The Accidental Vintners
There are mountains on both sides of Napa Valley, which is probably why we call it a valley in the first place. The Mayacamas Range, Atlas Peak, Spring Mountain, and like that. But among them, Diamond Mountain holds a special place in my heart. Our friend Peter Thompson has his Andrew Geoffrey vineyard on Diamond Mountain (way at the top), and so do our friends Walter and Joan Teachworth.
We met the Teachworths through Neil and Karen Aldoroty, who are the owners of a private wine storage facility in St. Helena. They sit on a lot of really good wine for their customers, and when they discover something special, they let us know. (It’s also how we met Gary Ochwat and Ricardo Cajulis, who generously shared their Garric Cellars wines with Wine Fest attendees this past February.)
The Teachworth Vineyard
Having heard Neil’s praises of Teachworth’s wines, we decided to make a phone call. Joan immediately extended a gracious invitation to lunch, which we accepted with both delight and alacrity, and trekked up a nearly-vertical Diamond Mountain road on the appointed day. Best thing we ever did.
I suppose if you, like Walter Teachworth, started drinking aged Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour in the 1970s and paid about $6 a bottle for it, you’d develop a taste for the Good Stuff. He did, and shared it with his adorable and bubbly wife Joan, who got the idea in no time at all.
Walter Teachworth and Debi
By the mid-1990s, the couple had had just about enough of building houses and condos in Galveston, so there was only one place for them to go. Guess where.
The irony is that they never intended to become vintners. For them, it was enough to build a gorgeous home with waterfalls and riots of flowers, a pool that looks like some kind of exotic desert oasis, and a terrace that offers breathtaking views of the area. The idea was to drink a little wine, do some hiking, relax. Didn’t work out.
For better or worse, the land they bought for their home simply cried out to be planted with Cabernet Sauvignon. They couldn’t resist. Who could?
The Teachworths enjoyed another stroke of good fortune. Their neighbors were Al and Boots Brounstein, a lovely, gentle couple who just happened to make a deservedly-famous selection of wines called Diamond Creek. Fabulous stuff, costs around $135 a bottle, and worth every nickel. Al convinced Walter to produce two single-vineyard wines from the vines he had planted, which is exactly what happened.
Miles Grant & Joan Teachworth
Sidebar – when we go to Napa, we have the custom of stopping by Dean & DeLuca, buying up a ton of breads, cheeses, cold cuts, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and the like, and bringing them to lunch at the home of our friends. So that’s what we did with Walter and Joan.
They welcomed us like long-lost cousins, maybe because they were hungry, but probably because they’re just that kind of people. This is how we had the delightful opportunity to sit on their terrace and savor both the Manzanita Vineyard and Rattlesnake Vineyard bottlings…along with an Estate Blend, which is a combination of the two.
The Other Teachworth Vineyard
The good news is that Walter and Joan have accepted our invitation to showcase their highly-allocated wines at next year’s event…both at a vintner dinner and the Grand Tasting. You’re going to love the wines, and you’re absolutely going to love the Teachworths.
Debi, me, and Joan Teachworth, October 2009