannin for him to handle…which brought a smile to his face.
Wednesday was his wife Renata’s BD & I understand he was able to get out a few words of “Happy BD” when they sung to her on the phone. She is currently living in Napa.
His brothers are supposed to be arriving this next week. He’s pretty frail and not sure he’s going to make it more than a few days longer. But you just never know. He’s surrounded by friends, so that’s the best thing for him. His Hospices caregiver is absolutely first rate…a gem of a guy.
The good news is that his book, from which I’ve read a few pages, has been completed editing and they’re hoping Univ of Calif Press will pick it up to publish.

Anyway, Jim’s life is winding down. I feel so fortunate to have known him as a friend. So sad. Will try to do a visit today & Sat, which will probably be it.
Tom

Jim passed in his sleep mid-morning, surrounded by family & friends. A sad end to an era.
I went by to visit Jim ystrday afternoon, but he was pretty much out of it. I visited awhile w/ his brother, Steve, who was the vnyd manager at SequoiaGrove.
As I took my leave, I patted Jim on the shoulder and told him I had to leave. He opened his eyes, seemed to recognize me (even w/o a glass of wine in my hand!!), smiled weakly, and reached out to grasp my hand. I held on for a bit until he faded out of consciousness once again. It was a moving goodbye for me from Jim. The sad end of an era.
Tom

Thanks for sharing your touching experience, Tom.

My deepest condolences to the family and loved ones.