Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/376390
september 2014 / the tasting panel / 7 Quite literally. Gifford used the new wine venture as a reason to visit California, where she loves to be, and she took a tour of the Salinas Valley properties with the Scheids. She was actively involved with the tastings of reds and whites that helped fashion the wine that eventually went into the bottles. Al Scheid founded the winery in 1972, after he put together an investment group to purchase the land. He was with E. F. Hutton at the time, but when he got going in wine, he went all the way. "I was one of the founders of the California Association of Winegrape Growers," he says as we take a tour of their Viento Vineyard. "I knew that the only way to get into this business was to get into this business. You couldn't nibble the edges." He and his group doubled the wine acreage planted in Monterey County, and then things kind of morphed. His son, Scott, was working on Wall Street but didn't want to live in New York anymore, so he moved to California. Dad suggested taking a year away from finance to try the wine business. He wound up staying. His daughter, Heidi, with a Master's in business from USC, had been working at Ernst & Young when she tried working at the winery while on maternity leave. She stayed, too. The sun was hot on the fields as we rode around, but the wind would soon come up, as it invariably does every after- noon in the region. The Scheids own ten estate vineyards along a 70-mile swath of the Salinas Valley, from Soledad to Bradley. Aromatic whites do well here: Gewürztraminer, Riesling and, of course, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Along with some cool-climate Merlot and Syrah, the Scheids have more than 30 varieties in the ground, and the region has the longest grow- ing season in California. Because the heat of the day doesn't last very long, harvest time can extend to Thanksgiving. "The variety gives us that 'spice rack' to make up the Red Blend for GIFFT," Scott says, speaking of the blend of 42% Merlot, 25% Petite Sirah, 12% Syrah, 10% Petit Verdot and a small percentage of other varieties. And when it comes to Pinot Noir, there are a large number of clones planted on five different vineyards, and "it gives [wine- maker] Dave Nagengast the room to spread out." He believes that "an approachable wine is a beautiful blend" that has none of the austerity of a single clone from a single vineyard. It's quite apparent that Harvard-educated Al Scheid is a very astute businessperson, and he's not shy about offering his . . . assessments. "I may be speaking out of turn," he says, "but I personally don't care much for what the experts say, because they don't buy much wine. The best award we ever won was at a big banquet that they have here in Monterey, and we won Best Wine of the dinner. The whole roomful of people, and there were hundreds of people there, voted for that wine. And I hope they vote when they go into the store, too." "Power to the people!" Gifford shouts. Gifford started the project not really liking California Chardonnays, because of their heavy, oak-y, buttery per- sonality. But she asked the Scheids if they could make a Chardonnay that was light and delicate, something more like the French Chablis she was more familiar with. And of course they could. As for the Red Blend, "The word everyone uses is smooth," Gifford says. "And that's all to Dave's great credit." When Kathie Lee conducts tastings, lots of different kinds of folks come to see her, and maybe not a lot of them know—or care—a lot about wine. "So it's just delightful for me as they try that really crisp, chilled, delicate Chardonnay—the way I love it." PHOTO: JOHN CURLEY