RIP: DavidBruce/SCM Legend...

[PeterH]

I’ve got a '70s high proof David Bruce Zinfandel with the label peeling off in a nearly forgotten corner of the cellar. I should pull it out and open it, but since it would be mostly, if not entirely, for historic interest, I need other to share.

[Jason_T]

I visited the winery in 2014 - as others have said by then the wines were hit or miss. But in 2018 I had a '74 Pinot at Bern’s that was profound. We chose not to decant as we weren’t sure how long it would last; it was good to go out of the gate and we savored it over 3 hours. By hour 4 it (or my palate) started to fade. But it was glorious.

[Steve_Gautier]

Opened a 1996 David Bruce Russian River Pinot tonight. Perfect cork. The wine pours a deep color. On PnP, the nose screams oak and the palate is full of cedar. With some time in the glass, fruit enters the mix. 13% alcohol but seems richer. No way anyone would say that this is a 25 year old wine if served blind. Served not only in honor of David Bruce but special since our daughter is home from abroad. If she had been a boy, her name would have been David Bruce (two of the grandfather’s names). RIP David Bruce.

[Bdklein]

We were give one of his wines as a gift around 25 years ago . It was our first foray with a bottle of “real” wine.
He was a true trendsetter. RIP.

And Tom thanks as always for your brilliant posts .

And I think my first 2 names being Bruce David gave me a better affinity for his wines.

[ATaylor]

Tom, Mitri said he will pass along details for a celebration of David once things are finalized. Let me know if you can make it out here.

[JimV]

Ive got an old Petite Syrah I need to break out in his honor!

Like others, one of my first Cal pinots was David’s Santa Cruz Mtn. Late 80’s or early 90’s. But I developed a taste for his Shell Creek Petite Sirah, and for my taste the (80’s? and) 90’s versions of that was his best wine. I drank my last one about four months ago. I’d lost track of it, and opened it with some trepidation, but ended up wishing I had more. Twenty-five years later all that oak had melted away, and it was delicious. And a fond memory of my earliest days of branching out from Bordeaux and German wine.

I hope you enjoy your bottle.

[R_Smith1]

It is a shame and RIP David. A gentleman and kind man who always had a story to tell.

I was able to have a few glasses with him of some of his older stuff at the winery, though even his own stash was hit and miss. Today there is simply nothing left of the winery, and the 27 acres that he bought up in Sebastopol was sold off recently to try and stave off the banks. His legacy deserves better than the destruction inflicted by his second wife and sister-in-law.

What happened with his second wife? It seemed like he dropped off the radar all of a sudden.

[ATaylor]

It is a shame and RIP David. A gentleman and kind man who always had a story to tell.

I was able to have a few glasses with him of some of his older stuff at the winery, though even his own stash was hit and miss. Today there is simply nothing left of the winery, and the 27 acres that he bought up in Sebastopol was sold off recently to try and stave off the banks. His legacy deserves better than the destruction inflicted by his second wife and sister-in-law.

What happened with his second wife? It seemed like he dropped off the radar all of a sudden.

It’s a long and sad story; David had to sell off some of his best vineyards to pay for the divorce. Focus shifted to a rapid ramp-up in production, buying fruit all over the place and his 2nd wife bleeding the winery dry to pay for her dog breeding hobby. Just a ton of bad decision making and David let himself become isolated by wife #2.

[Barry_Sunderland]

I LOVED David’s Shell Creek Petite…