I had heard Pax Mahle was organizing this effort and I just got the link today which will help raise some funds for Wells. The link is below if you want to donate. @ToddFrench I am unsure of the Board rules surrounding my post here, if this is permitted. I hope so.
For me, Wells was instrumental in teaching me about California wine. I began buying from him way back around 2003, and continued to be an avid supporter, visiter and promoter of his wines through the time when he left Copain following the KJ buyout of his winery around 2017. So many learning moments with him, tasting through barrels, through shiners, through library wines. Visits to Kiser, to Halcon, then seeing his transition to the KJ chapter of things, then him leaving and starting Dupuis. For all he taught me and the work he did advancing wine and the Anderson Valley. And now to the injury and medical challenges he faces. I’ve helped, I hope others will, too.
Of note…here is the text that appears in the Go Fund Me link should you want to see it:
“Our good friend and local winemaking legend Wells Guthrie sustained a horrible accident while clearing some downed trees on his Anderson Valley Vineyard this winter. Wells ruptured a disc and had microdisectomy to shave a disc and remove the material that ruptured. The Doctor made a mistake and Wells had internal bleeding on the spine which caused more damage. After his third surgery to fuse his discs and put a cage in his back, Wells developed a C diff bacterial infection that led to Sepsis. This horrific series of events has had Wells in and out of the hospital for the past few months. Wells is out of the Hospital now and needs our help. Hospital bills are piling up, vineyard work waits for no one and his family counts on him. Wells has another surgery on the calendar and is hopeful that he will make a full recovery. Please help me in thanking Wells for all of the delicious wines he has provided for us over the years and help him and his family get healthy and back to doing what he should be doing in the vineyards and the winery.”
Opened my first ever Dupuis tonight in honor of Wells.
2020 Dupuis Elswick Pinot Noir
Classic Wells Guthrie pinot, nice concentration of red fruit without being heavy. Wonderful depth, ripe red cherry, strawberry rhubarb, juicy, balanced, chewy tannins. Flavors remind me of an ‘06 Copain Cerise. Super tasty. Quite young but I had to do it.
Man, I feel really good about the efforts here. I know the link is not just here on WB, but if you look at the donors who have given something to help, many of the names are people that live and contribute to the forum here. To all of you, THANK YOU. And some of the names showing the desire to help within the peer and industry relationships where Wells was centered. It’s awesome.
The total is now approaching $5,000 raised, and we can feel good about the effort to help someone else, a someone in Wells who did a lot to advance wines in a style that many of us enjoy. And he did it in a time when scores and big wines went together–big Syrah, big Pinot. He went the other way, and dialed back his wines, instead featuring more acidity, dialing the oak way down and focusing on creating wines that I and others wanted to drink.
The following is a description from a Go Fund Me page for Wells and, should you wish to donate, it can be found by googling ‘Wells Guthrie go fund me’. Pretty awful stuff. For those not familiar with Wells, he is a winemaker in Sonoma.
“Our good friend and local winemaking legend Wells Guthrie sustained a horrible accident while clearing some downed trees on his Anderson Valley Vineyard this winter. Wells ruptured a disc and had microdisectomy to shave a disc and remove the material that ruptured. The Doctor made a mistake and Wells had internal bleeding on the spine which caused more damage. After his third surgery to fuse his discs and put a cage in his back, Wells developed a C diff bacterial infection that led to Sepsis. This horrific series of events has had Wells in and out of the hospital for the past few months. Wells is out of the Hospital now and needs our help. Hospital bills are piling up, vineyard work waits for no one and his family counts on him. Wells has another surgery on the calendar and is hopeful that he will make a full recovery. Please help me in thanking Wells for all of the delicious wines he has provided for us over the years and help him and his family get healthy and back to doing what he should be doing in the vineyards and the winery.”
Horrible news. I’m not sure I’ve ever had one of his wines, but from everything I’ve heard I’d like them. Hope he gets the support he needs, financial or otherwise. Donation in.
@M_Dildine I was thinking about you a few days ago. Been a while since I have seen you, miss those times. Some of those past times had Wells as the host for the glue that brought us together. And when I say your reply today, I was reminded that part of my palate shift belongs to Wells’ thought leadership. You may recall…he was the guy who put Allemand, Jamet, Pignan and a few other things in front of us all when we were eating lunch with him during some of those visits. I knew nothing of those wines, their style, their pleasure. That exposure was meaningful to me, it set my course of change.
I should point out and be mindful that this is an effort to raise funds to help, not memorialize. I don’t want my posts to come off that way. My apology to anyone if that tone was conveyed. It’s just when something bad happens to someone in one’s life, and that person had significant influence, I (we?) want to remember that influence and honor it. And what Wells is getting through, a reminder to us that we should honor, thank and convey how much people in our lives (who matter to us)…how much they mean to us.
Same feeling as Warren here about Wells. Not only a talented winemaker but a generous guy who shared wines from his own cellar at tastings and special events.
