A serendipity-do-da inaugural for Expression 44 wine

It was a big idea that Richard Wollack and Bill Hill, co-principals in Expression Wines, had that suddenly and serendipitously got bigger.

The names of wines the longtime partners produce from four pinot noir vineyards in West Coast appellations own through their Premier Pacific Vineyards company would correspond to the latitudes and longitudes of their vineyard sources. They would be marketed as “Pinot noirs with latitude.” The first of them — Expression 44º from their vineyard in Oregon’s Willamette Valley — was released last month.

It didn’t occur to them that Barack Obama’s inauguration as the 44th American president would be taking place in the same timeframe — on Tuesday, Jan. 20, to be exact. But it did occur to several of their customers, who suggested the link between the inauguration of a president and the wine.

“We were pleasantly surprised when people excitedly started calling us to buy, saying that this was the perfect wine to serve at their inauguration party,” said Wollack.

Wollack and Hill didn’t waste any time putting the idea to work. And, Voilà! ... now there are parties being planned around the nation, according to Expression Wines, that will “Toast 44 with 44º.”

So far in the Valley, Brannan’s Grill in Calistoga and the Napa Marriott are among the party-givers planning to pour 44º on Inauguration Day, Wollack said. It will also be featured this Friday night in a Pulse tasting at St. Helena’s Acme Fine Wines on Adams Street.

 For take-home consumption, the label price of 44º is, of course, $44 a bottle and a case from the 2,200 being produced sells for $440.

“The idea kind of came out of left field,” said Kevin O’Brien, Expression’s general manager. “It’s pretty cool because people have been coming to us. There has been so much excitement. If we had tried to push this idea ourselves, it wouldn’t be going anywhere.

“We have made some calls and are trying to get the wine into the White House itself and do something official,” he added, “but it’s been more of a grass-roots thing.”

The Wollack-Hill business plan from which Expression 44º emerged at a Dec. 29 introduction is to bring to the market pinot noirs whose place is affected by regional climes. Expression 44º, for example, is made from vines in a sub-appellation of Oregon that gets 60 inches of rain annually and summer heat averaging 83 degrees, much wetter and cooler than the other three AVAs in their company.

Next fall, said Wollack, 39º, from the Anderson Valley-Mendocino area, will be released. The following autumn, it will be 38º (Sonoma County) and after that 34º (Santa Rita Mountains-Santa Barbara).

“The 44º is bottled in Oregon, 39º and 38º will be bottled here in Napa County and 34º somewhere in Southern California,” said Wollack.

“All of the pinot noir will have a sense of place,” he added. “They’re all distinctive. That’s the fun. Our customers who buy more than one of them can appreciate the differences of the terroir of the different regions.”

Customers who purchase at least one six-pack of Expression’s “Black Label” wines will find themselves “Blacklisted,” another unique idea emanating from the creative minds of Wollack and Hill.

 Wollack, whose line is real estate, is a Stanford Business School grad who grew up in Chicago.

“I’m kind of new to the area,” he said, “but Bill has been in Napa Valley since 1974. I came here in 1980 and that’s when I connected with Bill who had already done some great things in the wine business.

“I started investing with him and over the years one thing led to another until we decided to start a business of vineyard development.”

Hill, who previously owned a Napa Valley winery, in fact, is known as a vineyard manager in the Valley.

Wollack, who met Obama in San Francisco the year he was elected to the Senate, is a registered Democrat. If he wasn’t, this story might never have occurred.

Valley wines at inauguration

Napa Valley wines will have a presence in festivities celebrating the inauguration of Barack Obama next week in Washington. Duckhorn Vineyards’ 2007 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc will be one of two wines served at Obama’s inaugural luncheon — the other being a 2005 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir.

Two Ceja Vineyards wines — a 2007 Carneros Chardonnay and a 2006 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir — will be served at an inaugural celebration hosted by District 1 Congressman Mike Thompson. In addition, Amelia and Dalia Ceja will travel to Washington where they will attend several inaugural events and will be given a tour by White House wine steward Daniel Shenks