“The Beautiful View” (or “Beautiful Vision,” depending on how you choose to translate) is what it says it is—and more.
When you can casually slip into a conversation that you have a century and a half of experience under your belt, well, that puts you in rarified air. When it comes to California wineries, well, you can count on the fingers of one hand those that are in or close to being in that group. There’s Buena Vista Carneros and…well, Charles Krug and Mirassou only come close. That’s pretty much it.
Buena Vista has the more envious and dramatic history, one I first researched years ago—and have been captivated by since. It begins with a wild-eyed Hungarian “Count,” who founded the winery, then moves through the German-born Moller-Racke family that solidified its Carneros vineland holdings into a resource whose value is hard to overstate before sequeing into the present incarnation with winemaker Jeff Stewart at the helm. “The Beautiful View” (or “Beautiful Vision,” depending on how you choose to translate) is what it says it is—and more.
This is a winery, remember, that was founded in 1857 by the rapscallion Agoston Haraszthy, who’s widely credited with bringing Zinfandel to the New World and masterminding wine caves in Wisconsin (near Prairie du Sac; the caves are still in use at Wollersheim Winery) before doing the same on the easternmost flank of the town of Sonoma. That original Buena Vista site remains one of the most popular tasting rooms in all of Wine Country, channeling more than 40,000 visitors each year into the historic press house, which now houses the tasting room.
If that core story had been lost, it’s now found. “When I came here in 2004, it was to rebuild the winery and refocus on this marvelous Carneros property,” says Stewart, a UC Davis grad. “We now make only wines that are grown on this estate: cool climate Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Syrah. We have our tasting room at the old winery, but now, with this natural connection to Boudin—which is owned by some of the winery’s same investors—we have the chance to do something very interesting and tell our story to a whole new group of people. Our year-old San Francisco tasting room is in a corner of the Boudin Bistro [on Fisherman’s Wharf], upstairs, next to its little demonstration bread museum.
“Bread and wine are both fermentation science and fit together as closely as anything you can think of. Our tasting room personnel are well-versed in winegrowing, so it’s easy for them to tell our story—the new story of Buena Vista. It’s hard to imagine a better fit.”
“Bread and wine are both fermentation science and fit together as closely as anything you can think of. Our tasting room personnel are well-versed in winegrowing, so it’s easy for them to tell our story—the new story of Buena Vista. It’s hard to imagine a better fit.”
The stuff of legend
Haraszthy (pronounce it harris-tee) was the pivotal early figure in California wine history. Make no bones about it. Upon his arrival in the wild, wild west, he told one and all that he was a political refugee from Hungary (other times, he claimed to be a colonel). While his royal and military credentials were suspect, he was certainly a master of energy and enterprise, along with its attendant (for him) hype and scheme. He built San Diego’s city jail, but its mortar was faulty and it never held a prisoner. He managed the federal mint in San Francisco but was charged with embezzlement; he claimed the missing gold went up the flue in the smelting process. Officials, amazingly, bought the story.
All the while, Haraszthy was planting grapes—in Wisconsin, in San Diego, on the San Francisco Peninsula and, finally (and, at last, successfully) east of Sonoma—and testing the limits of viticulture. He founded The Buena Vista Viticultural Society in 1857, built the brand and imported dozens of grape varieties from Europe for the state of California (whose elected officials rudely stiffed him for their cost). “Never mind,” he reportedly said, “I’ll distribute them on my own.”
When the winery’s finances were questioned, he decided to found a sugar cane plantation (to make rum) in Nicaragua and was last seen crossing a croc-infested river in that country. Drama to the end. For all the flair and whimsy, Haraszthy was creative to the core; the man left us something solid, upon which to build an enduring success.
Phylloxera and the 1906 earthquake left the company foundering, but it was brought back to prominence, first by San Franciscan Frank Bartholomew (president of United Press International), who bought the place in 1940 and brought in crack winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff, and later (in 1979) by the wizardly German beverage family, the Moller-Rackes. The Germans hired bright people, including winemaker Jill Davis, and put their money into the land. They planted much of their then-900 acres—primarily to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay—and became leaders in the Carneros Quality Alliance, the first regional organization to pull growers and winemakers together to better understand and promote their wines and their appellation. Their European mindset of looking far into the future—yes, the “vision” thing—put the winery on a very solid footing.
Modern history in the making
In 2008, Buena Vista Carneros came under the fold of Ascentia Wine Estates, the Healdsburg-based marketing organization that represents eight fairly distinctive wineries, including Atlas Peak, Buena Vista Carneros, Gary Farrell, Geyser Peak, XYZ (all in California), as well as the Pacific Northwest properties Columbia and Covey Run, and Ste. Chapelle (Idaho).
What that means, in real terms, is a better support system for the Tahoe-born Stewart, who’s been with Buena Vista since 2003. “It was a high school chemistry teacher who steered me toward wine,” says the avid snow skier. “On a high school trip to France, I was first exposed to wine, and I was immediately struck by the powerful role this mysterious and fascinating liquid played in people’s everyday lives. I was impressed by how highly valued wine was as a part of their daily meals. In France, wine is simply liquid food, and I was utterly fascinated with the lifestyle and with the importance wine played in their everyday culture.”
Back in the Golden State, that chemistry teacher suggested UC Davis as a place where Stewart could put that newfound enthusiasm and wonder to work. “The whole idea, to me, of combining agriculture, science and the art of making wine—a beverage revered in many cultures for thousands upon thousands of years—was absolutely mesmerizing.”
While still in school at UC Davis, Stewart completed an internship at Robert Keenan Winery in Napa Valley. Upon earning his degree in 1988, he went on to hold winemaking positions at Laurier, De Loach, Mark West, Kunde and La Crema before signing on at Buena Vista Carneros. “I’m really enchanted by the whole cool-climate circumstance here,” says Stewart, who spends his personal time with his wife and two children (skiing, golfing and beer-making are his avocational interests). “It was a bottle of 1978 Romanée-Conti that convinced me I had to make Pinot Noir, and I love Pinot Noirs from all over the world. For me, it’s all about the balance, both in the vineyard and in the wines. If you can get power and elegance working together in the bottle and the glass, well, then you’ve really accomplished something.
“Carneros is, of course, one of those ideal locations for Pinot Noir in that it has a climate that’s moderate throughout the year—not too hot in the summer, not too cold in the winter. We have a wonderful diversity of sites to work with, from all-rock to heavy clay, and we also work with many different clones, following the pioneering work of Francis Mahoney. Pinot Noir is more transparent than any other variety; it really shows the influence of the particular site where it was grown. The fact that its skins have less tannin and less color lets that inherent elegance and grace show through in the finished wines.”
Buena Vista Carneros is big on screw caps, employing them for most of the wines. “We put our heart and soul into these wines,” says Stewart. “The screw cap is our way of ensuring the complex flavors we worked so hard to get into the bottle are still fresh, vibrant, bold and well-balanced when you open it. We want the fullest and truest expression of Carneros to still be there.”
Stewart is especially pleased that the company voluntarily chose to downsize and focus on quality. What was a “big” winery that leaned heavily on the “California” appellation has been systematically trimmed over the last few years and focuses today entirely on estate-grown fruit. “We’re down to about 55,000 cases annually now, and that lets me keep my eyes on every single vine, tank and barrel.”
The cityside tasting room
A bit more than a year ago—in July 2009—Buena Vista decided a San Francisco tasting room would highlight the winery’s groundbreaking history.
“The biggest thing is that our San Francisco tasting room gives us the chance to tell our story better,” says Stewart. “You have to understand, we took a 350,000-case brand and made it a 55,000-case brand—on purpose.
“We were making some very nice wines. Our $7 Lake County Sauvignon Blanc was a big hit, but it wasn’t what we were really about. When we decided to focus on the core of Buena Vista—our more than 560-acre Ramal Vineyard Estate here in Carneros—it turned out to be the easiest decision in the world.” We’ll get back to that.
Fisherman’s Wharf has always been a prime magnet for visitors. A great supporter of firefighters, Lillian Hitchcock Coit built her famous Coit Tower that’s just around the corner from Buena Vista’s new tasting room. Also close at hand: Pier 39, a boat trip to Alcatraz, DiMaggio’s famed restaurant and the wax museum.
(Buena Vista isn’t alone in the city. Niebaum-Coppola, Wattle Creek and the Winery Collective [a group of small producers] also have a presence. But Buena Vista has easily the most enviable location, just a short cab ride or a few Muni stops away from wherever you are in the city, just blocks from Ghirardelli Square.)
The setting is perfection. Nestled in the Boudin Bakery & Restaurant building at Jefferson at Mason, across from Pier 43 1/2, the structure is all about light. In the daytime, sunlight floods into the open, modernistic upstairs tasting room. At night, the building seems a lit spaceship, ready at the gantries for the next moon shot (or maybe that extra special journey to Mars). It’s shiny, glistening and metal-framed, with warm walnut furnishings and a shiny marble bar.
“People really like the fact that it’s right there in an exciting part of San Francisco,” says Buena Vista Vice President Jim Connell. “There’s so much to do in San Francisco, and our visitors tell our staff they’re elated to be able to take in Alcatraz, the wax museum and our tasting room all in the same day.”
Born in New York City and raised in the suburbs of New York and New Jersey, Connell left New Jersey at age 20 to seek out better weather and better views (or maybe it was the “vision thing”). He did restaurant work while finishing an English degree at Sonoma State, hoping for a career in journalism. “Since there were no writing jobs, I stuck with the restaurant work,” he says with mock wonder. “I spent five years at Rose et Lefavor in St. Helena—tasting the world’s finest wines on a nightly basis—and managed Domaine Chandon from 1997 to 2001. I came to Buena Vista in 2002 and have enjoyed working to make wine more approachable for our visitors.
“When I came, we had no wine club, the tasting room was mostly about knickknacks, and we were making more than 300,000 cases of non-Carneros wines. Jeff has changed all that, and we now offer daily wine-and-food pairings to help people understand that essential connection. The San Francisco tasting room offers us access to the more than 2 million visitors to the city, many of whom don’t have time to make it north to Wine Country, as well as a special place for our wine club members to bring their friends and guests for a special tasting. Both our tasting rooms are special places.”
The Latest on the Wine Front
Pinot Noir 2006 Carneros: Delicate rose petal in the nose, with a hint of leather in the middle and a nice touch of clove spiciness in the finish. For Stewart, the earthy notes I describe as leather are “wild mushrooms.” Works for me. Makes the wine that much better with rare red meat and, yes, mushrooms. Complementary. That’s one way to put food and wine together artfully. “There’s pretty good depth to this wine, and a long, supple finish,” adds Stewart. “That’s the hallmark of Carneros Pinot Noir.”
Syrah 2006 Carneros: A subtle wine, with the brightness of strawberry and blueberry, and a hint of menthol and licorice spiciness. Good for a picnic.
Chardonnay 2007 Ramal Vineyard: Ripe Bartlett pear up front, with notes of peach in the middle and a lovely custard-like oak quality that wraps things up rather nicely. Poached fish in a cream sauce? Yup, that’s the ticket.
Pinot Noir 2006 Ramal Vineyard: Dense and delicious, with black cherry and plum fruit, a bit of that forest-floor and mushroom earthiness that lends itself so nicely to a rare cut of beef, with vanilla from the time in French oak. Artful and lush.
Port of Syrah 2008 Estate Vineyard Series: Black pepper and cassis in the main, with subtle touches of chocolate and iodine that perk up the fruit and spiciness of the wine. A wedge of Sharp Cheddar or a sliver or two of ripe pear would go nicely with this dessert wine. “This is our first Port,” says Stewart with evident glee. “Cheddar is good, but I like this with Stilton cheese. The sweetness of the Port is beautifully balanced by the pungent saltiness of the creamy blue cheese. The flavors marry in your mouth into something wonderful, which keeps you coming back, sip after sip.” OK by me.
The Buena Vista Carneros Tasting Room at Boudin at the Wharf is located at 160 Jefferson Street, San Francisco 94133. Open daily noon to 6:30 p.m. Phone (415) 441-6722 or fax (415) 441-6716.
A onetime firefighter, Hinkle is the author of nine wine books including Good Wine: The New Basics. You can find his work at www.RichardPaulHinkle.com.
