WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:06.200 Welcome to Wine Soundtrack USA. Listen to the passion with which producers narrate their 2 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:11.519 winery and their world. In thirty answers discover their stories, personalities, and 3 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:15.640 passions. Hello, friends and listeners of Wine Soundtrack. This is Alson Levine 4 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:20.039 and today I'm very, very excited to be sitting with Bob Cabral of Bob 5 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:25.320 Coral Wines. Bob, Welcome to Wine Soundtrack. And I mean, I'm 6 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:28.039 going to say, tell us a little bit about yourself, but I think 7 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:30.199 a lot of people know your name, but tell us a little bit about 8 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:33.560 yourself and Bob Cabral Wines. Okay, Well, thank you for having me, 9 00:00:33.640 --> 00:00:40.520 Alison, I appreciate it. Bob Cabral Wines was started in twenty fifteen 10 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:45.880 by my wife and I and the idea was to find a way to continue 11 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:53.079 to be philanthropic. In twenty twenty four, this year I'll do my forty 12 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:59.000 fifth harvest in California. I had a commercial winery and I've learned over the 13 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:06.000 years working for several other wineries like William Selliam, Harper Court, Three Sticks, 14 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.599 to name a few. The philanthropic part of the wine business is really 15 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:18.640 what makes me feel good. About the wine business. I love making wine. 16 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:21.120 I love the fact that I get to grow grapes and I get to 17 00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:26.879 continue to kind of be a shepherd of the earth of agriculture. But I 18 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:30.519 think taking care of our communities is really important. And I still sit on 19 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:36.760 a couple of school boards and boys and Girls club, and again not trying 20 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:41.239 to tout my own horn, but I believe in making sure that we're taking 21 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:44.319 care of kids in our community, and you do that through your wine. 22 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:49.159 Absolutely. So we agreed that my wife and I agreed that after operating expenses, 23 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:56.640 that we would use the money for places like the Boys and Girls club 24 00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:00.959 or local schools. Unfortunately, in Snowma account in the past five six seven 25 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:05.760 years, we've had, like around the world, COVID, so we've had 26 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:10.120 to help people maneuver through that with the loss of businesses, with the loss 27 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:15.000 of their homes. We've also had some kind of devastating fires here in California 28 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:21.280 and in Northern California especially, and so we've had several friends that have lost 29 00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:23.800 their businesses and their homes to the fires. So how can we help them 30 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:28.360 out to get them back on their feet, because in the end, that's 31 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:31.639 what It's all about what is your total case production. So for Bob Cabral 32 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:37.840 Wines, it's about fifteen hundred cases right now, and then another thousand to 33 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:42.879 twelve hundred cases of a private labels I do for restaurants a couple of restaurant 34 00:02:42.919 --> 00:02:46.360 tours. And you don't own any vineyards at this time, I don't, 35 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:52.479 so where are you sourcing fruit from? Most of my fruit now comes from 36 00:02:52.800 --> 00:03:00.120 primarily Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, West Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley. 37 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:07.479 I've looked into purchasing a vineyard, which is still in the works. I'm 38 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:12.840 in my sixties, so you know, planting a vineyard is a little bit 39 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:16.400 daunting at this point. But I've also realized that as I continue to build 40 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:23.240 this brand, I need to have a little bit more control over at least 41 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:28.400 some of my fruit. And that's why I'm actually working with more growers than 42 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:32.879 i am vineyard management companies. So I'm buying grapes from Paul Hobbs Estate. 43 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:37.919 In fact, I made wines with Paul down at the Kundy Winery. I 44 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:42.319 made some of his first vintages in the early nineties, and Paul's got some 45 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:47.039 spectacular vineyards out on the Snowma coast as well as near his winery on Highway 46 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:53.759 one sixteen in Sebastopool. So Paul grows enough grapes to be able to sell 47 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:59.280 a little excess, and I only need two to five ten lots, and 48 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:04.000 he lets me kind of cherry pick the clones and the rootstocks the blocks that 49 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:10.360 I think would make a good component to my plans. Because I'm not doing 50 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:15.000 any single vineyards. He has offered to let me put gold Rock Estate or 51 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:20.560 Shell Estate or Paul Hobbs Estate. Paul doesn't need any more advertising, so 52 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:25.639 I told him, you'd have to actually drop the price if he wants me 53 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:29.240 to put the name on, and so we had We actually had a pretty 54 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:33.319 good laugh about that one. But Paul's a really great winemaker that I look 55 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:41.279 up to. And his vineyard manager that oversees everything is a kid named Bryson 56 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:46.240 Hill, and he is a farmer through and through. I go out to 57 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:50.240 check my blocks, figuring that we're at a stage that something needs to be 58 00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:58.399 done, whether it's leaf pulling or canopy management, and it's already done. 59 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:03.800 So he's he's to read your mind. No, he's reading Paul's mind. 60 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:11.839 And you know, again, working with Paul over the years, years past, 61 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:15.279 you know, you just you know what you need to make these kind 62 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:19.040 of wines. And so I know that you are a maestro of pino noir 63 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:24.399 and you do, chardonay, do you make any other varieties? I did 64 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:34.639 graft and then planted two reestling vineyards on the Sonoma Coast, one actually in 65 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:42.839 the West Sonoma Coast, out in Occidental. I don't get that vineyard anymore 66 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:46.560 now, just because the grower wouldn't do what I really needed him to do. 67 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:53.319 But I'm fascinated with reasling. I've known Ernie Loewson from doctor Ernstlowssen in 68 00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:58.199 Germany for thirty five years. We've been trading wines. He has taught me 69 00:05:58.279 --> 00:06:02.120 so much about that grapefry, and his mission on this earth is to get 70 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:06.720 everybody to at least try restling once in their lifetime. I think they should 71 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:14.399 agree. And I probably drink more reestling than I dry restlings than I do 72 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:18.720 chardonays. You jumped ahead to my next question, which is well, first, 73 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:23.160 before I ask you what you drink, what is your first memory relevant 74 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:26.399 to wine? I mean, I know you've done forty five vintages, so 75 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:28.959 I don't know if you can think back even further, but I can't. 76 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:36.560 Actually, I grew up in the Central Valley near Stockton Modesto area. My 77 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:44.439 dad farmed with his father, who is a Portuguese immigrant. His parents were 78 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:48.879 immigrants from Portugal, and we grew grapes, mainly red wine grapes, and 79 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:56.800 almonds and alfalfa some other row crops. By the time I had left for 80 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:01.319 college in the late seventies, dad was farm I had a vineyard management company, 81 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:05.120 was farming a little over a thousand acres of grapes, about four hundred 82 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:12.000 acres of ammons, and we made wine in my grandfather's barn. Every year 83 00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:17.240 a barrel of usually grenache rose and then like a dry zifidel or a barbera 84 00:07:17.480 --> 00:07:24.759 mix, so he always had two barrels of wine and then was shared amongst 85 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:30.839 the cousins and the siblings. My grandfather was one of eleven children and my 86 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:34.439 grandmother was one of nine children, so we had a big family, and 87 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:39.000 of course culturally wine is part of that. Yeah, I mean, we 88 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:46.680 had wine on the table all the time. And my mom had a story 89 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:51.759 at one point where she said that I was literally kindergarten's first grade, and 90 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:56.959 my dad had a little half barrel up on his work bench of some grenache 91 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:01.839 rose and it actually had a spigot in it, so you didn't have to 92 00:08:01.879 --> 00:08:07.240 siphon it everything else. All the other barrels we used siphons to fill like 93 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:11.279 gallon jugs and then put twist tops on them, and that's what they would 94 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:16.319 serve him at the at the dinner table or take over to one of our 95 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:24.279 other relatives. And I guess that the height of this barrel was just good 96 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:28.759 enough so my friend and I could go underneath the barrel while one guy turned 97 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:33.360 the spigott open, and of course it was left sweet. So it was 98 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:39.600 this fruity grenache rose that was sweet, and you got a little drunk in 99 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:46.039 kindergarten. We my friend went home and I guess he pretty much passed out 100 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:52.200 in his room, and my mother got a call from his mother, you 101 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:58.080 know what was going on, and my mom realized that, you know, 102 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:01.840 we hadn't closed it, so there was a lot of wine underneath by my 103 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:07.279 dad's workbench, and yeah, so that was kind of I guess, hide 104 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:11.759 the barrel from the kids, Hide the barrel, the grenach rose, right, 105 00:09:11.960 --> 00:09:15.159 no more ganache rose. Oh you started off with something good, So 106 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:20.320 I'm curious today. You know, do you have a favorite grape wriety. 107 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:24.200 Is pino noir the ultimate grape or is reasoning your ultimate grape or you know, 108 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:28.799 I enjoy making wine from all of them. I think they're all just 109 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:35.519 very unique and different. I think pina noir is one of the most versatile 110 00:09:35.639 --> 00:09:39.919 reds, especially if you're going out to dinner with a group of people, 111 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:43.279 and especially if I can go out with a group of people that don't know 112 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:48.679 what I do for a living, and you know, there's a suggestion, 113 00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:52.279 what do we have with if there's three or four couples, what do we 114 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:58.080 have with dinner? And somebody says a white wine, And sometimes I'll just 115 00:09:58.120 --> 00:10:01.279 say dry reasling if I can one on the list, or a sauvignon blanc 116 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:07.200 chardonnay, if I know the producer and it's not a lot of oak, 117 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:11.559 or you know, I understand what they're doing with pina noir. You know, 118 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:18.240 it's just it's this lighter, fruitier, nice acidity, kind of a 119 00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:22.440 balanced wine that will go well with fish, it will go well with beef, 120 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:28.039 pork, chicken, and everybody's kind of happy. Right. Does that 121 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:31.039 make Peano noir sort of a perfect grape? Is there such thing? I 122 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:37.279 don't know that it's a perfect grape. I think it's a great bridal to 123 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:46.399 have to have access to at a restaurant. Yeah, at your home. 124 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:48.200 If we came into your home, what would we find in your home? 125 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:52.399 Is it wines you've made over the years, friends, wines, wines from 126 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:58.039 around the world, certain grapes. So yeah, I finally built we live 127 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:03.919 out and dry Creek, and I bought five acres about twelve or thirteen years 128 00:11:03.960 --> 00:11:09.960 ago so my daughter could raise some animals in four eh and we we've done 129 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:13.440 remodels for almost nine years. And I finally took a room and turned it 130 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:18.799 into a little over a four thousand bottle cellar. And the one thing I 131 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:24.399 learned early on as a young wine maker is and I was never worried about 132 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:26.840 getting paid a lot of money, but I always liked drinking my own wines. 133 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:31.279 So in almost all of my employment contracts, as part of my compensation, 134 00:11:31.480 --> 00:11:35.200 I always asked for a case of everything I make, and I still 135 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:39.200 do that as a consultant. So you know by the time I had left 136 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:43.320 William Salium in two at the end of twenty fourteen, we must have had 137 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:52.799 thirty six thirty eight different wines labeled wines. So I've got cases and cases. 138 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:58.799 I've got the wall of william Sallium and same thing at three Sticks, 139 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:03.360 so you know, as we grew that brand a couple of other wineries. 140 00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:07.320 So I do have some of the older wines that I've made, and a 141 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:11.720 pretty special treat it is at William Salim. I actually started taking a lot 142 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:16.639 of them in magnums and even threes, fives and nines, and I donate 143 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:20.120 a lot of those two charity auctions. At this point, I'll sign an 144 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:26.200 old William Selliam mag and at the Alexander Valley Sage School Grammar schools spaghetti feed. 145 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:31.240 I mean that magnum will go for eight nine hundred dollars and that'll buy 146 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:35.840 like all the art supplies for the third grade teacher for a year. You 147 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:41.120 find another way to give back exactly. It's awesome. Is there anything from 148 00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:43.679 your cellar you open recently that drink really well? Well? And then I'm 149 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:50.720 also on a couple of wine list. I'm on Steve Kissler sold Kissler back 150 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:54.799 in two thousand and eight, I believe, and it had started occidental with 151 00:12:54.840 --> 00:13:01.399 his daughters, and he makes primarily pina. Now I'm not even sure that 152 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:07.200 he's making chardonnay out there, but I had known Steve and gotten a known 153 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:11.559 Steve even better over the years, and I'm on the occidental list. I 154 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:16.960 find his wines fascinating and I enjoy drinking them. And actually we just opened 155 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:22.799 an s WK, which is Stephen W. Kissler Vineyard, so there's one 156 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:28.759 block that they call s WK. And my wife loves him, but I 157 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:33.559 kind of hide him. Michael Brown is like a little brother to me, 158 00:13:33.639 --> 00:13:39.000 and I buy the Cirque and the chev wines just because I find them interesting, 159 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:43.600 and you know, we remember the good old days when we lived in 160 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:48.519 tracked homes and drove mini vans, and our wives are good friends and it's 161 00:13:48.759 --> 00:13:54.120 just it's special. And then I go to France once a year to make 162 00:13:54.159 --> 00:14:00.000 the barrels and I became good friends. I first met him in nineteen eighty 163 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:05.879 he was the wine maker at Comte de Bogue Francois me Lot and so over 164 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:09.759 the years I bought a lot of those wines. The Mussini, Chemo Mussini. 165 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:16.360 You know, I've got a little bit of clothed to tar. I 166 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:20.679 do like to spend a little bit of money on some of the nice Burgundy. 167 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:26.720 I really like the wines up in Shabbili as far as Chardonay's go, 168 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:31.879 and then actually also down in Puifuse where they're a little bit lighter. They 169 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:37.679 remind me of certain areas of the Sonoma Coast, kind of down towards Carneros. 170 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:43.879 I find them very similar in textures and wine. So and then being 171 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:48.240 Portuguese, I have a huge port collection. But I also inherited some of 172 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:52.879 those when my dad passed and in twenty two thousand. In two thousand, 173 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:56.519 wow, that sounds like a wine cellar I'd like to get locked into. 174 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:05.120 I'm still also drink being old, I have to say during Christmas I drank 175 00:15:05.159 --> 00:15:13.279 a two thousand and seven Low's and dry Rastling and it was spectacular. Yeah. 176 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:18.279 So You've worked for a lot of illustrious brands that have been critic darlings, 177 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:24.360 and I'm curious now, as a smaller producer making fifteen hundred cases, 178 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:28.720 what's your opinion on critic wine critics and scores. You know, I think 179 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:37.120 that what I recommend to the consumers is to find a wine critic that they 180 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:45.159 actually connect with. So everybody has a different palette and they're going to have 181 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:52.120 different impressions. I had this conversation last night with somebody where someone had gotten 182 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:58.440 literally one hundred points from one critic and a ninety one from another critic. 183 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:02.120 Yeah, and what exactly does that mean? Yeah? Exactly what does that 184 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:08.240 mean? And both two very credible that they're one of the big three or 185 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:18.720 four kind of nationally known magazines. For me, you know, I get 186 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:22.039 up just trying to do my best every day and I let the cards fall 187 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:29.799 where they may. The wine scores, I think definitely help guide the consumer 188 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:34.600 towards sometimes a brand. You know, I would I would rather consistently get 189 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:41.840 ninety four, ninety five, ninety six from six different people or ten different 190 00:16:41.879 --> 00:16:45.960 people than that one perfect score. Right. And also, as we were 191 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:49.559 talking before, what does that mean when you get a hundred, there's only 192 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:52.600 one way to go, right, You're at the top. Yeah, and 193 00:16:55.279 --> 00:17:00.279 it's is it achievable? And you're going to be disappointed? And along those 194 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:04.039 lines, So I actually did make a hundred point wine from one of the 195 00:17:04.039 --> 00:17:10.519 first hundred point wines from North America Pena noir from the William Silliam Vineyard, 196 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:14.680 a state vineyard, And the next year I got a ninety eight from the 197 00:17:14.680 --> 00:17:19.480 exact same critic, and I had a consumer asked me what happened, and 198 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:23.559 I just started laughing at it. I was stunned, and I was like, 199 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:29.319 I would have been happy with a ninety three, you know, I 200 00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:33.240 mean, and what happened? I said, Well, a different vintage, 201 00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:37.920 different growing season, different you know, did I The barrels were different that 202 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:44.039 they went in. Not every barrel from Francois Perreer tastes exactly like the previous 203 00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:49.880 one. So you know, what do you say to that other than sorry 204 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:56.200 those two points? So as a wine drinker, one answer question, red 205 00:17:56.200 --> 00:18:04.119 whiter rose, my preference, uh, reds. Yeah, I tend to 206 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:07.200 lean more towards the reds. So to me, there's just a lot of 207 00:18:10.119 --> 00:18:12.680 different complexities to them. And I've made a lot of red wine, and 208 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:22.799 yeah there's a lot still are sparkling water still Still. I'm not a I 209 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:26.039 could never really drink a lot of soda as a kid or anything, so 210 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:30.039 it was never like a Coca Cola drink or anything like that because a carbonation. 211 00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:34.119 I don't do carbonation well. But I love champagnes and sparkling wine. 212 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:40.160 In fact, my wife and I are treat when we first got married was 213 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:45.599 like a half bottle of Kruge. And that was like that would be like 214 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:49.319 the whole evening for Valentine's Day. There were no chocolates, there was no 215 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:56.000 food. It was like we could afford the half bottle of Kruge. But 216 00:18:56.279 --> 00:19:00.599 I really do enjoy those, you know. Nowadays though, I also really 217 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:06.359 enjoy the white wines. A lot of times, Heather and I go out 218 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:08.960 to dinner and she'll have a glass of red or she'll say, hey, 219 00:19:10.119 --> 00:19:11.200 you know, what do you think of this? Or do you know this 220 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:15.000 guy? And it's like, yeah, I've made wine with him before, 221 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:18.240 and you're going to like that, and I'll have a glass of white. 222 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:22.599 Sometimes I just I don't I want something just a little more refreshing. And 223 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:27.519 I think restaurants, this is my opinion, only, in my humble opinion, 224 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:33.920 serve red wines too warm. You know, they all do. They 225 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.079 all think that seventy five eighty degrees and I don't care if it's a twelve 226 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:44.039 percent alcohol wine because when I keep our cellar at home at fifty four degrees 227 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:48.759 fahrenheit, and the and the reds, yeah, and so do even big 228 00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:52.640 barrel fermented Chardonnay's not with a lot of oak, but just that big barrel 229 00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:57.440 ferment. I don't want them ice cold either, because then it mutes too 230 00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:00.559 much of it. You know, most refres durators are in that forty to 231 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:08.640 forty two degrees fahrenheit, So you know, I wish that restaurants would serve 232 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:14.400 reds cooler. Well, speaking of restaurants, I know you were saying earlier 233 00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:18.079 that when you're with a group of friends, the easiest wine that you pick 234 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:22.880 to pair with a meal this pino noir because it's so food friendly. Do 235 00:20:22.920 --> 00:20:26.160 you have any other kind of rules? Do you think there are rules people 236 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:30.759 should follow when it comes to pairing food and wine or is it really more 237 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:37.240 just pino noar will be pretty equal opportunist. I think that it's it's whatever. 238 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:40.920 You know, people want to you have to people want to drink. 239 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:45.599 You have to kind of gauge the crowd. And if you're with a group 240 00:20:45.640 --> 00:20:48.559 of eight and five of them, you know, go, oh yeah, 241 00:20:48.599 --> 00:20:52.400 I love the silver Oak Cabernet, or I like the Jordan Cabernet, or 242 00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:56.920 I like opus one. Okay, then they're gonna probably buy food that can 243 00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:02.799 handle those kind of tannins and and that kind of structured wine. So then 244 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:06.759 you look for something maybe something different. It could be a rone blend, 245 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:11.000 it could be almost anything, or a nice Cabernet franc or Merleoau. You 246 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:15.200 know. So if space aliens were to land on your property, walk up 247 00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:18.880 to your door and knock on it, and you were to welcome them with 248 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:21.440 one of your wines, which of your wines would you want to welcome them 249 00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:30.440 with? Probably like even over the years, or just like today today, 250 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:36.880 Today, I would give them my current, my twenty fifteen Troubadour Russian River 251 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:41.279 Valley Pino. It's just drinking really well right now. And that vision I 252 00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:48.680 had for the first vintage is starting to come to fruition in the glass as 253 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:52.640 I've tasted it over the years, and especially the first couple of years, 254 00:21:53.519 --> 00:22:00.599 I questioned whether I was gonna that I'd made right decisions along the way, 255 00:22:02.279 --> 00:22:04.559 But now I would I would hand them a glass of my tubad or Pinot. 256 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:10.680 Yeah, so you said you've done forty five vintages, now forty three, 257 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:15.400 coming up on forty five vintages, and you're the wines you're making today. 258 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:18.519 You're not doing vineyard doesn't it's as you said, you're doing sort of 259 00:22:18.519 --> 00:22:25.000 geographical in all the time that you've spent in vineyards over the years and working 260 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.720 with different regions across Sonoma. We know that every vintage tells a different story. 261 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:33.279 But how much variation do you see from year to year or is it 262 00:22:33.319 --> 00:22:41.799 different within different regions? Again, it just depends on the weather pattern and 263 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:45.880 the cycle. Like we came out of kind of a severe drought if you 264 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:51.000 will, twenty nineteen, twenty twenty twenty, even into twenty twenty one, 265 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:56.559 to where we're definitely in an El Nino cycle where the winters of twenty two 266 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:00.440 into twenty three and now twenty three into twenty four, we're seeing above average 267 00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:07.119 rainfalls. These vines, well, the earth likes water, that's what sustains 268 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:11.039 us all. So you see big growth on redwood trees, on oak trees 269 00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:18.559 and grape vines, so they're like replenished, they're happier. So I am 270 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:26.079 anticipating better vintages as long as the heat or we don't have any fire events 271 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:30.240 or smoke events. I would anticipate some pretty good vintages. The twenty twenty 272 00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:37.200 three vintage was relatively cool, and I picked a lot of grapes in October, 273 00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:41.279 which is what when I used to pick these vineyards when I started in 274 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:45.759 Sonoma County. So in the eighties, the nineties, and even into the 275 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:51.960 early two thousands at william Siam we would pick Coastland's October fifteenth. We would 276 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:56.880 pick hersh October twelfth, October eighth, you know, and everybody that's kind 277 00:23:56.920 --> 00:24:00.240 of new to it was like, oh, it's such a late year, 278 00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:03.240 and I'm going, well, twenty years ago, this is when it was 279 00:24:03.319 --> 00:24:07.160 normal. We'd start in the Russian River Valley. The sparkling guys would pick 280 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:12.000 in August, early August. We wouldn't start till after Labor Day in the 281 00:24:12.039 --> 00:24:18.240 Russian River Valley, and then we would we would finish up with Sonoma coastwines 282 00:24:18.279 --> 00:24:23.519 in October. I haven't picked Coastlands in nineteen ninety nine November three, and 283 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:30.079 it was barely twenty three breaks. My alcohol was thirteen eight or something like 284 00:24:30.119 --> 00:24:34.599 that, thirteen seven, and so it's yeah, so you see evolution over 285 00:24:34.839 --> 00:24:40.160 time, the creeping, and now it's kind of starting to come back a 286 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:44.920 little bit. So we used to see bloom, or we used to see 287 00:24:45.079 --> 00:24:49.920 bud break in February and it kind of pushed into March and then late March. 288 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:56.319 Now we're starting to see bud break a little bit earlier February into March. 289 00:24:56.680 --> 00:25:02.920 So we're getting these long hang times, especially in the Russian River Valley. 290 00:25:03.559 --> 00:25:07.319 You know, I have vineyards that go into Truba d Or. There's 291 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:14.319 six vineyards and it's kind of southwest of Sebastopool what they call the Sebastopool Hills, 292 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:19.279 and three of those vineyards I pick after I picked my West Sonoma Coast 293 00:25:19.720 --> 00:25:25.319 vineyards, and West Sonoma Coast is cold. Yeah, these are even colder. 294 00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:30.839 They're at a lower elevation, but they're right in that fog that comes 295 00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:36.759 up off of the marine headlands and it's just cold there. And sometimes the 296 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:41.519 fog in twenty twenty three never broke all day long, whereas out on the 297 00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:47.400 coast, on the West Sonoma Coast, it actually broke. And so I 298 00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:56.200 picked one vineyard two weeks after Old Rock, after the Snoma Coast. So 299 00:25:56.680 --> 00:25:59.400 in all the years you've been doing this, have you established any sort of 300 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:03.759 good luck tools that you do at the beginning of harmist I like to sit 301 00:26:03.799 --> 00:26:08.240 the crew down if I can, and taste them through all the Bob Cabral 302 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:14.720 wines or if I meant three sticks. We didn't do this at Brickler. 303 00:26:14.920 --> 00:26:18.480 I wish we'd have done that this year. But sit them down and taste 304 00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:23.559 them through the wines and walk them through kind of what we're trying to accomplish, 305 00:26:25.079 --> 00:26:30.559 and I think it gives the crew a better idea of what they're in 306 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:36.079 for. You know why. We want them punched down every six hours and 307 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:38.920 not every twelve hours. And we're trying to get this type of extraction, 308 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:44.960 and we want things kept clean, you know, we want the barrels clean 309 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:49.440 on the I don't want to go into dirty barrels. So I've always kind 310 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:53.000 of done that. I've done it where we popped a bottle of champagne on 311 00:26:53.039 --> 00:26:57.720 the first day, but then we got to go back and work at a 312 00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:03.240 winery. I know that's not as fun, yeah, and you got to 313 00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:07.400 clean and equipment. Wineries are dangerous, and I'm not a big believer of 314 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:11.119 drinking on the job. Kind of thing, and I think you have to. 315 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:17.400 You're not at your best when you're a little tipsy and people get hurt, 316 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:21.599 and I don't want to see that happen. So, you know, 317 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:26.559 I share wines with people, but they're like, well, we've done them 318 00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:30.119 at lunch, even at three sticks. But you get literally like an ounce 319 00:27:30.519 --> 00:27:34.079 taste of one wine and you know they're eating and we sit down for we 320 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:41.920 take thirty to sixty minutes to just converse, take a rest, walk away 321 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:45.640 from the harvest for just a few minutes during the day. I love it. 322 00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:52.319 So now, you said you grew up in the Stockton area, your 323 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:56.640 dad grew grapes. You've been making wine for forty five years. But I'm 324 00:27:56.720 --> 00:27:59.680 curious, did you always know you wanted to be a wine maker? What 325 00:27:59.720 --> 00:28:00.599 did you want to be when you when you were a little boy, What 326 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:03.359 did you want to be when you grew up? Bull rider? A bull? 327 00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:14.880 Yeah, I'm obsessed with rodeos and now horses and yeah, uh actually 328 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:19.480 road bulls in high school with friends and got tossed a couple of times, 329 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:26.240 and yeah, when you get hurt, it's like, this isn't a career. 330 00:28:26.920 --> 00:28:30.440 After that, I decided to apply to veterinary school, and a buddy 331 00:28:30.440 --> 00:28:33.799 and I and we were I was heavily into the sciences. We got into 332 00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:38.720 UC Davis and I was eighteen years old, graduating in the twelfth grade, 333 00:28:40.599 --> 00:28:42.799 and they handed me a course catalog that said I was going to have to 334 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:45.920 go to school for eight more years, and I, like, I like 335 00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:51.039 freaked out and said, I don't want to do that. So I ended 336 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:53.640 up then at present I'd been accepted at cal Poly, Fresno State, and 337 00:28:53.759 --> 00:28:57.799 UC Davis, and so I ended up down at Fresno State to study winemaking 338 00:28:57.880 --> 00:29:03.160 and viticulture and ended up really getting into the biochemistry, went back to grad 339 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:08.759 school for biochem down at Fresno State, and just start working at wineries and 340 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:15.039 it just, yeah, felt good to be doing something like that. So 341 00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:18.640 when you look back at your career, what would you say as one of 342 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:22.759 your proudest achievements to date? I mean, I'm sure it's hard to pick 343 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:25.440 a lot of things. There's been a lot of successes, But what would 344 00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:29.759 you say stands out as one of your product achievements? The best? I 345 00:29:29.799 --> 00:29:37.559 think the crowning achievement or achievements would be the assistant winemakers and the seller masters 346 00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:42.559 that have worked for me that are now wine makers or they own their own 347 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:47.960 brands. And to see these kids come up, you know, in their 348 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:52.480 early twenties, early thirties, and now like on a panel that I just 349 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:57.480 sat on for Passion for Pino down in the Palm Desert. You know, 350 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:04.880 Ross Cobb as his own wines now and there's really some brilliance to his winemaking. 351 00:30:06.359 --> 00:30:12.319 I appreciate his thought process and to see him mature from this kid racking 352 00:30:12.359 --> 00:30:18.640 barrels and cleaning equipment to you know, making world class wines. Same thing 353 00:30:18.680 --> 00:30:26.720 with Ryan Pritchard at Three Sticks, Jeff Mangehaus over at William Sellium. William 354 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:29.920 Sellium, I used to go through assistant winemakers. If I could keep a 355 00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:33.240 guy maybe three or four vintages, I was lucky because they always wanted my 356 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:37.279 job. They wanted to be winemaker, which is a good position to be 357 00:30:37.400 --> 00:30:42.119 in because they were always pushing me. So not only did I get to 358 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:48.799 show them don't these are the mistakes I made avoid those, they also taught 359 00:30:48.839 --> 00:30:52.119 me new things. They were coming fresh out of school, fresh out of 360 00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:56.880 micro classes, chemistry classes, so they kept me learning. And I think 361 00:30:56.920 --> 00:31:02.880 it's important that to keep learning about your craft. And that's why it's so 362 00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:06.279 late in my life. I actually, like I said, making barrels. 363 00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:10.759 I used to order barrels like I would order off of a menu in an 364 00:31:10.759 --> 00:31:14.799 outburger. You know, give me a double double with cheese and fries. 365 00:31:14.920 --> 00:31:18.400 Well, give me a friends off ferrara medium plus toasted heads, you know, 366 00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:25.759 great, one hundred of them would show up. Now it's a little 367 00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:30.160 bit more thoughtful process on. And why is it giving my wines these flavors? 368 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:34.039 So, you know, mentoring people for me has been probably the best 369 00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:38.920 part the wines. You know, if you go out and just try every 370 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.640 day give it your best, one of the results will be great wines. 371 00:31:45.079 --> 00:31:48.319 And that's what I try to tell the harvest crews. I try to tell 372 00:31:48.359 --> 00:31:53.599 the it's not about perfection. Because we're making wine in one big gray area. 373 00:31:53.720 --> 00:31:59.359 It's different shades of gray. Mother nature throws more curves balls at you 374 00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:05.559 than you could ever imagine. So just try your best, and some days 375 00:32:05.559 --> 00:32:09.319 you'll make a eighty five point wine and other days of it'll be a ninety 376 00:32:09.319 --> 00:32:13.359 five point wine. But you know what, both of them are okay because 377 00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:16.640 you tried, right, You can't control it all. And one person's eighty 378 00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:23.000 five as someone else's ninety five exactly a man's floor. So I'm curious. 379 00:32:23.480 --> 00:32:28.039 You know, that's a lot of really good advice, and you have mentored 380 00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:32.319 so many people. Is there someone a mentor of yours or maybe it was 381 00:32:32.359 --> 00:32:37.160 your father or mother or another family member. Is there a piece of advice 382 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:39.279 someone gave you at some point in your life that you try to really live 383 00:32:39.319 --> 00:32:44.240 by or has really been a foundation for how you look at life? Or 384 00:32:44.279 --> 00:32:46.960 work? Yeah, work, you know, growing up on a farm my 385 00:32:47.079 --> 00:32:51.319 dad, we had animals and everything, and it didn't matter if you were 386 00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:54.920 sick. Those animals had to be taken care of twice a day, fed 387 00:32:55.000 --> 00:33:00.039 and water. Just like any animal, they rely on you. So we 388 00:33:00.279 --> 00:33:02.599 always had this saying that the animals have got to be fed, and I 389 00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:07.039 use that to this day. I have a couple of good friends that I 390 00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:12.680 see sometimes young people not being quite as motivated that sometimes you have to work 391 00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:16.200 when your hand's hurt or you've got a headache or a bit of a cough. 392 00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:20.200 You know, sometimes you just got to take some day quills and you 393 00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:22.519 got to go in and get it done. Those grapes aren't going to wait 394 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:30.200 for you. So you know you were taught a good work ethics. Good 395 00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:37.119 work ethic. The other thing is just follow your passions too, don't be 396 00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:44.160 afraid to do something out of the norm. And you know, with Bob 397 00:33:44.200 --> 00:33:50.279 carral wines, it's not formulaic, whereas and I don't like to use the 398 00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:54.039 word cookbook. But at william Sallim, I've always been paid to make a 399 00:33:54.119 --> 00:33:59.960 style for that brand. So three Sticks needs to taste like three Sticks. 400 00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:04.400 We did kind of developed Ryan and I developed that together, but it was 401 00:34:04.440 --> 00:34:07.240 a lot of input from Ryan. Ryan, what barrels do you like? 402 00:34:07.279 --> 00:34:12.440 Because the goal here is you to be the winemaker. I was hired on 403 00:34:12.519 --> 00:34:15.079 as the winemaker. He was the assistant, and after about two years I 404 00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:19.199 was like, okay, he needs to be the winemaker and let's put his 405 00:34:19.280 --> 00:34:22.840 hand on it. At Williams Sallium it needed to taste like Williams Sallium. 406 00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:28.840 Now I'd make wine different than Bert did and different than Jeff Mengehaus, the 407 00:34:28.880 --> 00:34:31.960 current winemaker, which is okay, But when the consumer buys that bottle, 408 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:37.480 it always tastes like william Sallium, and that's that's the important thing. So 409 00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:42.480 with Bob cabral wines, I have a little bit more creative ability that I 410 00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:45.840 make a lot of decisions on the fly. You need to make your wines. 411 00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:51.639 Yeah, and maybe I didn't like as much whole cluster that I did 412 00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:54.360 last year, and so I'll decrease it down to twenty five percent, or 413 00:34:54.920 --> 00:34:59.679 like Ross was saying today, let's put seventy five percent in there. Try 414 00:34:59.679 --> 00:35:02.079 something a little different, a little bit far out of my comfort zone. 415 00:35:02.119 --> 00:35:07.159 But you know what, I've had great successes when I do those things. 416 00:35:07.519 --> 00:35:09.920 You know, I was always taught that the sweeter fruit was at the end 417 00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:14.599 of the branch and you have to reach out just a little bit further. 418 00:35:14.679 --> 00:35:17.440 You don't want to fall off the ladder, but reach for it. I 419 00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:23.440 love that. Yeah. So when you're not making wine and working in wine, 420 00:35:23.960 --> 00:35:27.199 what are your other passions? What do you like to do for fun? 421 00:35:27.519 --> 00:35:31.360 I like to go to live music concerts. That's I can go and 422 00:35:31.639 --> 00:35:37.119 appreciate what those artists are doing. And I don't think about wine making. 423 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:43.320 I don't think about grape growing. I just kind of lose myself in the 424 00:35:43.400 --> 00:35:47.920 instruments. I like to focus on the bass player or the drummer at times 425 00:35:47.960 --> 00:35:55.559 for certain songs, and it's a it's where I find that regenerative kind of 426 00:35:55.599 --> 00:36:00.800 peacefulness that I think we all need. Some people say some people would work. 427 00:36:01.559 --> 00:36:06.800 I have a cousin that has a very high power. He's very high 428 00:36:06.920 --> 00:36:13.039 up in an organization down in the Silicon Valley, and I'm sure it's it's 429 00:36:13.320 --> 00:36:21.440 pressure. He woodworks. You know. I deconstructed a barrel. I took 430 00:36:21.440 --> 00:36:23.480 it apart for him, and he made me two little end tables and they're 431 00:36:23.480 --> 00:36:28.679 beautiful. I've had people go, I'd pay it like five hundred bucks for 432 00:36:28.760 --> 00:36:31.800 these, and I go, I don't think he he. I don't think 433 00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:36.679 he needs that much time day job. Yet he's not quitting it. So 434 00:36:36.800 --> 00:36:39.760 I like to do that, you know, just kind of even hanging out 435 00:36:39.800 --> 00:36:45.599 in my own house. I like where I live. I like our daughters 436 00:36:45.800 --> 00:36:52.119 in college now. And it's my wife and I and just reconnecting and finding 437 00:36:52.199 --> 00:36:58.320 those moments because we're busy all the time and having your own brand. My 438 00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:01.079 poor wife answers your phone on the weekends. Hello, Bob cabral Wines, 439 00:37:01.960 --> 00:37:06.719 you know. And and then sometimes we're jumping in the car and we're taking 440 00:37:06.920 --> 00:37:09.880 six bottles down to a restaurant in Healsburg because they're out of the chardonnay or 441 00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:14.199 they're out of the pino. Yeah, it's a never ending it's never ending. 442 00:37:14.320 --> 00:37:17.519 And that's okay if you can find those other moments when it's like okay. 443 00:37:19.159 --> 00:37:22.519 The other day, she's like, my eyeglasses are ready to be picked 444 00:37:22.599 --> 00:37:25.519 up, and it was pouring rain and she goes, you know, I 445 00:37:25.519 --> 00:37:29.599 don't want to drive. Let's jump in the call drive you you know, 446 00:37:29.719 --> 00:37:30.960 let's just go to She's like, really you want to drive in? This 447 00:37:31.119 --> 00:37:36.119 is like what a good husband. It's like it's like a monsoon out there. 448 00:37:36.199 --> 00:37:39.519 And I was like, hey, I've worn eyeglasses since the third grade. 449 00:37:39.639 --> 00:37:44.760 So she had a new prescription and you just see better, you feel 450 00:37:44.800 --> 00:37:47.639 better. Yeah, you know. So when you're when you're not driving your 451 00:37:47.679 --> 00:37:52.920 wife around and doing nice things, nice husband things, more like I'm driving 452 00:37:52.280 --> 00:37:57.480 crazy, So I do. But if you were going to plan a romantic 453 00:37:57.519 --> 00:38:00.400 evening, what sort of wines do you open to set a romantic mood? 454 00:38:00.440 --> 00:38:06.400 What's what's romantic for you guys? Wine wise? Wine wise, it can 455 00:38:06.480 --> 00:38:10.639 vary, you know. Sometimes it's like, let's start with some bubbles. 456 00:38:10.800 --> 00:38:16.400 Or you know, we were talking about it today at lunch, Savignon Blanc, 457 00:38:16.679 --> 00:38:21.360 you know Rocchioli, Savignon Blanca. I said, you still got She 458 00:38:21.480 --> 00:38:24.880 has gotten a couple of cases. She talked Tom's daughter, Rachel, who 459 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.400 runs the winery, now into like two cases. I mean, you gotta 460 00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:31.760 be on you got to be on a list to get this stuff. And 461 00:38:32.119 --> 00:38:37.119 she runs into her at the grocery store and Rachel's like can And He's like, 462 00:38:37.159 --> 00:38:42.400 can I get you know, six bottles? And Rachel's like, whatever 463 00:38:42.480 --> 00:38:45.119 you want, and she goes, really, whatever I want. So she 464 00:38:45.199 --> 00:38:50.159 buys two cases of it. So you know, it just kind of depends 465 00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:55.920 the mood we're in. But we do drink a lot of of pinos and 466 00:38:57.000 --> 00:39:00.000 she'll be she's good friends, like I said with Sarah. So it's like, 467 00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:02.920 let's drink a cirp tonight. You know, it's a little bit of 468 00:39:02.920 --> 00:39:07.800 a special occasion. And they're just really pretty wines or like I said, 469 00:39:07.840 --> 00:39:13.800 an occidental candler. I buy a little bit of grapes from the Candler estate. 470 00:39:14.599 --> 00:39:17.760 And we love Alex and Brie and Heather's on the mailing list, so 471 00:39:17.840 --> 00:39:22.440 it's like, let's have a bottle of candler tonight. So I love it. 472 00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:24.880 Well. With the four thousand bottles you have at home, I'm sure 473 00:39:25.559 --> 00:39:30.480 you have a lot of good things to pull out. Question for you, 474 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:35.920 complete the sentence for me, A table without wine is like a day without 475 00:39:35.960 --> 00:39:40.039 sunshine. Very good. Well, my mom had a plate like from the 476 00:39:40.119 --> 00:39:45.400 seventies, the hanging in her kitchen that literally said a day without wine is 477 00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:52.400 like a day without sunshine. And I remember that in grammar school, you 478 00:39:52.440 --> 00:39:54.440 know, because it was right there by the kitchen table. So that one 479 00:39:54.639 --> 00:39:59.440 was easy. That was too easy. Too easy. So I have another 480 00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:02.639 scenario for you. We're sitting at a table, your wines are on the 481 00:40:02.639 --> 00:40:06.639 table, and you have an empty seat at the table. Who, from 482 00:40:06.719 --> 00:40:09.559 any walk of life would you like to be sharing a bottle of Bobkerbol wines 483 00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:22.760 with living or deceased, right, personal or famous or infamous? Yeah? 484 00:40:22.840 --> 00:40:27.320 My dad, Yeah, my dad, who passed away before I started the 485 00:40:27.360 --> 00:40:32.679 brand. So I'll never forget because I'd been on the William Sellium list since 486 00:40:32.719 --> 00:40:37.519 college. And how I told my dad we were sitting on their back patio, 487 00:40:37.760 --> 00:40:42.119 this is in nineteen ninety eight, and we were drinking a bottle of 488 00:40:42.119 --> 00:40:45.440 William Sellium, and I was kind of dying to tell him that I had 489 00:40:45.599 --> 00:40:49.840 just gotten a winemaker job there. And we got through about three quarters of 490 00:40:49.840 --> 00:40:52.760 the bottle and he had an empty glass, so I pushed it over so 491 00:40:52.840 --> 00:40:57.840 he could fill it up, and he poured some in and I said, 492 00:40:57.880 --> 00:41:00.840 so that's my new employer. First words out of his mouth. Can you 493 00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:07.079 get me on the list? Not congratulations, I'm so proud of you. 494 00:41:07.079 --> 00:41:09.920 That nothing. I was looking for that kind of praise, but I started 495 00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.000 laughing so hard. I'm like, dad, I can get you on the 496 00:41:14.039 --> 00:41:16.920 list. Okay, to the top. I wanted him to because he was 497 00:41:17.000 --> 00:41:22.519 drinking all of mine, so I was happy to get him on the list 498 00:41:22.559 --> 00:41:25.320 so that I could save a little bit of money. At that point, 499 00:41:25.440 --> 00:41:29.440 well, he'd be number one on the Bob cabral Wins list. So yeah, 500 00:41:30.159 --> 00:41:35.239 so I'm curious. I've got one more question, and then we play 501 00:41:35.280 --> 00:41:39.280 a little game and we're done. And that is well, no, you 502 00:41:39.320 --> 00:41:42.280 know what, I'm gonna take that back. We're gonna play a game first 503 00:41:42.280 --> 00:41:45.440 and then I'll ask my last question. You mentioned that you are a huge 504 00:41:45.519 --> 00:41:47.360 music fan and we always love to play a game. At the end of 505 00:41:47.360 --> 00:41:52.480 the podcast, because we tie in wine in music, because wine conjures up 506 00:41:52.559 --> 00:41:55.760 emotions in US music does, and I want you to equate your wines to 507 00:41:57.239 --> 00:42:01.360 music. Okay. So I was dreaming thinking earlier today you're Chardonnay, and 508 00:42:01.480 --> 00:42:07.480 I'd like you to tell me what that makes you think of? That shardonay 509 00:42:08.360 --> 00:42:14.840 it makes me think of and that was it was the Annie An Rose Anne 510 00:42:14.880 --> 00:42:19.079 Rose Chardonnay. So and my wife's middle name in Rose, my daughter's middle 511 00:42:19.159 --> 00:42:23.480 name. It reminds me of actually the music that they like, uh and 512 00:42:23.559 --> 00:42:28.960 so Adele, it reminds me of Heather. And I went to Opening Night 513 00:42:29.039 --> 00:42:32.039 in Las Vegas to see Adele. It was one of the most phenomenal shows 514 00:42:32.079 --> 00:42:37.239 I've ever been to, and I thought I'd seen everything in Vegas. My 515 00:42:37.400 --> 00:42:44.559 daughter is big into kind of blue bluegrass, and there's you know, bands 516 00:42:44.679 --> 00:42:52.320 like Camp and Mountjoy, Bruno Mars. You know. The joy that that 517 00:42:52.519 --> 00:42:58.239 music brings to them is what that Shardonay brings to me. I love it. 518 00:42:58.320 --> 00:43:04.360 The Pino Nomir you would give the space aliens. Jeff Beck. I 519 00:43:04.400 --> 00:43:07.840 actually met Jeff. He signed a guitar for me, and I gave him 520 00:43:07.880 --> 00:43:13.840 some wine because his manager had said that he was a Pinot fan, and 521 00:43:15.119 --> 00:43:19.639 yeah, it was one of my guitar heroes, you know, one of 522 00:43:19.679 --> 00:43:24.800 my top three, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and David Gilmour. Jeff was 523 00:43:24.920 --> 00:43:30.000 then doing a show about three years later in Belgium. We get a call 524 00:43:30.039 --> 00:43:37.960 from a promoter in Belgium looking for some two thousand and nine william sallium and 525 00:43:38.000 --> 00:43:42.159 he couldn't find it online, and so he went to the source and the 526 00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:45.000 girls in the office said, hey, I got this guy on the phone. 527 00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:50.840 Jeff had put in the writers six bottles of william Sallium nice backstage. 528 00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:53.559 That's what they is on it. Well, how many different pinots do you 529 00:43:53.559 --> 00:43:57.679 make today? Just well, I have a second one that's coming out. 530 00:43:59.079 --> 00:44:04.760 I just bottled it on Tuesday, and it's a new West Sonoma Coast and 531 00:44:04.800 --> 00:44:08.519 it's not Fillmore. What I realized with Fillmore is that I didn't want to 532 00:44:08.639 --> 00:44:14.000 infringe on any trademarks, so I dropped that le. Plus they pulled two 533 00:44:14.079 --> 00:44:15.960 of the three vineyards, so I knew I was going to make a new 534 00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:22.039 blend. But the new one is actually called Electric Hippie, and that name 535 00:44:22.559 --> 00:44:29.880 conjures up a little bit more of that it's that acidity or that electricity. 536 00:44:30.199 --> 00:44:32.079 But you know what, it's kind of a mellow wine too. It's got 537 00:44:32.079 --> 00:44:37.920 some really nice mellow flavors. You know what does that bring to mind? 538 00:44:38.880 --> 00:44:45.719 You know, Warren Haynes, Government Mule, Joe Bonamasa. I saw both 539 00:44:45.800 --> 00:44:51.800 of them at Red Rocks this last summer. I'd never been to Red Rocks 540 00:44:51.800 --> 00:45:00.840 Amphitheater in Colorado. Great venue and was able to watch back to back shows. 541 00:45:00.159 --> 00:45:07.079 Yeah, that kind of inspired that that wine a little bit. You 542 00:45:07.119 --> 00:45:09.000 know that I had the right name. And you also make a reasling, 543 00:45:09.079 --> 00:45:14.320 right. I do from the Sonoma coast through twenty nineteen, and then I 544 00:45:14.360 --> 00:45:19.679 started sourcing from outside of McMinnville. An old vineyard plan in nineteen seventy three 545 00:45:19.880 --> 00:45:23.840 called the Highland Vineyard and it's done in a concrete amphora. I do one 546 00:45:24.679 --> 00:45:30.719 three hundred and twenty gallon am fora It's dry, and I call that wildflowers 547 00:45:31.159 --> 00:45:37.880 and music. Music for that to me is more like acoustic David Gilmore, 548 00:45:38.320 --> 00:45:44.679 you know, Pink Floyd. It's just a lot more mellow, kind of 549 00:45:45.199 --> 00:45:49.199 like. Yeah, well, you have been amazing. It's been such a 550 00:45:49.199 --> 00:45:52.199 pleasure listening to talking with you. And I have one final question. That's 551 00:45:52.239 --> 00:45:55.880 a two part question, and the first is what wine region in the world 552 00:45:55.920 --> 00:46:01.800 is at the top of your bucket list to explore, to visit it well, 553 00:46:01.840 --> 00:46:06.400 to make wine in if I could do it before, I'd love to 554 00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:09.960 make wine in Burgundy in the coach and Nui, And there's a lot of 555 00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:15.119 different menus i'd work with. I'd probably work with Village Fruit if they just 556 00:46:15.199 --> 00:46:20.639 let me make wine up there a place that I haven't explored. I've been 557 00:46:20.760 --> 00:46:23.679 to the country, but I haven't explored the wine region. Really. A 558 00:46:23.719 --> 00:46:29.960 lot is Germany and Ernie's invited me. Oh, He's like, I've got 559 00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:32.400 houses for you to stay in, and as a reasoning fan, you should 560 00:46:32.440 --> 00:46:37.320 go. Yes, I need to. I need to make that track soon. 561 00:46:38.280 --> 00:46:43.519 And the flip side to that is if people want to taste your wines, 562 00:46:43.639 --> 00:46:45.519 can they find you? How can they find you? Where are your 563 00:46:45.519 --> 00:46:50.679 wines available? Can they taste with you? What are the options? Sure, 564 00:46:50.719 --> 00:46:55.360 we do tastings by appointment. Sometimes that location is mobile. It just 565 00:46:55.400 --> 00:47:00.400 depends. We had a tasting room before COVID and then that all kind of 566 00:47:00.400 --> 00:47:04.440 closed down. We were kind of a tasting room inside a tasting room. 567 00:47:04.880 --> 00:47:13.639 But if you just go to www. Bob Cabral Wines cab rl plural wies 568 00:47:13.800 --> 00:47:16.519 dot com, you can buy our wines or you can call my wife, 569 00:47:16.519 --> 00:47:21.639 Heather, and that's on the website. Fantastic and your wines are direct to 570 00:47:21.679 --> 00:47:24.760 consumer or are they in any markets? We're in a few restaurants in California 571 00:47:24.880 --> 00:47:30.960 right now, but trying to expand out into some more restaurants. I've got 572 00:47:30.960 --> 00:47:35.079 some psalms in Las Vegas that want the wines. In Austin, Texas, 573 00:47:35.159 --> 00:47:38.119 Chicago, So I just don't make a lot the plan over the next four 574 00:47:38.239 --> 00:47:42.239 or five years. I'll be honest with you. We're at fifteen hundred cases. 575 00:47:42.480 --> 00:47:45.360 Is to get up to that five six thousand case mark. Well. 576 00:47:45.559 --> 00:47:50.519 In the meantime, if you want to check out Bob Cabral Wines and you 577 00:47:50.559 --> 00:47:52.440 want to have the honor of sitting with him and taste the wines, reach 578 00:47:52.519 --> 00:47:58.320 out check him out. Beautiful Pano Shard. Haven't tasted the Reasoning yet, 579 00:47:58.320 --> 00:48:00.960 but I look forward to that. I need to try. But Bob, 580 00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:02.920 thank you so much for joining us on wine Soundtrack, and I hope you 581 00:48:02.960 --> 00:48:07.039 had a good time. I did. Thank you for having me Thanks for 582 00:48:07.119 --> 00:48:10.679 listening to a new episode of Wine Soundtrack USA. For details and updates, 583 00:48:10.840 --> 00:48:15.199 visit our website windsoundtrack dot com.