I have, of course, followed the history of the Calif wine industry from the very start. Having read most of the early books on the history of Calif viticulture, I thought I pretty much knew it all. Turns out I don't know jack-$hit.
Esther Mobley has a terrific article in today's SFChron:
SFChron: Nicholas Molnar on the death of Nicholas Molnar.
Name doesn't ring a bell?? Didn't for me, either.
Nick, a Hungarian immigrant who escaped during the 1956 invasion of Hungary by Soviet forces, sold insurance to Robert Pepi. This inspired him to seek out investors to plant vnyds in Napa. He was an utter failure & had to sell off the vnyds to satisfy his investors.
But he kept one small plot way in the Southern reaches of the Carneros, mostly used for herding sheep. Common folklore at the time it was too cold to grow grapes in Carneros. But he put in Chard & PinotNoir. He sold his grapes to DomaineChandon for their sparkling wine. And, as they say, the rest is history. Carneros went on to become one of the NapaVlly's premier growing regions. And not just PinotChard & PinotNoir. Also Syrah, Vermentino and Nebbiolo & other varieties.
Does the name RobertPepi ring a bell?? Probably not. Founded around 1980, Robert Pepi had the idea you could make great wines from Italian varieties. I followed him from the very start. His effort was a failure (pretty much) and the wines were not very good. Eventually sold to K-J & is now the Cardinale Wnry. Another pioneer afore his time.
Nicholas & his sons returned to Hungary after the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Their intent was to establish a wild rice industry in that country. They wound up buying the Kadar producer of Hungarian oak barrels & establishing a toehold for Hungarian oak in Calif. Again...a man before his time.
Lastly, Nicholas was discouraged by the cost of land in the NapaVlly, so looked further North into LakeCnty, convinced he could grow great Cabernet up there. He established ObsidianRidgeVnyd. And, again, the rest is history.
So thanks to Esther for bringing this totally unknown pioneer in the Calif wine industry to my attention. Hopefully, someday, his story will be better known. It's always a good day when you can get edumacated. Thanks, Esther.
Tom