Most of us day dream of doing things we are passionate about ( a mid career change anybody?) whether it is becoming an actor, best selling writer, an accomplished chef or a winemaker. The reality is there is a tremendous amount of work to be done behind the scenes to accomplish our dreams. Enter Ulises Valdez a field worker who landed in Napa/Sonoma in 1985 as an immigrant from Michoacan, Mexico. Ulises joined the thousands of immigrant field hands who are the backbone of the agricultural miracle we call California and specifically the vine growing valleys of Napa/Sonoma. Behind all the fancy labels and the “superstar” winemakers this small army tends to the vineyard, protecting, nurturing, pruning and harvesting. Ulises, a hard worker climbed up the ladder and ended up owning his own vineyard management business. Although the history of Napa/ Sonoma is primarily a success (and heartbreak!) story of italian immigrants who over the generations rose to the top (Mondavi, Gallo, Sebastiani etc.), there are few Mexican field workers who rise to become winemakers themselves (other notable mexican immigrant success stories are listed below). Valdez took the big leap bottling his debut wines in 2006 producing varietals like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel to critical acclaim. Valdez has the advantage of picking and choosing the source for his wines from the various vineyards he manages for his clients. I tasted the 2006 Lancel Creek Russian River Valley Zinfandel (one of 5 different single vineyard Zinfandels Valdez makes) and found it to be very elegant with the characteristic varietal fruitiness but without the sticky mouthfeel of bigger Zins. The wine was made with the help of consulting winemaker Jeff Cohn and was sourced from a tiny 2 acre parcel with a production of 400 cases. 15.5% alcohol. POW 92 points.
As the new generations grow up within the vineyards, my prediction is that the story of Valdez will be more of the norm than the exception. For further information please visit valdezfamilywinery.com.
Here is a list of other notable and successful Mexican immigrant stories:
Ceja Vineyards cejavineyards.com
Renteria Wines renteriawines.com
Madrigal Vineyards madrigalvineyards.com
Delgadillo Cellars dcellars.com
Shafer Vineyards shafervineyards.com (The longtime winemaker is the respected Elias Fernandez)
Walid Romaya
Prince of Wine
Loading ...
Nice interview Walid, and thank you for introducing us to Valdez Wines. Based on your recommendation I’ll be looking for those Zins. Cheers, Dr. Siffy.