JamesSuckling Interviews: Dan Petroski

JamesSuckling Interviews options modern and influential vineyard house owners, winemakers and trade notables representing the brand new era that’s shaping tastes, traits and strategies within the higher wine world. 

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Since founding Massican, his Napa “white wines solely” vineyard in 2009, winemaker Dan Petroski has been unwavering in not solely producing low alcohol, food-driven and more energizing types of chardonnay and Italian varietal blends of falanghina, tocai friulano and extra, but additionally on sustaining honest pricing for extra inclusive entry to California’s fantastic wines. An outspoken thought chief on the way forward for winegrowing and wine consumption, Petroski initially left a profession in New York journal publishing to pursue his ardour for wine, first engaged on a winery in Sicily after which becoming a member of Larkmead Vineyard in Napa. He at present serves on the board of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers as chair of the Trade Points Committee and Napa Inexperienced, a world chief in sustainable winegrowing certification.

JamesSuckling.com’s Susan Kostrzewa talked with Dan about how he has maintained autonomy after his latest transition into Gallo’s Luxurious Wine Group, why he thinks Napa pinot grigio is his future, the candy spot of fantastic wine pricing and the way taking a much less defensive view of next-gen consumption can set the wine trade up for fulfillment within the years to return.

Since its founding in 2009, Massican has been a “white wines-only” vineyard. Are you able to speak about your individual efforts to place Napa white wine on the worldwide map, and the way your fashion targets could also be completely different than what Napa whites have been identified for up to now?

Massican was based on this, and 15 years into it, continues to be the one white wine-only vineyard in Napa Valley. I used to be craving for the Mediterranean-style white wines that I grew up with within the wine trade, as a result of my first yr in wine [2005-2006] I used to be residing in Sicily. And lots of the wines that we have been ingesting at that cut-off date have been white wines. So coming again to America, getting my foothold in Sonoma County after which formally in Napa Valley, I used to be knee-deep in ingesting pinot noir, chardonnay. That was the period of huge, flavor-driven pinot … lots of new French oak chardonnay.

I used to be studying how one can make cabernet sauvignon, however I used to be like, I can’t drink this within the night. It’s a really Mediterranean local weather and really heat. I didn’t perceive why I couldn’t drink a lighter, brighter, more energizing fashion of California and Napa Valley [white wine] throughout that point. So I set off to see if that was doable. I used to be very lucky as a result of lots of my friends within the trade felt the identical means.

Take a look at the statistical knowledge in California. In 1996, there was extra chenin blanc planted in California than cabernet sauvignon. There’s a historical past of white wine. The Judgment of Paris introduced in Napa Valley chardonnay as a highlight grape selection and wine. The phylloxera epidemic within the Eighties bought everybody fascinated about how one can focus the power and energy into what Napa Valley terroir can do for the longer term. [In doing that] we left lots of our [broader] white winemaking and white wine ingesting of the pre-Nineteen Nineties behind us.

Gallo’s Luxurious Wine Group introduced its acqusition of Massican on Aug. 31, 2023 for an undisclosed sum. How did that come about, and the way does your imaginative and prescient align with Gallo? Have you ever maintained your private winemaking imaginative and prescient and model philosophy within the transition?

We’re 11 months into our honeymoon interval. However we have been relationship so much earlier than that. And all of the conversations I had with Joe Gallo throughout this course of was about imaginative and prescient. To start with, after we had a drink collectively, he was rooting me on and cheering for me as a result of I had this loopy imaginative and prescient to be Napa Valley’s solely white wine vineyard and to tackle the Italian pinot grigio market in America. I believe that’s what you get within the California wine trade. All of us are rooting for one another. After which the second time we met, he was extra, “I like the philosophy, I like the concepts. I like every little thing you’re doing. How can I show you how to?” And so it’s at all times been this concept of what we are able to do collectively.

So that you’ve maintained autonomy?

They’ve actually stated to do no matter you need to do, simply preserve doing what you’re doing: “You haven’t stepped within the unsuitable path but; right here’s a white wine motion coming; you’re forward of it; simply preserve shifting; we’ll provide you with every little thing you want to do what you’re doing.” And that’s been the connection for the primary 11 months. And I don’t see that altering anytime quickly. We’re going into the 2024 harvest in a few weeks and feeling higher than ever about rising in a time when lots of people are pumping the brakes on the longer term due to the challenges within the market. We’re going to be rising this yr over 30 p.c.

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That infrastructure and stability is a rarity in unpredictable occasions.

Gallo can supply alternative for scale. And it’s not solely scale of a provide chain and packaging, which goes to type of convey my value down. It’s additionally scale of the quantity of vineyards they personal. It’s a scale of the quantity of wineries they personal. It’s the chance to press my grapes at a wine facility that’s made for white wine or have entry to Italian white grape varieties in areas that I don’t have entry to proper now within the state of California. I used to be a solo operator, in a automobile, driving round, doing no matter I might to make my dream a actuality.

After which behind the scenes, coping with distribution networks and coping with money circulation and coping with capital expenditures and development. While you’re doing that [alone], it’s a pressure in your anxieties about money circulation, on how far you may go to push your self. I used to be lucky to solely work in 10 or 12 markets, however friends of mine are working in 60 markets globally. And that’s a really tough factor to do as a solo operator. So from a tactical perspective, it’s been the best factor ever for Massican and its enactment of our mixed imaginative and prescient, which is to make the best white wines in California. We additionally need to make these wines extra accessible, inexpensive.

You may have a ardour for innovation and discovery, specifically experimenting with Italian varieties and new approaches to California chardonnay. What new tasks or wines are on the horizon that you just’re enthusiastic about?

Pinot grigio is our future. Or not less than my future. I imagine 50 p.c of the pinot grigio offered in America is Italian pinot grigio – 700,000 instances of that’s Santa Margherita, and over 1,000,000 instances of that’s Cavit. There’s a chance for us to develop {the marketplace}, to say there’s an inexpensive, extra fascinating, extra advanced, made-in-California model of the wines you’re keen on already, on the similar worth or extra inexpensive. The thought is for a mode of pinot grigio that’s lighter, brighter, more energizing, with citrusy florals. Prior to now, I assumed, how the hell do I believe I can do that [when others like Bob Mondavi of La Famiglia and George Vare of Luna Vineyards have failed in the past]? The household that would do it’s the Gallo household. They’ve been round for 90 years. They’re those which have the assets, they’ve the community, they’ve the flexibility to place these wines in entrance of individuals at an affordable worth.

As you’ve launched into new tasks and varieties, why proceed to concentrate on chardonnay? Do you continue to assume there’s a narrative to be unearthed and advised about Napa chardonnay?

I like chardonnay. It’s in all probability my favourite grape selection as a shopper of wine. So I’m all in on with the ability to say I make one thing that I like. I like all my wines equally, however being able to work with the Hyde winery, which is without doubt one of the most iconic winery websites not solely in Napa Valley or Carneros however in California typically, I had this chance to do one thing particular and distinctive with it. That winery is the stage for giants within the trade, from Paul Hobbs and Andy Smith and Steve Kistler and John Kongsgaard and the checklist goes on and on. And past that, it’s a very great alternative for me to indicate the Massican drinker that you may drink a scrumptious, iconic-vineyard chardonnay at a worth that you may afford.

Additionally at this time, Napa Valley chardonnay is turning into one of many uncommon wines of California as a result of lots of the chardonnay that’s planted in Napa Valley is consumed by our glowing wine homes, the Chandons, the Mumms, the Schramsbergs. They’re placing these wines into glowing type, making scrumptious variations of it. But it surely’s really consuming up lots of good chardonnay for nonetheless wine manufacturing. I take a look at Napa Valley chardonnay as a really small phase of the wine manufacturing inhabitants of chardonnay. And so to be part of that small group that’s holding on is great. And to make a mode that’s antithetical to what California chardonnay has been identified for within the final 15 years or so feels good as nicely as a result of I simply give it some thought as a Massican chardonnay, not as a buttery Napa chardonnay.

You’ve been vocal about conserving wine pricing honest. Are fantastic wine costs nonetheless too excessive total?

I believe that lots of the fantastic wine pricing speaks to an viewers of people that we imagine are particularly looking for out what we’re producing, versus those that are nonetheless simply merely making an attempt to get pleasure from a scrumptious glass or a bottle of wine. For me, working with varieties that individuals don’t know, like tocai friulano or ribolla gialla or falanghina, I’ve to take away the gate. One of many issues with the Gallo deal that was actually essential was pricing, as a result of out there nationwide, a number of the Massican wines are as low-cost as they have been once I launched the model in 2009, 2010. Fifteen years later, with all of the inflation, with all of the will increase in valuations of Napa and Sonoma County land, costs are nearly the identical as after we launched. And we’re pondering for the following 10 years to maintain in that strata of pricing. As we scale, our prices will come down and we don’t want to lift our costs, we are able to simply put again into {the marketplace}. I’m not saying to low cost your wines, simply worth them pretty and produce folks alongside for the experience. I do know we are able to’t try this in some situations due to land worth, due to manufacturing worth. However the actuality of it’s, now we have to do our greatest to be sure that we’re speaking to the largest group of individuals accessible to us, and I don’t assume we try this very nicely within the wine commerce.

You serve on the board of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers because the chair of the Trade Points Committee. What would you say are a number of the area’s greatest challenges so far as local weather, wildfire and water utilization are involved?

We give it some thought because the 4 components: water, hearth, air and soil. We take into consideration soil well being. It’s how we farm, what we put into our soils that’s going to create resiliency for these vines to take care of [climate change]. Then the unpredictable risk of wildfire, and the supply of fresh water. After which there are lots of issues that truly tie into these issues, like land use and laws as regards to not solely to protect Napa Valley, however what California needs to do to cleared the path to be probably the most ahead thinker in terms of the altering local weather. And Mom Nature’s repeatedly altering. So our legal guidelines are repeatedly altering. We shouldn’t make one change and anticipate it to final a lifetime. And with all that comes the opposite realities of pest management, with hearth insurance coverage that’s unattainable proper now as a result of individuals are afraid to insure properties the place there’s potential for wildfire.

After which you concentrate on the climate-changing world, and you concentrate on how we need to shield our workforce. If it’s over 95 levels Fahrenheit exterior, nobody needs to be within the subject. Nobody needs to be exterior working with out cowl. So now we have guidelines and laws about not exposing our workforce to excessive circumstances. We’re working each day to determine how we are able to change into extra sustainable, not solely as a corporation of grape growers and grower members, however as an trade inside our small slice of the wine trade, which is Napa Valley.

Are producers on board with the type of adjustments you’re discussing?

A giant a part of that’s going to be the affect on future financial viability, as a result of a wildfire can take your whole enterprise out. It could take your library stock out. The shortage of water can decrease your yields. Pests might wipe out your crop. The warmth might harm your crop; the warmth might preserve your folks out of the winery and take the human equation half out of the trade. However what I’ve realized from my friends is one of the best particular person to offer a problem to is a farmer. It doesn’t essentially must be innovation, doesn’t must be know-how. It might simply be understanding row path because it adjustments over time, understanding canopies and understanding what’s finest on your vine development with shade and wind circulation. I at all times joke about the truth that once I was at Larkmead, we planted seven grape varieties for the longer term change of local weather and three of them have been varieties that have been planted on the property 50 years in the past. They have been the precise varieties on the unsuitable time.

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How can the wine commerce talk extra authentically and successfully to shoppers within the face of a lot competitors from different segments, in addition to the anti-alcohol messaging that’s gaining momentum?

I welcome the truth that we’re all ingesting with extra variety in our lives. That’s one thing that’s very European. In the event you and I have been having this dialog in-person in Rome, we’d  in all probability be ingesting a Campari soda at 4pm, after which we roll into dinner and have a glass of wine. After which possibly after dinner, now we have a digestif. That variety already exists within the life that we’ve lived in a few of our travels. And now that that’s occurring in our personal lives round us, we get all pissed off that somebody’s having a White Claw or a Excessive Midday earlier than dinner, after which possibly having a glass of wine as a substitute of a bottle after which ingesting whiskey within the night. There’s an evolution of beverage consumption that truly tracks rather well with meals. I’m not one to say that wine is the one beverage we have to drink; wine is without doubt one of the drinks we have to drink as a as a part of the life that you just need to stay.

We went via a interval of unequalled development and a interval with out lots of competitors in an area that had a lot variety to start with. And now that there’s a little bit little bit of extra competitors, and individuals are tending to go elsewhere and the competitors is cheaper however provides extra bang on your buck, extra variety. So let’s do our jobs. If we need to be nice producers of wine, we have to begin studying how one can inform that story. And I don’t assume we’re ever going to win again market share in spirits or beer or no matter class.  I don’t assume we needs to be working towards that, however towards making a viable and profitable enterprise that has a spot on the desk for a shopper that appreciates what you do, and in case you can’t make that financial enterprise mannequin work, then you want to do one thing else. I hate to shatter your desires, however then you want to do one thing else.

Ought to we use a class like meals as a mannequin?

On platforms like TikTok, you may go and discover recipes. I used to be cooking through the pandemic with no recipe, watching a 32-second TikTok video. Shit like this has been occurring on YouTube for over a decade now; 20 years. And the wine house has had a very arduous time doing that as a result of now we have sure legal guidelines that prohibit us to promote and market in that means.

Nonetheless, we nonetheless have the chance to get in entrance of individuals as a part of this. We’re 15 years behind the meals house however we’re on the desk now and I believe that is crucial half. If you wish to put your wine up towards a martini, you’re going to lose that battle, you realize, 99 out of 100 occasions with the brand new shopper, as a result of we’re a product that is available in principally 4 varieties: white wine, pink wine, pink wine or glowing wine. And Instagram doesn’t assist us present what that the product itself really is aside from these 4 shades of shade. Our bottles are usually extra reverential than they are usually enjoyable and funky and fascinating, just like the beer trade or spirits trade. We’ve handcuffed ourselves at occasions out of respect for that custom. So if we’re going to remain that genuine self and be respectful to custom, we have to get into a robust house of speaking about wine that’s meant for the desk, versus saying the one means you may expertise our wines is to return to our winery, sit on our rocking chairs, take a look at our vines and change into a part of our mailing checklist. That canine don’t hunt. That’s not occurring anymore.

– Susan Kostrzewa