The first wines from Rombauer Vineyards were a Cabernet Sauvignon from 1980 and a Chardonnay from 1982, which were bottled in Körner and Joan Rombauer’s garage in St. Helena, California, a small town in the center of the Napa Valley. Koerner was a commercial airline pilot until he and Joan decided to start a family business. The midsize winery is now 40 years old, and her granddaughter, Reagan Rombauer, says her grandparents’ work ethic underpins many of the company’s business decisions.
“Our family never believed in living wastefully,” says the 30-year-old deputy brand manager at Rombauer Vineyards. “We don’t own any yachts or castles in France. We believe in putting the money back into business. We are known for our consistency from year to year, which is difficult when you rely on Mother Nature. “
The Rombauers started out small and only expanded when they could afford it, buying vineyards and increasing their grape varieties. Today Rombauer’s mother and uncle run the company, she is the first member of the third generation to work there.
“When I was little, my mother let me sleep under her desk at work. When you grow up you get a bit of a second-hand look, you understand the harvest, but you learn more about the business side than about the wine. When other girls said they wanted to be a vet or a princess [when they grew up], I would say I wanted to be a businesswoman. “
Pulling quote
Our philosophy is the best care of the grapes. When you have the best quality fruit, you can get the least out of it when you bring it in. We want to understand it on the vine and, when it comes in, have the gentlest touch.
Rombauer spends a lot of time traveling to wine festivals and wine evenings, making personal contacts, and encouraging wine lovers to constantly expand their palates. It will be in Santa Fe for the 30th Annual Wine & Chile Fiesta from Wednesday September 22nd to Sunday September 26th. Rombauer Vineyards is the winner of the year. On Thursday, September 23rd, Rombauer will conduct a seminar on the vineyard’s grape varieties.
She spoke to Pasatiempo about the history of the winery and family business, as well as some wine basics.
Hobby: What was it like growing up in the Napa Valley?
Reagan Rombauer: I grew up walking around the winery. My mother took us on so-called “excursion days”. She would take us out of school and we could help with the harvest for the day and drive around on the tractor with my grandfather. So I grew up with it, but I didn’t really get it until I got out there and saw the world and saw how special and cool it was.
Happen: It sounds like your year was tied to the growing and harvesting times.
RR: In the Napa Valley, the wineries run all year round, whether it’s harvest season or summer tourist season. Everyone knows when it is harvest time, when the trucks drive through and the air only smells of it. We have a big Thanksgiving festival in town, as is the case with many farming communities that really follow the seasons.
Happen: What brought you to your position in the company?
RR: We and our family are not allowed to show up and start collecting a check after we graduate from high school or college. We have to do other things. Only when you have a certain level of experience and can bring something back to business do you have the opportunity. I went to school in Boise State [University] and completed a degree in business administration and then worked in project management for a government contractor. I ended up in Las Vegas in real estate. It was a somewhat flexible career and opened the door to my family asking me to organize events and dinners for them. Eventually I told them I had to focus on one thing or the other and they hired me full-time. That was four years ago.
Happen: What was the first wine you ever tried?
RR: [When we were kids] On very, very special occasions there was a slightly watered down Rombauer Chardonnay. My first “ah-ha” moment with a wine accompaniment was Thai food with a really good Riesling shortly after I turned 21. I don’t remember the brand anymore.
Happen: How has business done during the pandemic?
RR: We have enough retail presence [to survive]. Wineries that rely solely on people coming into their tasting rooms to sell wines, or wineries that only sell to restaurants, had a much harder time. We went to outlets where people shop anyway. We survived pretty well, but the fires had an impact.
Happen: Did you suffer damage?
RR: We are on a hill in St. Helena. The fire burned all around. There has been a lot of damage and cleanup, but all of our buildings have been rescued. We are very grateful to the fire brigade.
Happen: Did the vineyards burn?
RR: Because the vineyards are green and alive, and you water them, they look like natural blocks of fire. Maybe an outer row will be burned or the water pipes will be burned. The fire will burn plastic before it burns vines.
Happen: Has climate change affected the vineyards?
RR: In some years it feels so much drier than in the past, but when you look back you can see years of drought and years of rain. We noticed a trend that the harvest starts a little earlier each year. But we think long-term and take care of the land and the vineyards so that we can pass them on from generation to generation. We have special drip line systems that only irrigate where they are needed. When the fruit comes into the winery, water with chemicals is usually used to clean your pipes, inlets, and barrels. We use steam. It uses less water, does not require chemicals and is more hygienic. The industry average is about six to 14 gallons of water to make one gallon of wine. We’re using about 2.4 gallons. Our goal is to be 1-to-1.
Happen: Rombauer is known for producing very consistent wines. Is there pressure to change things?
RR: Our newest variety, which we added in 2014, is Sauvignon Blanc. This has quickly become our third most popular variety after Chardonnay and Zinfandel. Our philosophy is the best care of the grapes. When you have the best quality fruit, you can get the least out of it when you bring it in. We want to understand it on the vine and, when it comes in, have the gentlest touch.
Wine 101
Reagan Rombauer answers questions for newcomers to wine
Specialized Wine Glasses: Necessary or Nonsense?
They make a really big difference in the flavors you can get out of the wine because of the shape of the glass, and they’re designed to deliver the wine to the most optimized spot on your palate. But I find myself putting these glasses away to bring them out for special occasions. Wine tastes great from an everyday glass. The most important thing is to make sure that there is no residue in your glass. If you rinse it lightly with water and unscented soap first, you can fully enjoy the taste and smell of your wine.
Merlot: versatile or boring?
Merlot was an extremely popular variety in the 1990s. Wines go in and out of trend, and what happens when something becomes popular is too many people start making it. People made very bad merlots, planted vines in the wrong climates, and the variety was labeled junk wine. It started to go out of style at the same time as the film Sideways [2004] came out. People like to call this movie The Fall of the Merlot, but it already happened. The film jumped on the trend of people beating up the grape variety. Our Merlot is a beautiful medium-bodied wine that goes very well with food. It’s more versatile than a big, bold Cabernet, and you can purchase a better quality Merlot than a Cabernet at certain prices.
Shelf life: how long can an open bottle of wine last?
You can chill white wine after opening it, but the more aromatic it is, the faster you will notice it is losing something. Sometimes red wines taste better the next day. I prefer a three day window to drink wine, but you can go up to a week. There are several different casings that you can use to preserve a bottle, such as a Coravin [wine aerator]. This is a great option for high-end bottles where you might have a glass and then want to keep it for a couple of weeks.
Cost: What is the minimum price for a good bottle of wine?
There is no real rule. When I look at a list, I don’t get the cheapest or the most expensive. Over $ 25 is what the industry considers the premium category for wines, but that varies for each grape variety. For cabernets, $ 60 is a more average price. It also depends on which region the wine comes from. Different regions have different price points. But you can have a $ 5 bottle that you like for everyday wine and a $ 25 bottle once a year. For other people, $ 25 might be their daily price. We just want people to find wines they enjoy and keep trying new things.
Winemaking: Science or Art?
It’s a balance between science and art. There are many tests you can do – testing sugar, paint build-up, water neutron probes in the vineyards, aerial mapping to help you understand if a particular vine needs more water or more shade while the vine next to it needs less of it. Each vine can be tended and treated individually. All of this information is compiled and used, but at the end of the day, it is the winemakers in the vineyards who taste the grapes in the week leading up to harvest. It takes gut instinct to make the call if that’s the best the fruit will get this year.
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