Kingston Family Vineyards reminded me a lot of Dana Estates in Napa Valley. Both are small, high-quality, family-owned, and hospitality-oriented. A recent visit to Dana in August 2018 included cheese and cracker pairings with the wine tastings, as well as an unsolicited tour of the facilities. Given the parallels between the two vineyards, I did a little more digging into Dana.
Hi Sang Lee (the founder of Dana Estates) began cultivating wine knowledge through an import business. Initially, he led an import business for wines into South Korea. At the time, Korea had (and still has) a strong drinking culture, but primarily in the form of beer and soju - and not, wine.
In 2005, Lee opened a vineyard in Napa Valley with the help of vintners - Philippe Melka, Chris Cooney (winemakers) and Pete Richmond. He purchased the old Livingston-Moffet Winery and set out to create a high-quality wine.
He took a “responsible farming” approach. Dana Estate vineyards are farmed on a vine-by-vine basis, and production is low - usually under two tons per acre. During the first few years, they produced under 500 cases.
More recently, Dana Estates received their first perfect score - 100 points on the 2007 Lotus Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon by wine critic Robert Parker. They sell directly through mailing lists, and now, through some major distributors such as K&L. A recent searches showed their high-end wine Dana Estates priced at $490, the mid-end “Onda” at $200, and low-end “Vaso” at $85. I’ve also recently seen Onda and Vaso on flights, flipping through the duty free magazines.
I was surprised by the parallels between Hi Sang and Courtney’s businesses - starting with a growing knowledge in importing, partnering with a renowned vintner, focusing on direct-to-consumer distribution channels, investing in organic / “high touch” grape-growing, and gaining popularity (and huge price hikes!) after receiving high wine critic scores. I’d be curious to see how many other small, family-owned vineyards take a similar approach.
Sources:
No comments:
Post a Comment