[wine] Drama in Amador County Zins

Here's the original article. DRAMA IN AMADOR Great grapes, hard feelings ferment at landmark California vineyard - W. Blake Gray, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, August 11, 2005 Click to ViewClick to ViewClick to ViewClick to ViewClick to ViewClick to View In 1992, Scott and Terri Harvey seemed to have everything going right. They owned and lived on one of the most desirable vineyards in California. Every day Terri tended what are believed to be the state's oldest Zinfandel vines, while Scott walked across Steiner Road to work. He was the winemaker and president of an ambitious new business, Renwood Winery, whose chairman and CEO, Robert Smerling, planned to put Amador County Zinfandel on the world's most prestigious wine lists. Scott named their vineyard "Grandpere," in tribute to its age. In French, grand-pere means "grandfather." Desirable land inflames passions. Planted to Zinfandel before 1869, the Original Grandpere Vineyard is the source of some wonderful wines. It is also at the center of a divorce, a nasty business breakup, lawsuits, aerial surveillance and lingering hard feelings and distrust throughout the tight- knit community of Plymouth in Amador County. The vineyard itself is a marvel. A grant deed in county records proves its existence in 1869, yet the vines look young for their age. "In 1986, there was a drought here," says Rusty Folena, who worked for Scott Harvey at Santino Winery then and is now winemaker at Vino Noceto. "All the other vineyards looked stressed and yellow. This vineyard looked healthy. Maybe the roots went down to China to get water. It was isolated for a long time, so it hasn't had some of the vine diseases." Scott considered himself lucky to own such a historic plot of land. He and Terri worked for years to rebuild the century-old house on it, adding a second floor and a wine cellar of which he's still proud. Now Scott is in that cellar in name only -- Terri, now his ex-wife, has bottles of Scott Harvey Wines, a label Scott started years after his bitter departure from Renwood. Where did this vintner's dream life go wrong? Did the pressure of Scott being forced out of Renwood ruin the marriage, as Terri says? Or, as Smerling says, did Scott decide on his own to leave Terri for another woman, leaving the winery and Terri in the lurch? "Scott's got a lot of regrets," Terri says. "He's very passionate about this place." Scott, who has remarried, says he and Terri married young and may have divorced anyway; he admits having an affair during their marriage. He says he's happy living and making wine in St. Helena. But he also says, "It was hard to leave that place, I'll tell you." Now Terri owns the house and the vineyard, though Scott still gets some grapes from the property as part of their divorce settlement. But in a twist of law, they lost the trademark "Grandpere" to Renwood. So Renwood makes a Grandpere wine -- without any grapes from the vineyard, because Terri refuses to sell them to Renwood -- and Scott does not. Through a settlement, wineries that use Terri's grapes can say they're from the Original Grandpere Vineyard, but they have to use the entire phrase or they can't use it at all. Scott, tired of litigation, doesn't use it at all. "(Smerling) outmaneuvered me," Scott says. "I don't want to promote a wine from a brand-new vineyard that he calls Grandpere." The relationship between Smerling and Scott is so shattered and litigious -- lawsuits have flown back and forth -- that they don't even agree today on whether Scott quit or was fired when he left in 1995. Smerling says Scott walked out while Smerling was in Boston, forcing Smerling to scramble to replace him. Scott says Smerling had the locks on the doors changed overnight during the 1995 harvest season. Both agree that Scott challenged Smerling over the direction of the company, and that at a meeting of Renwood's board of directors in New York, the board supported Smerling and ousted Scott as president. Smerling asked the Amador County district attorney's office to investigate Scott, claiming he embezzled from the company; the district attorney's office did investigate, both Scott and Smerling agree, but refused to prosecute. As rancorous as their relationship is now, it's a shame the three-way partnership broke up, because each had something to contribute. Amador County has benefited from each of them. A farm girl and peacemaker Though she was born in San Fernando Valley, Terri, 45, became a farm girl just months after her father, a Los Angeles firefighter, moved the family to Amador County when she was 11. Now her knowledge and intuition with grapevines make her a good enough farmer to manage three vineyards in addition to her own. Tall and strong enough to lug around heavy equipment, Terri can see from her car when an individual vine needs care, and apologetically pulls over immediately to prop it up. "You have to respect the vines," she says. "I get out here and think about how long they've been alive. I do all the pruning myself, out of respect. Each one of these old guys has arms going every which way. You gotta study each one and figure out which way to prune it." Smerling and Scott Harvey are quick to complain about each other, but neither speaks badly of Terri. She often begins her sentences by repeating the last thing said to her, as if to start off by agreeing. Spend a few hours with Terri and she begins to anticipate the end of your sentences and say them at the same time, rather than repeating -- so that she is constantly in harmony with you. Scott and Smerling are fighters; Terri is a peacemaker. She is the one who brokered the deal for the use of the trademark, walking across the street to Renwood to deal directly with Smerling at a time when Scott and Smerling needed attorneys present for their conversations. Scott, 51, is a talented winemaker who got his first head winemaking job at age 23 at Story Winery in Amador County. In 1979, he became winemaker for Santino Winery and met Terri, who was working on a farm. "I knew her father," Scott says. "I waited until she got out of high school before I started dating her." Scott was able to buy the Original Grandpere Vineyard because the previous owners, John and Virginia Downing, knew him through his work at Santino, which made wine from the grapes. "John came to me one day and said, 'I'm going to sell you my ranch,' " Scott recalls. "I said, 'Great!' But I couldn't afford it." Scott and Terri farmed the grapes and paid off the Downings in installments. Meanwhile, they moved from a modern home into one built in the 1880s. "The first night we slept in that house, the wind rattled through it. You could hear the rats running around," Scott says. "Terri just cried." But together they rebuilt it. Scott also went through the old vineyard with a chainsaw, cutting off some of the excess growth. Scott wanted lower yields of more concentrated fruit. Downing had been selling the grapes primarily for White Zinfandel; he also sold some to a group of Italian American garbage collectors from San Francisco who made their own wine and who, Terri says, still occasionally call asking about the grapes. When Scott left Amador County in 1996, he became winemaker and president at Folie a Deux Winery in St. Helena. That brand was sold to Trinchero Family Estates in 2004. Scott now makes wines under his own name and also for St. Helena-based Cloud 9. With both brands, he produces delicious wines with good forward fruit, complexity and lingering finishes. In 1998, Scott married Jana Litman, who works in sales for Raymond Vineyard and Cellar in St. Helena. (She is not the woman Scott had an affair with during his marriage.) Jana is now a partner in Scott Harvey Wines. Smerling, 49, came to the wine industry late in life after a successful career as a venture capitalist in Boston, specializing in biotech. He brought a demanding, scientific emphasis to an Amador County winemaking scene that was still years behind Napa and Sonoma counties in technique when he arrived. "Everybody in (Amador) County deals with me," Smerling says. "I'm the man. I put the place on the map." When Smerling and the Harveys were still collaborators, Renwood took grafts of the vines from the Harveys' vineyard and planted them nearby, across a creek. Those Grandpere clones are the source of Renwood's Grandpere wine, and Smerling says he is doing the wine world a service by preserving them from phylloxera, an aphidlike insect that is now spreading through Amador County. "The original mission of the winery was to preserve vineyards," Smerling says. "When I arrived in Amador, I saw all these incredible gnarly old Zinfandel vines. And then I found out most of them were producing White Zin for Gallo. We control most of the key vineyards of Amador now. We've taken cuttings of the three vineyards we care most about -- Jack Rabbit Flat, D'Agostini Brothers and Grandpere -- and we planted them on (phylloxera- resistant) rootstock." Obsessed with quality, Smerling has indeed helped raise awareness of Amador, and he's not shy about taking credit. "The best thing that ever happened to Mr. Harvey was his association with Renwood, because we're a happening company," says Smerling. Renwood does make excellent wines. Last year in Japan, I took a $20 bottle of Renwood Barbera to one of those blind tasting-dinners where everyone tries to impress their friends with the bottle they bring. As I expected, my friends brought mostly grand crus from Bordeaux and expensive Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons. My Renwood bottling, which went much better with food than a Cab, came in second overall. First place went to a Chateau Lafite- Rothschild from the 1980s that must have cost more than 10 times as much as the Barbera. Troubles with neighbors But despite Renwood's quality wines and considerable charitable contributions in Amador, including sponsoring summer reading programs and scholarships for high school students, Smerling says he is not well liked. He quit the Amador Vintner's Association and blames anti-Semitism for problems with his neighbors. "The day after Scott walked out, we started having swastikas painted on the building," Smerling says. "We had death threats. The story of Amador is ridiculous hatred, old-fashioned bigotry, scared of the future, scared of change. "The story here is a story of anti-Semitism in Amador County. The county has a tough time with a Jewish winery owner." Chaim Gur-Arieh, a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces who owns the winery C.G. di Arie Vineyard & Winery with his wife, Elisheva, says he has not experienced any anti-Semitism in Amador County. "Robert is a guy that looks for conflict," says Gur-Arieh, originally a food scientist who invented the technology to make Cap'n Crunch cereal. "Maybe some ignorant people were bullied by him and they got back at him in this way." As the C.G. di Arie winemaker, Gur-Arieh, 71, appreciates the quality of Terri's grapes, and currently makes the best wine available from them (see tasting notes). "These grapes that she has, they're phenomenal," Gur-Arieh says. "Her grapes have complexity and elegance. I don't know if it's the age or the terroir, but they're wonderful." But the history of litigation over the name keeps C.G. di Arie from putting the Original Grandpere Vineyard on the wine's front label, even though it might boost sales. Renwood ended up with the Grandpere trademark because it bought Santino, which had it originally. "It was going to be our flagship wine," Smerling says. Scott says Smerling went behind his back to register the trademark. Smerling vehemently denies this, saying Scott was always aware of the status of the trademark because he was an officer of both Santino and Renwood. Lawsuits have gone back and forth, and Renwood emerged victorious. "Grandpere has value out in the marketplace, and (Smerling) knows it," Terri says. Terri says she is legally entitled to a limited use of Grandpere as part of a 2002 settlement with Smerling. Smerling says it's his largesse that allows her to use the name. Both Smerling and Terri agree that she must use the entire name, the Original Grandpere Vineyard, or she can't use it at all. Vino Noceto and Macchia wineries make wines from Terri's grapes that use the phrase on the front label. Of Vino Noceto's label, Smerling says, "We sent them a letter. The typeface is too big." Smerling says according to his agreement with Terri, the letters of the Original Grandpere Vineyard must be no larger than one-half inch. Scott doesn't use the name at all. Instead, both the Scott Harvey Wines and Cloud 9 bottlings say the grapes are from the Harvey Vineyard. Harvey as in Terri Harvey -- as part of their divorce agreement, she is buying his share of the house and land through grapes, and she expects to finish paying off Scott after the 2007 harvest. Terri says Scott has been good about paying child support, but her life supporting three daughters -- Paulette, 23, Michelle, 21, and Victoria, 17, all of whom are still in school -- has still required long hours laboring in vineyards, hers and others. She says she has suffered from lupus and shingles, both stress-related illnesses. Her boyfriend, Gordon Binz, 49, replaced Scott as Renwood's winemaker in 1996. He is now winemaker at nearby Villa Toscano. "I fired him," Smerling says. "But we're still chummy." Binz and Terri started dating in 1996, a few months after Scott moved out for good. They lived together for seven years, though Binz has since bought his own house 12 miles away above Fiddletown. "I needed a place to go that didn't have grapes," he says. Binz and Scott both say they are friendly with each other. Binz is wary of speaking of Scott's ongoing animosity with Smerling ("It was like a bad divorce," he says), because Binz was involved in some of the lawsuits through a partnership with Terri in the vineyard. "I used to pride myself on never having an attorney," Binz says. "At one point I had three." Terri has also had several attorneys, and helped farm grapes for one. Like Binz, she would love to put the whole long battle between Scott and Smerling behind her. Scott says, "Between Terri and I, if I had to do it over again, I probably would have tried harder. The tremendous psychological pain of Smerling trying to destroy our lives, our marriage wasn't strong enough to survive it." Uncertain future It's hard for anyone to forgive and forget, and hardest perhaps for Terri. Whenever she's out working in the Original Grandpere Vineyard -- pulling out young willow trees that grow back every year, or carefully pruning -- she only has to look across the street to see Renwood's fenced compound. Smerling is certainly casting an eye her way. Terri says her vineyard has so far avoided infestation by phylloxera, even though several nearby vineyards have had to be ripped out and replanted. She says part of her agreement with Smerling on use of the Original Grandpere Vineyard name is that 80 percent of the vines must be original; apparently he's counting. She ripped out some vines last year that she says were no longer productive. "Her vineyard is riddled with phylloxera," Smerling says. "We've got the infrared photos that can prove it." If Smerling's right -- he could be, as phylloxera is not always detected by the naked eye -- California's oldest vines are living on borrowed time. Phylloxera kills vines quickly, usually within a few years of the first infection; vines that are already weak can die within a single summer. Terri, who already struggles to make ends meet, would have difficulty going several years without income while waiting for newly planted vines to produce saleable grapes. "He'd love to get this place," she says of Smerling. "But he'll never get it. He doesn't own me." A taste of Grandpere The flavor of a particular vineyard is harder to discern when several different winemakers are working with the grapes. The unifying flavor seems to be dry, sandy Amador County dirt -- but my favorite wine on this list, the C. G. di Arie, is not particularly earthy, perhaps as a result of food scientist/winemaker Chaim Gur-Arieh's technical innovations. The Renwood Grandpere wine is made from cloned vines that are less than 15 years old, the age at which Ridge Vineyards winemaker and CEO Paul Draper, a Zinfandel expert, says Zin vines reach maturity. At this point I prefer the complexity of some of the other wines, but I hope I'm around in a decade to taste later vintages of the Renwood Grandpere against wines made from the original vineyard. 2003 C.G. di Arie Southern Exposure Shenandoah Valley Zinfandel ($30) -- Enticing aromas and flavors of blackberry and raspberry with lots of spice -- cinnamon and clove -- and hints of tar and black pepper. Mostly blueberry on the medium-length finish; leaves a little pepper on the palate. 2001 Cloud 9 Seity Amador County Zinfandel ($35) -- Smells red, tastes black. Aromas of red plum, raspberry, red currant, earth, black pepper and violet. On the palate, it's black plum, juicy black currant, black pepper, earth and a little raisin. More graphite and violet as it gets more air. 2003 Macchia Prestigious The Original Grandpere Vineyard Amador County Zinfandel ($24) -- Big, juicy and alcoholic (16 percent). Flavors of juicy black plum, licorice, earth and huckleberry with additional aromas of earth and black pepper. 2002 Noceto OGP Amador County Zinfandel ($30) -- Very light red color. It feels like you can smell and taste the dry, sandy dirt of the vineyard, along with red plum and roasted red pepper. 2002 Renwood Grandpere Amador County Zinfandel ($32) -- Light red color. Balanced, though somewhat shy, flavors and aromas of red and black plum, earth and roasted red pepper. 2003 Scott Harvey Old Vine Selection Amador County Zinfandel ($25) -- Nice aroma of raspberry, cherry, mulling spices and earth. Complex flavor with raspberry and cherry fruit, a hint of watermelon, a pleasantly smoky note and touches of earth and fresh celery. Very long finish from the first sip. The grapes come from several vineyards; 22 percent are from the Original Grandpere Vineyard. -- W. Blake Gray E-mail W. Blake Gray at wbgray(a)sfchronicle.com. Page F - 1 URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/08/11/WI… -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *