Chris Rota - Snapshots and Snippets
Our Journey
Eagerly, I share with you views and visions from four generations as well as my personal 60+ year journey through this marvelous world of wine. These are some of my kaleidoscopic glimpses into the endless array of wine’s beauty with its many facets and profound dimensions. Individual wines, styles, philosophies and passion; history, legend and customs; food and pairing; countries, appellations and more; they are all touched and embraced here through my mind’s eye.
The scene above is the region near Milan in which my great-grandfather, grandfather and father grew Nebbiolo grapes along the shores of Lago d'Iseo.
Join me and let’s travel together and if you have questions, be sure to ask The Answer Grape.
NEW DIMENSIONS:
A New way to share with you my 60 year journey in the World of wine in a more enjoyable and tangible way is through the wines I have been promoting and selling at the V. Sattui Winery for 23 of those years. .....And, what a ride it was and still is.
It all began when I had my own company - CR Sales & Marketing Co. - which dealt with finished and bottled wines as well as wines still in tanks. I sold some 3000 gallons of Napa Valley Merlot to Dario Sattui. The year was 1997 when Dario said: "Why don't you come here and work for me?" Well, I had never worked retail before, as it was always business-to-business - winery to distributor or retailer/restaurant. I replied with "Well, I'll give it a try just temporarily. Besides my loving wife, it was the best decision I've ever made in my life and, of course, I have never left.
I started in the tasting room which was quite an experience as hundreds of people would pour into the winery daily with thousands on weekends. Each bar in this enormous room was a study in crowd management with a unique ability to give each and every patron personal attention along with vinous pleasure and information. Truly, it was my calling and I had a ball. People would enter this room teaming with humanity and scan it. They would come to my bar because it seemed to them to be the most engaging and fun. Did I love people? Did it show?
With this almost lifelong immersion in wine and food,I soon became the training officer for both, the tasting room and the famous deli; teaching staff about wine, cheese, sales technique and people management. Shortly, I was appointed to be the members only Cellar Club Room Manager, handling the winery's very best customers. There were two hour, specialized wine and food pairings which I customized in the elevated Gold Room for Gold Members. People talked about them for years and they still do.
Similarly, I did the winery tours and folks would make comments like "I have toured wineries all over the world and never had an experience like this one in the Napa Valley". It wasn't long before I wrote Tour Manuals for both V. Sattui Winery and the sister winery Castello d' Amorosa on Diamond Mountain.
Presently, I'm semi-retired working in the farmhouse as a telemarketer because retiring or leaving (Really?) is unthinkable. By the way, today the Department has cornered a significant 25% of the winery's total sales. I'm still connecting with the people I love; enriching their culinary lives with suggestions, recommendations, ideas, pairings and more.
PLENTY TO SHARE: There's plenty more where all of this originated and it begs to be shared even more as I get older (80+). That's where you enter the picture. GIVE ME A CALL AT V. SATTUI WINERY (707) 501-5226 or reply here with the Answer Grape. The winery produces 54 wines and all of them with ultra- premium quality. I say that unequivocally by all of the medals, high scores and "Best of Competitions" that we receive year-after-year. My long history in wine and my lengthy tenure with V. Sattui has certainly given me intimate familiarity with each of the wines by which I can guide you in every one of your selections.
GIVE ME A CALL (707) 501-5226. Do I really love people? You'll find out.
Ad vinum fluat! ...Chris Rota