A celebration of Life for Chris Whitcraft was held on Sunday, June 29 in Santa Barbaras Skofield Park on a beautiful blue bird day with 100s of friends and family in attendance. Chris son, Drake and daughter, Alyssa with help and a lot of support from their friends and mother, did a fantastic job in putting it all together and making it an epic occasion.
It was truly a magnificent day, one that served to remind all of us of the importance of honoring those meaningful people in our life while still in the physical form, both theirs and ours.
Countless memories and special moments were memorialized by photographs and sharings as well as by special bottles of wines. The potluck reached huge proportions with overly stocked tables of foods to compliment the BBQ prepared over the pit. Just to make sure all was being handled properly, Frank Ostini of the Hitching Post and the King of BBQ checked out the grilling and offered welcomed advice.
Looking around at the ever changing crowd with arrivals and departures, there were so many fine winemakers, both local and from outside of the area. Many got their start in the early 1980s and many have more recently arrived on the scene. Additionally, there were numerous wine collectors, reps and wine shop and restaurant owners, many of whom are personal friends.
There were so many wines brought, many made by Chris, that by mid day the lineup of all of the empty bottles filled 2 very long shelves in the “wine room” which still had a large table full of yet to be emptied bottles waiting for their position on the shelf. We had large format bottles [1.5L up to 6L] and regular 750 ml. bottles, many of which were supplied by Drake who succeeded his father as the winemaker and has been doing his own superb thing under the Whitcraft label since 07`.
At the risk of leaving some out, the winemakers included: Burt Williams of the original Williams Selyem; Margi Wierenga of Brogan Cellars and Burt`s daughter; Dick Dore and Bill Wathen of Foxen; Rick Longoria of Longoria; Greg Brewer of Meville, Brewer- Clifton and Diatom; Steve and Chrystal Clifton of Palmina and Brewer- Clifton; Frank Ostini and Gray Hartley of Hitching Post; Bruce McGuire of Santa Barbara Winery and Lafond; Benjamin Silver of Silver; Bob Lindquist of Qupe and Verdad; Craig Jaffurs and Dave Yates of Jaffurs; Matt Brady of Jaffurs and along with Drake, Amis; Seth Kunin of Kunin; Fabian Bravo of Brander; Art Morel, Antonio Gardella and Sid Ackert of artisan local home wine making renown, Campaneros.
It should also be noted that Drake is an accomplished guitar player and with a little help from some friends, a couple of whom played with his father Chris in a band called H2S many years ago, played a few tunes. In case you do not know, H2S stands for hydrogen sulfide AKA “rotten eggs”. For one known for his wit and humor, it would be my best guess that Chris is the one responsible for that name.
This was a rare occasion for me in that I usually take copious wine notes of all or most of the wines opened. This day, I chose to simply enjoy the celebration, friendships, sharings, horseshoes, music and food. Almost. I did take mental notes of some of the standouts wines. As its said, “Its like being a little bit pregnant”. I guess Im a little bit addicted. Heres a few:
1992 WHITCRAFT BIEN NACIDO Q BLOCK PINOT NOIR- 3L; fabulous; evolved with nice balance, the typical pepper, cinnamon spice layered fruit profile, nice acidity and good mouthfeel; one of my favs from Chris over many years.
1996 WHITCRAFT HIRSCH PINOT NOIR- 3L; in the tradition of Hirsch, this had that spicy, chocolate, licorice black cherry that goes on and on and was another gem throughout all of years Chris got his fruit through Burt.
1995 WILLIAMS SELYEM OLIVET LANE PINOT NOIR- 1.5L; stunning; still youthful and brilliant; light red color, lightly spiced cola infused strawberry cream soda without the spritz; so easy on the palate and beautifully balanced.
1995 WILLIAMS SELYEM HIRSCH PINOT NOIR- 1.5L; shinning with serious chocolate and licorice red and black fruitiness, nicely integrated. complexity with layers of depth and wonderful length; smooth and velvety on the palate.
1994 WHITN POST PINOT NOIR- made by Frank Ostini of the Hitching Post and Chris, the classic label was created by Chris as a play on The Allman Brothers Whipping Post and included the last line of the lyrics, “Good Lord, I feel like Im dyin”; Franks wife, Jami, did the graphics and his partner in the winery, Gray Hartley, brought 2 bottles, one for Drake and the other to share; what a treat; it was quite viable with pleasant tertiary flavors, only slight bricking and a softness and easy to enjoy along with the creative label [see pic].
1995 WHITCRAFT PETITE SIRAH- made from Joe Carrari`s vineyard fruit and a wine Chris dreamed of making for a few years before doing so; double decanted for 4 hours with a ton of sediment removed; if I had not brought it, I would have thought this was only a few years old; dark black purple color; teeth staining inkiness; full bodied, complex and majorly vibrant; a hit of spice and pepper and tar along with a lot of black currant, black cherry and unsweetened black mission fig and a finish, as Chris stated in his review in the release notice, “forever”.
OK, enough for now.
Final comment: I deeply regret the loss of Chris and trust he`s in a better place now and happier for it. And so for Chris, I use the remarks he stated in one of his newsletters in 1998 regarding the death of friend Dick Graf, founder of Chalone and co-founder of American Institute of Food & Wine along with Julia Child and Robert Mondavi, “wherever he is now, I have no doubt the food, the wine and the music are sure to be incredible”.
Cheers,
Blake
I should add, a few who were unable to attend and expressed their love and inclusion of honoring Chris included Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat et al, Richard and Tekla Sanford of Alma Rosa.
