Sutter Home....

This title should pretty much stop everyone dead in their tracks from reading this very interesting article by KatherineCole (who she?) on the rise of the Trinchero family to power:
Trincheros
from their humble SutterHomeFamily origins. It’s actually a quite interesting read and I learned a lot I’d never known before.

SutterHome is, of course, the wnry that rode the WhiteZin horse to fame. Which now, of course, earns them the derision of anybody w/ a serious interested in wine. It shouldn’t be that way.
Should I mention I followed SH from the very start?? Sort of. When they started SH after prohibition, Bob & Mario Trinchero specialized in bulk wines sold out of the barn across from LouisMartiniWnry on Hwy 29. I never had any of those bulk wines. NapaVlly folks would show up at SH, gallon jugs in hand, and fill-er-up from the spigot there. In the early '60’s, SH started bottling their own wine.

In the late '60’s, BobTrinchero, always the pinch penny (Darrell recounts how Bob used to buy his ill-fiting suits at MongomeryWard’s aka as MonkeyWards, but now buys Brook’sBros suits), was complaining to DarrellCorti about the rising cost to buy NapaVlly grapes for his cheap wine. Darrell had, several yrs earlier, tried CharlieMeyer’s AmadorZin from KenDeaver’s OV vnyd and was impressed. He suggested Bob buy a ton of Zin from Ken, which he did. And, as they say, the rest is history. That '68 DeaverVnyd Zin was outstanding and set AmadorCnty on the path to the success it now enjoys. Those early ('68-'75) SH Amador Zins were amazingly good. And cheap.

In '71, Darrell suggested to Bob that he make a wine from the saignee juice, that he was dumping down the drain, and label it Oeil de Perdrix (Eye of the Partridge). It was totally dry, very spicy, and actually quite delicious. In '75, their OdP/White Zin fermentation stuck, but they bttld it off-dry. It sold out of the tasting room like hotcakes and the rest is history. They rode that sweet WhiteZin train out of the station and into millions of $$$'s. And that’s pretty much when I kissed off SutterHome for good.

Back in the middle '70’s, SH made what they called SH TripleCream Apertif. The base was very old CreamSherry from EastSideWnry/Lodi stocks, tarted all up w/ spices like OrrisRoot and OrangePeel. It was an outstanding dessert wine. When EastSideWnry closed, they lost that source of CreamSherry and their TripleCreamApertif plummeted in quality. Don’t know if they still make that or not.

In 1981, a psychiatrist couple founded a wnry just north of StHelena, Folie a Deux (Folly of Two). The wines were decent…just that. The label was a Rorsach ink plot of a couple dancing. In the late '80’s or early '90’s, the wnry was purchased by ScottHarvey and DickPeterson and run for a number of yrs. They invented a second label, Menage a Trois, with a wink & a nod. In 2006, Scott & Dick sold both labels to the Trincheros. This is now the location of the TrincheroFamilyWines tasting room. Don’t know what they use there of the wnry and the aging caves below.
In the late '60’s, I wrote an article for Vintage magazine on Zins of the DeaverVnyd. Did an interview w/ Ken Deaver (Sr) up there in Amador and walked the vnyd w/ him. The high point of the interview was when Ken took me down to his pig pen (at the bend in the road across from the ShenandoahSchool) and introduced me to his family of pigs. From all the squealing going on, you’d have thought they’d found their soulmate. (I got the same response when CaseyHartlip introduced me to his two pigs, James & Bob. I love pigs and not just for the bacon…love their cute little tails). They were fed his leftover grapes and his pigs were regarded as the best pork chops in all Amador…being used by JohnLasich/sausage maker in Plymouth and AliceWaters/Berkeley. On that same trip, I also did a visit w/ BobTrinchero there at SH. Liked the guy quite a lot…even in his MontgomeryWard’s garb. Very straightforward and down-to-earth. And, at the time, his Orleans process vinegar (made in a shed out back, not in the winery) was some of the best vinegar you could find.
Since then, the Trincheros have bought several other labels. Including the NeyersFamily label. As best as I can tell, the Neyers wines are just as good as they’ve ever been.

I’m thinking that, since I blew off SH so many yrs ago, I should revisit them. I’ll try some (but not the White Zin), including the TFV, the Folie a Deux, the Menage a Trois, and report back here. Takin’ one for the team it’s called.

Anyway, that’s my SutterHome story & I’m stickin’ to it.

Also anyway, the article is worth reading…even if you don’t like SutterHome, for whatever lame reason.
Tom

The collective disappointment would be profound if you didn’t! Fun read. SH White Zin was a gateway drug for many, including my wife and I in the late 70s.

RT

I loved their early 70’s zins.

'72 was my favorite. (We killed a 5 or 6 liter bottle in 2011 that was perfect. {I bought it in 1988 for 90 bucks.})

I still have a magnum of '73 waiting around in case I ever get to hang with Glenn.

Those early zins were peak peak wines.

Katherine is a Portland, OR, based wine writer with several books to her credit, though she’s probably best known for her book on biodynamics called Voodoo Vintners. I think last year or the year before she wrote on focused on Rose. I first came upon her as a columnist in the Oregonian newspaper more than a decade ago. She’s terrific, glad you saw this article.

Thanks for the background, Vincent. I read (& liked) VoodooVintners quite a bit. Just didn’t remember the article.
Tom

Another super fun read Tom. But hey, I really liked Folie a Deux’s early 80s Chardonnays, and thought they were very pretty and not as overdone as the Chalone, Kistler, Fisher offerings at the time. The reds were nothing special, but man do I have fond memories of those Chardonnays.

As a wine buyer for a big box chain back in the late 70s, we used to have a blast with those Amador zins, and I admit to shamelessly purchasing every case of Sutter Home White zinfandel that used to come into our market and sell it for twice what it was supposed to sell for. I remember a couple of Amador zinfandel ports as well from back then that were really nice for the money.

Still have a bottle of the 1974 Amador Zinfandel.

Thanks for the info, Tom!

I really wish you could collaborate with Mr Ken Zinns and/or someone like Patrick Comiskey or David Darlington to compile a complete Notes from the Bullpit or Confessions from the Woodshed Tales. The hardest part would fall to an editor in adding 750 million space marks.

I believe your mental archives, printed and bound, may have to be released in several volumes, given the quantity of information tidbits and anecdotes that would undoubtedly result from such a compendium!

I still have a 3L of SH Amador Zin…assuming that was Weaver fruit Tom?

Whenever i see the Menage a Trois label I think of Mike Robbins, who owned Spring mountain winery. He tried to get BATF approval for Menage a Trois in the late '70s, but got turned down.

Folie a Deux–a psychiatric terms for people who are crazy when together and normal when apart–was the brain child of a psychiatric nurse and her shrink hubby. As i recall, the marriage dissolved when he got caught violating certain medical standards with a patient. They made their wine in a house on Hiway 29. I remember her taking me from room to room to taste different wines.

Deaver, I think you mean, Kris.

Stupid auto correct.

Great history lesson, Tom. Thanks, and thanks for the link to the article. There’s so much history here in wine country that’s buried under the marketing.

If you go into a restaurant in Myrtle Beach and check their wine menu, you may find the Beringer White Zin is $18 a bottle/$6 a glass and listed below it is SH White Zin for $21/ $7 a glass AND they may run out of the SH at any moment.

There is a reserve SH White Zin at their tasting room. Apparently from estate fruit. It is better than the regular, although that’s not saying much.

in the mid to late 90’s (96-98 is what I recall), Folie a Deux bottled some amazing Zin out of Amador County. My kids (mid 20’s) like the Menage as a decent table wine. it is in their budget!

Yup, Bruce…ScottHarvey had some very good contacts up in the ShenandoahVlly. In fact,
I think at one time he was getting Zin out of GrandPere at FaD.
Tom

He still get it, but he’s not allowed to use the OGP name, so he calls it Vineyard 1869.

A couple of points just to clarify. Scott does still get grapes from the Grandpere vineyard for his own label but is not involved with Folie a Deux anymore. OGP Zinfandel is actually the name for Vino Noceto’s zin from Grandpere vineyard. The former owner of Renwood holds the trademark on Grandpere Vineyard (and Grandmere FWIW) so no one can use that name. I believe that Scott’s ex-wife owns the Grandpere Vineyard. Both the 1869 and OGP zins are very tasty.

Tom has written about the history of Grandpere Vineyard and the difficulties and confusion over the past 20-30 years with ownership and name trademarks. Maybe you can do that again, Tom - always good to get a refresher course from someone who has followed that vineyard from the very start!