Check out what Fred Schweiger had to say about the recession of the early 80’s and how he was able to open a new door for his future.

By David J. Lynch, USA TODAY

New doors open

Amid the hard times of the early 1980s, some people carved opportunity from adversity.

In California, a general contractor named Fred Schweiger saw his business idled by punishingly high interest rates. To keep his crew together, he used his savings to pay them to clear 35 acres of wooded hillside in Napa County. His third try for a loan to start a vineyard there was approved, and almost 30 years later, Schweiger Vineyards in St. Helena, Calif., ships 5,000 cases of wine each year.

The early 1980s, Schweiger, 67, says today, “became a situation where something bad turned good.”

Likewise, the recession pushed civil engineer Dave Holman to take a chance on working overseas after the Escondido, Calif., firm he worked for cut his salary by one-third.

To read the entire article go to the link below:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2010-01-06-recession-scars-will-take-long-time-to-heal_N.htm

This is a solid quartet of wines, with the 2007’s revealing slightly more upside potential than their older siblings. The rustic 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon exhibits chocolate, black cherry, black currant, and loamy, earthy notes along with some tough tannins in the finish. Purchasers should be careful how long they age this cuvee as it may have a tendency to dry out. A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Malbec, the better balanced 2006 Dedication is an elegant wine revealing plenty of black currant, forest floor, underbrush, chocolate, and truffle notes. It possesses medium body as well as polished tannins in the finish. This excellent blend should drink nicely in 10-12 years.
Both the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2007 Dedication are deeper, richer, more opaque ruby/purple-colored efforts with sweeter tannins, more fruit volume, and additional layers as well as depth. Both wines will need 2-3 years of cellaring and should evolve for 10-15 years.
SCORES
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon (88-91)
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon 87
2007 Dedication Proprietary Red (90-92)
2006 Dedication Proprietary Red 89  

A must-visit in Napa

In addition to receiving a number of requests for the names of wineries to visit in Napa Valley, a good friend called the other day and asked, “If I only have one day to spend in Napa, what would you suggest?” and I immediately responded: Spring Mountain.

Anyone who has driven north on Highway 29 through Napa Valley will recall the two-lane highway that is dotted with the entrances to some of the most well-known California wineries such as Robert Mondavi, Neibaum-Coppola (now called Rubicon), Opus One and Louis Martini, just to name a few. Every time I make this drive, I almost feel the exhilaration of using some of those old “E” tickets from the early days of Disney World, but instead of screaming down Space Mountain, I am slowly driving up Spring Mountain.

Just before you reach the downtown area of St. Helena, you come across an old drive-in restaurant, Taylor’s Refresher, which is a destination of local families and tourists alike. Driving just a bit farther north takes you into downtown St. Helena, which has the look and feel of 1950s small-town America.

Turn west off of Highway 29 in the downtown area and you will come to a street named Spring Mountain Highway. After a right turn onto Spring Mountain Highway, you’ll soon realize that it’s anything but a highway, but more of an old, winding country road that leads you several thousand feet up through a very rural area, leaving behind all of the commercialization of Napa Valley and into the realm of the 30 plus wineries that comprise the Spring Mountain Appellation.

At one juncture, you approach an area where it narrows to one-way traffic because two extremely large, tall and beautiful redwood trees have overtaken the pavement that used to allow two cars to pass. The drive takes you through a number of hairpin curves and is lined with giant redwoods in some areas and vineyards in others as you pass the wineries that comprise this appellation.

This drive is one of my favorites in the valley and is absolutely beautiful in the summer, when all the plants and vegetation are a lush green. It leads to stops such as Spring Mountain Winery, Robert Keenan Winery, Schweiger Vineyards, Pride Mountain Vineyards and Barnett Vineyards. Each of these wineries is open to the public, but they require an advance reservation.

Due to the mountain environment, the grapevines struggle for water and other nutrients, causing their roots to travel deep below the surface in search of moisture. Vineyard managers have to be careful just how much their growing efforts “stress” the fruit. They provide the vines with very little water, making the vines struggle to obtain the necessities that allow them to grow in a healthy manner. This creates a smaller crop than normal and also results in smaller grapes, but with much more intense flavors in the fruit. In my opinion, Spring Mountain wineries produce the some of the best-tasting merlots due to the intensity of their flavors.

During a visit to Spring Mountain Winery a few years ago, my party had the opportunity to observe a coyote frolicking in the vineyards. Pride Mountain and Barnett sit at the top of this area and offer visitors the ability to look down upon the vineyards and even see the fog rolling in from below.

There are not any restaurants or stores on Spring Mountain, so you are on your own for food and beverages other than wine. I would suggest putting together a picnic basket at one of the markets on the valley floor, because many of the wineries have designated picnic areas and they can be reserved when you schedule a tour and tasting.

Jim Rawe, a family attorney in Bradenton, is an avid collector of fine wines. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at jimrawe@gmail.com.

You can now keep up to date with all the fun of the Napa Valley and Schweiger Vineyards.  Our very own winemaker, Andrew Schweiger will be sharing his thoughts, reflections and the goings-on here at Schweiger.  Join in the fun and visit http://twitter.com/SchweigerWine

On February 21^st, 2009, the Napa Valley Vintners held its annual Premiere Napa Valley Wine Auction.  Unique one of a kind lots are created specifically for this auction.  Trying a new approach, we teamed up with Judd’s Hill and Salvestrin Wineries to create a never before seen blend.  This collaboration, Lot #15, was a beautiful blend incorporating juice from Howell Mtn, Spring Mtn, and St. Helena appellations.  The wine was made of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc all equally contributed from each winery.   While Premiere 2009 didn’t raise as much money as previous years, over $1.5 million were raised putting Lot #15 in the top 10%!  The winning came from was Cory Graf of Vin de Garde Houston.

Schweiger Vineyards is pleased to announce the appointment of Alicia Green, CSW (Certified Specialist of Wine - Society of Wine Educators) to the sales team as the South/Central Regional Manager.  Ms. Green will work with our distributor partners in Arizona, Las Vegas, N.V., Southern California, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas and Illinois to continue furthering the growth of Schweiger Vineyards located in the Spring Mountain District.

Ms. Green brings a wealth of wine and trade experience with her most recent position as a key accounts sales manager at Young’s Market Company.  Prior to this, she held management positions within the Phoenix, AZ based organizations of Alliance Beverage, Armitage Wine Lounge, Eddie Matney’s Restaurant and Mortons.  Her educational background includes a B.S. in Psychology from Longwood College, VA and a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology from Western Kentucky University.

Alicia can be contacted at alicia@schweigervineyards.com or by telephone (877) 963-4882

The two most recent issues of Beverage Dynamics National Retailer Wine Panel published the following ratings and brief tasting notes about two of our new releases:

2004 Schweiger Vineyards Merlot (93 Points & Five Stars) From high atop Spring Mountain, comes this amazing merlot; big, full, rich fruit, with an elegant, creamy finish; great now; can’t wait to taste it again after 3-5 years of cellaring.

2004 Schweiger Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (93 Points & Five Stars) Great nose; rich with red fruit flavors and a beautiful finish; one of the best.

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