I visited Forman in 2015 which was the third year in a row that I visited the Valley. To put it kindly, it was by far the most austere visit that I had in the three years of going. Upon arrival, I was brought to the cave and was quickly abandoned being told just hang out here for awhile and then come into the closet that was called a tasting room. Now, this was no cave like Hall’s off the Silverado Trail. A 60 second peruse of the barrels was all that was necessary. If memory serves, I tasted 2 Cabs and the Chardonnay. Even after making it clear that I had been buying both the Cab and Chard from a local retailer, I was given the hard sell to buy from the winery. This was the very moment that I knew that I was finished with visits to Napa Valley. Ric was nowhere to be found, but I didn’t take it personal. I figured that he had been at it for so long from since his early days at Sterling, that he probably couldn’t stomach another mundane going through the same platitudes he undoubtedly repeated hundreds if not thousands of times. So today I get an email announcing a vintage release party this summer with tickets at $175. At a time I figured he would be thinking about retiring, he’s now hosting parties for the public? Anyone know who will be taking over the reigns when he does retire? I was told that his son was more interested in construction than wine making, at least back then.
They’re actually let of the Vineyard Brands portfolio now, I could see the Haas family taking over.
Sounds like they’re just set up for no-frills direct sales – sort of refreshing given all the razzle-dazzle BS in Napa these days. As for the event, $175 seems cheap by today’s Napa standards.
At least when I visited in 2019, the person Forman has in charge of interacting with people was not a people person (to put it mildy). Design flaw.
That said, the wooden hut where we did the tasting was quite attractive and cosy, and the location is neat, tucked away as it is near the base of Howell Mountain. I like the photos they had up from the late 70’s when Forman had to use dynamite in the vineyard to make holes deep enough for the vine’s roots.
For whatever this counts, I spent some time with Ric when I repped his wines for a distributor about 20 years ago. I found him a super friendly guy but pretty low key. Can’t say I know him well but got the impression he is into the whole thing to make wine and not to entertain. If I remember correctly, the owner of the distribution company had a hell of a time even finding Ric at the winery in order to see if he was interested in distribution. I don’t think he answered the phone so the owner had to go to the property and even then had a hard time tracking Ric down.
She was originally hired to do manual labor in the cellar etc. but found that she was not cut out for it. Apparently that’s when they swapped duties.
No need to waste time and money on a “no frills direct sale” visit. An online order would suffice.
His son has his own winery. Tobias Vineyards, up on howell mountain.
Definitely not worth the helicopter charges.