That was like getting a Parker score of 100 in that day and age. by Ray Duncan

That was like getting a Parker score of 100 in that day and age.

Ray Duncan

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Categorized in : U.S.

It’s going to be very farm-based -- very modern. When it’s finished, it’s going to be part of the land, water use, energy use, where the materials come from -- all of those things are really important to demonstrate what can be done for the wine industry. We’re not doing risky things. We’re just taking current technology and pushing it to the edge.

We made the ’72, ’73, ’74 and ’75 before we sold our first bottle of wine. My dad had the faith and trust in Justin to do that, we basically borrowed all the money. It was not that expensive. Nobody was here—there was nothing going on. The investment on the first vintage was probably $5 a bottle, or $60 a case.

When the Demostenes started to make wine in 1972, they had the next use permit in sequential order from Silver Oak, like Dad would say, ‘It’s the Celestine Prophecy.’ It was meant to be.

We’ve learned there’s all kinds of stuff you can apply for if you do it this way -- government grants, tax credits, energy rebates, our CFO is going nuts on this stuff. I told her ‘Get everything you can.’.

There was this fad going around for 10 or 15 years around higher alcohol, and we were never able to jump on that bus because by the time it was clear that was the direction that was getting the high scores, we had five years of inventory. So we stuck to our guns, now people are making more moderate wines, and we’re getting credit for making wines of style and personality and grace. We never stopped doing that. As a long-term product cycle, that’s a very unique thing. There’s so much urgency in our world today. That doesn’t exist in what we do. It’s very important to me to guard that, and to not get in a hurry and follow what everyone else is doing. Our customers like what we do. The only thing we’re trying to do is get better at what we’re really good at.