Review, Share and Discover Wines and Spirits
100 Years Old Wine Pioneers: Mario Perelli-Minetti
Who is Mario Perelli?
A couple of months ago we cracked a bottle of La grande Dame to celebrate Mario Perelli’s centenery in private in our offices
Who is Mario Perelli/ Here are some of comments by many a people
Mario Perelli-Minetti is a winemaker. He is the son of a winemaker. The grandson of a winemaker.
To his everlasting regret and infinite pleasure, he has inherited the genetic affliction that, among his generation of grape growers, has produced a harvest of triumph, madness, acrimony, wealth and ruin.
"Grapes are in my blood," he says.
It is not an infusion recommended for the faint of heart, much less the financially constrained.
Perelli-Minetti can be described as - funny, profane, charmingly irascible - is standing in front of his handsome mansion in exclusive Hills borough. His sales log scribbled by hand in pencil, he is off to flog some wine. His customers include several of the Bay Area's best food and wine purveyors - Gary Danko, Ed Moose, Bradley Ogden - who buy his wine not just for its quality but also because of Perelli-Minetti, who is a sip of history. A vintage character.
His winery, Mario Perelli-Minetti in Rutherford, is a minor operation, producing just a few thousand cases a year. It was started in 1979, after Perelli-Minetti, who has a law degree from Stanford, retired as longtime general manager of the California Wine Association.
At 100, Perelli-Minetti is one of a dying breed: wine pioneers, whose fathers and grandfathers (if not grandmothers), through sweat, sacrifice and at great personal cost, made the California wine industry what it is today.
For a time, Perelli-Minetti was a one-man show: owner, bung pounder, bottle washer, stock boy.
Now, he's just a salesman. He makes his rounds with a hired driver in a white commercial van, stocked with cases that he keeps stored in his garage. (HIGHWAY PATROL TOOK AWAY HIS DRIVING LICENSE A COUPLE OF YEARS BACK TO HIS MUCH ANNOYANCE AND LOSS OF FREEDOM)
You don't see Francis Ford Coppola making deliveries. "I'm a peddler," says Perelli-Minetti, who is always nattily attired - suit, white shirt, gold cuff links and a pair of shoes so enormous they resemble barrel staves.
"I'm out there every day. What else am I going to do? My wife is gone. I don't play golf. I love this business and the people in it. This is what keeps me going."
"The moral of the story is to drink good wine and enjoy your friends," he says. "They're not going to be here forever."
Mario is 100 years old.
When asked about his longevity he smiled cocqetly and said Wine is in my blood.
WineGlobe offer his wines at excellent price:
2001 Miriam Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet 750ml
2005 Mario Perelli Minetti Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
A couple of months ago we cracked a bottle of La grande Dame to celebrate Mario Perelli’s centenery in private in our offices
Who is Mario Perelli/ Here are some of comments by many a people
Mario Perelli-Minetti is a winemaker. He is the son of a winemaker. The grandson of a winemaker.
To his everlasting regret and infinite pleasure, he has inherited the genetic affliction that, among his generation of grape growers, has produced a harvest of triumph, madness, acrimony, wealth and ruin.
"Grapes are in my blood," he says.
It is not an infusion recommended for the faint of heart, much less the financially constrained.
Perelli-Minetti can be described as - funny, profane, charmingly irascible - is standing in front of his handsome mansion in exclusive Hills borough. His sales log scribbled by hand in pencil, he is off to flog some wine. His customers include several of the Bay Area's best food and wine purveyors - Gary Danko, Ed Moose, Bradley Ogden - who buy his wine not just for its quality but also because of Perelli-Minetti, who is a sip of history. A vintage character.
His winery, Mario Perelli-Minetti in Rutherford, is a minor operation, producing just a few thousand cases a year. It was started in 1979, after Perelli-Minetti, who has a law degree from Stanford, retired as longtime general manager of the California Wine Association.
At 100, Perelli-Minetti is one of a dying breed: wine pioneers, whose fathers and grandfathers (if not grandmothers), through sweat, sacrifice and at great personal cost, made the California wine industry what it is today.
For a time, Perelli-Minetti was a one-man show: owner, bung pounder, bottle washer, stock boy.
Now, he's just a salesman. He makes his rounds with a hired driver in a white commercial van, stocked with cases that he keeps stored in his garage. (HIGHWAY PATROL TOOK AWAY HIS DRIVING LICENSE A COUPLE OF YEARS BACK TO HIS MUCH ANNOYANCE AND LOSS OF FREEDOM)
You don't see Francis Ford Coppola making deliveries. "I'm a peddler," says Perelli-Minetti, who is always nattily attired - suit, white shirt, gold cuff links and a pair of shoes so enormous they resemble barrel staves.
"I'm out there every day. What else am I going to do? My wife is gone. I don't play golf. I love this business and the people in it. This is what keeps me going."
"The moral of the story is to drink good wine and enjoy your friends," he says. "They're not going to be here forever."
Mario is 100 years old.
When asked about his longevity he smiled cocqetly and said Wine is in my blood.
WineGlobe offer his wines at excellent price:
2001 Miriam Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet 750ml
2005 Mario Perelli Minetti Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Tags: Cabernet, Mario Perelli Minetti, Miriam Napa Valley Reserve ..., Napa, Sauvignon", Valley
Add a Comment
© 2009 Created by WineGlobe.com
You need to be a member of WineGlobe.com Community to add comments!
Join this Ning Network