Calistoga Wineries Celebrate New AVA
Friends in Washington, D.C., aided federal recognition for Napa Valley vineyard district
Napa County supervisor Diane Dillon (from left), U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, Karen Cakebread, Laura Zahtila and Bo Barrett present the new red Calistoga AVA boundary signs.
Calistoga, Calif. -- Wineries and grapegrowers celebrated the newly recognized Calistoga American Viticultural Area on Monday, as they honored their most important supporter, unveiled new AVA signs and announced plans for an association and festival.
The celebration was fittingly held on the patio at Chateau Montelena, which helped establish Napa Valley as a major player in the world wine scene. Montelena's winemaker, Bo Barrett , initiated and drove the effort to gain formal recognition for one of California’s earliest known wine-growing districts. The new AVA measures about seven square miles including 2,500 acres of vineyard-suitable land.
Barrett, son of Montelena owner Jim Barrett , recognized U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), who carried the effort in Washington after it was derailed by two of the Calistoga wineries (totaling 24 in the AVA) that didn’t use grapes from the township.
The deceptively laid-back vintner noted that the effort should have been a slam-dunk. Along with St. Helena and Napa, “Calistoga was one of the three viticultural districts in Napa Valley recognized even in the 19th century,” he said. But it never organized its own AVA as other areas in Napa Valley did.
Barrett attributes this to the fact that the region doesn’t have any large wineries to carry the ball; Montelena, with its 40,000-case production, is the largest independent winery. ( Sterling is larger, but is a division of wine giant Diageo , which doesn’t focus as much on Calistoga vineyards.) “Everyone knew that it was an appellation,” he said, adding, “Calistoga’s growers and wineries are an independent lot.”
History of a movement
In 2003, bothered as he looked at the AVA map of Napa Valley and saw Calistoga unrecognized, Barrett took advantage of a skiing accident that laid him up to write a 13-page petition to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) on his own. “The rules say you just have to prove the area has a history, show that it’s widely known, and send along a map showing that it was distinctive.” It should have been simple.
The TTB told him to make one change: Replace highlighting on a map with a Sharpie outline. The examiner and her boss said it was fine. Their boss said it was the most straightforward application he’d ever received. “It should have been signed in 60 days,” he said.
Unfortunately, two wineries that included “Calistoga” in their names objected. They didn’t use Calistoga grapes, but would be forced to. “The law says it’s illegal to mislead consumers, and that’s what they were doing,” Barrett claimed. One chose to fight.
Friends in high places
Sensing that this was going to take more resources than he had, Barrett called on friends including the town of Calistoga and its Chamber of Commerce, local politicians and the powerful Napa Valley Vintners Association. “If it says ‘Napa’ on the bottle, the grapes have to come from Napa, noted NVV executive director Linda Reiff. “And the same thing is true for Calistoga.”
He also called local Congressman Thompson, who chairs the Congressional Wine Caucus as well as being a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and Select Subcommittee on Intelligence. Thompson lives in nearby St. Helena. Thompson even owns a 20-acre vineyard and is so popular that the local Republican establishment won’t support opposition candidates.
Thompson reports that the TTB told him that it would do things their way. The then-Treasury Secretary reportedly said he didn’t drink and didn’t care about the issue. Fortunately, the administration changed, and new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner better understood and appreciated the situation.
Thompson also called in Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who owns a small vineyard in St. Helena with her husband Paul, as well as Sens. Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, and President Barack Obama, who had honeymooned in Napa Valley. The wine steward in the White House, Daniel Shanks, used to live in Napa Valley and manage the restaurant at Domaine Chandon.
It turns out that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel exercises at 5 a.m. in the House Gym with Thompson three times a week. “Rahm likes wine a lot,” Thompson said.
Thompson also mobilized the Congressional Wine Caucus, while other wine regions from around the world lent support.
Grassroots support
Mean while, local vintners and growers made many trips to Washington. Cult winemaker Heidi Peterson Barrett lobbied on behalf of small wineries like hers, La Sirena , and the joint wine project she initiated with her husband Bo Barrett.
“In the end, the good guys won,” declared Bo. Napa Valley Vintners lobbyist James White added, “The government always does the right thing after exhausting every option.”
Growers and vintners in the new AVA are organizing an association, and Barrett says they’re thinking of a contest to name it. In the meantime, they’ve erected new red AVA boundary signs, recently authorized by Napa County, and are looking to the next step -- a Calistoga wine festival.
Bo says he wants to close Lincoln Avenue, the main street in town, and roll a barrel of wine down it to start the party as he’s seen in Europe.
Resident vintners Laura Zahtila of Zahtila Vineyards and Karen Cakebread of Ziata Wines are spearheading the efforts to form the association and festival, and Calistoga seems ready to party: Mayor Jack Gingles, who helped build catwalks at Montelena many years ago, said, “We’re excited to get the celebration in downtown Calistoga. We’d love to see someone rolling a barrel down Lincoln Avenue -- day or night!”