Small Napa company works to build ties in China, world's largest

            Years from now, Dan and Marguerite Capp may look back and say they
            made history. The two Wooden Valley grapegrowers are working to
            bring premium wines from small Napa Valley producers to the biggest
            market in the world: China.
            They ought to know about history. Dan Capp's great-great
            grandfather, David Hudson, was a man of firsts. He was a part of the
            first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevadas, one of the first
            settlers in St. Helena and one of the first to plant a vineyard and
            sell his grapes. Capp said his family has been farming "one way or
            the other" in the Napa Valley since 1845.

            Born in 1942 and raised on his family's farm in Gordon Valley, Capp
            remembers his grandparents' farm. "When I was growing up, there were
            walnut and prune orchards and very few vineyards," he said. After
            earning a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering in 1970, he
            helped begin Franciscan Winery and planted the first vineyards there
            in 1972-73.
            At the same time, the Capps began a partnership with Ed Brovelli
            Jr., growing grapes on 70 acres that became the Twin Creeks
            Vineyard. Later, with "sweat equity," Capp expanded the vineyard to
            100 acres. "We worked hard for it. It was fortunate that I grew up
            as a farm boy and knew about hard work," he said. They grew cabernet
            sauvignon, merlot, pinot verdot, cabernet franc, malbec and
            Sangiovese grapes.
            The Capps sold their grapes to various wineries, but were faced with
            a challenge in 2006-07, when the wineries' demand for Capps' grapes
            dropped and their grape contracts were canceled. The Capps decided
            to make their own wine and now sell cabernet sauvignon, merlot and
            barbera wines under their Interlude label.
            Today, the Capps face another challenge ?bringing a small group of
            wineries to China. Their friends, Brian and Debra Stevens of
            Vacaville, have connections in China and told Capp that access to
            good California wines is virtually impossible. "I took that as a
            challenge," he said.
            After researching the market in China, the Capps and Stevens formed
            a company, California-Asia Wine Exchange LLC. The company's mission
            is to represent small Napa Valley wineries in China, a market
            dominated by several large distributors.
            Marguerite Capp said, "The Chinese market is potentially the largest
            market for wine sales in the world. It's virtually untapped and wine
            is being presented by their government as a health food. The reason
            for that is that it is a health food, particularly in stark contrast
            to the clear liquor usually drunk during banquets. The French, the
            Australians, the Chileans, the Italians, the Spanish are all in
            China and the Californians are mostly under-represented. We want to
            help change that."
            Besides Lakeside Wine Company, Cal-Asia represents Volker Eisele
            Family Estates, Muir-Hanna Vineyard Estates, Andretti Winery, Eagle
            Eye Wines and Kirkland Ranch Winery all in Napa County and Shannon
            Ridge Winery, in Lake County.
            According to the Wine Institute in San Francisco, U.S. wine exports
            ?90 percent from California ?passed a milestone with more than $1
            billion in winery export revenues in 2008, up 6 percent from 2007.
            After sending a container of wine to China, the Capps and Stevens
            made their first trip as Cal-Asia to China last summer. They were
            one of 35 businesses invited to display their goods at a July Fourth
            reception at the American Embassy, which was attended by 3,000
            dignitaries. "We got a lot of attention and a lot of interest," Capp
            said. They were probably the smallest business there; others
            included McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken (owned by PepsiCo).
            The group traveled around China, test-marketed their wines, went
            into stores and ?with their associates, Arnold and Martha Shen, who
            live in Beijing ?met a lot of people. The Shens' connections were
            invaluable and introduced Capp and Stevens to a number of small
            distributors. "Our goal is to become a Chinese distributor of the
            wines," Capp said.
            During the trip, Capp said he was pressed into service speaking for
            the Napa Valley, even though, he said, he's not a public speaker.
            "I'm quite happy just walking through a vineyard," he added. Those
            speaking engagements, he added, created a need for Capp to do
            research on his family, to be able to tell people where he had come
            from. "The people were happy to see us," Capp said, adding "The
            Chinese want to see the people who grow the grapes and make the
            wine. They are not impressed with the marketing people."