Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/113109
PHOTO: RANDY CAPAROSO Winemaker Marisa Taylor at the doors of the Rutherford Hill Winery in Napa Valley. This didn���t happen overnight, but rather through the patience, leadership and investment (over $7 million in winery improvements alone) of the Terlato family, who purchased the winery in 1996, and initiated the process of realigning standards towards Terlato���s luxury brand image. According to Rutherford Hill winemaker Marisa Taylor, it was a matter of retooling towards the parent company���s simple business philosophy: ���quality as a way of life.��� Dedicated to Merlot The winery on Rutherford Hill Road was originally built by the Pillsbury Company in 1972, as part of Souverain Vineyards. In 1976 it was purchased by a group headed by Bill Jaeger and Chuck Carpy (also among the founders of Freemark Abbey), who renamed it Rutherford Hill. The new owners were inspired by the wines of Pomerol in Bordeaux; cognizant of the enormous potential of the grape in California, they decided to specialize in Merlot. When the Terlato family acquired Rutherford Hill, one of its most spectacular features was its state-of-the-art wine caves, carved into the hills on the east side of Napa Valley���s Rutherford AVA between 1984 and 1989. This milelong system of tunnels can hold up to 8,000 barrels of wine at a time. In 1996, however, the focus seemed to be more on illing a pipeline; more than 100,000 cases of Merlot were being produced each year under the Rutherford Hill brand. According to march 2013 / the tasting panel / 75