Wine Country is full of surprises and encounters. Here is one of those.
The last time we were in Napa Valley, we had dinner at one of our favorite local places in downtown Napa called Bounty Hunter Wine Bar and Smokin’ BBQ. First, this is an amazing “mixed place” – a wine shop, a bar and a restaurant, decorated Far West style. They carry a selection of wines, some very rare, at very good prices. Their wine list is also quite interesting and you can taste great wines there, or find something very unusual that you’ve never heard of. The food is all about BBQ and they make the best pork ribs in the Valley. We can’t go to Napa Valley without eating there!
On our last visit, we’re looking at the wine list to choose a bottle for dinner and Lucie saw that they had a Pinot Noir called Gauthier, spelled exactly the same way as her name. Lucie told the waiter that her name was Gauthier and asked him to bring us two glasses of this wine, but we were told that it was not sold by the glass, only by the bottle. So we decided to buy a bottle and if we didn’t like it, we’d order something else. We could not leave without tasting that Gauthier Pinot Noir. It was a smooth Pinot; we enjoyed it and of course finished the bottle. We took the empty bottle with us with the idea that we would try to find the winery and pay a visit.
We found the address of Gauthier Cellars and on our way to visit Etude and Truchard wineries (we are members of their clubs), we finally found a winery with that address but the name of the winery was Bouchaine Vineyards. We knew and had visited Bouchaine in past years. We walked inside the tasting room and Lucie asked one of the guys at the bar pouring wine for customers, “Does anyone know where we can find Gauthier Cellars?” The answer came from the other man at the end of the bar who was helping customers. “Yes I do. I’m Greg Gauthier, the winemaker”. Lucie replied that her name was also Gauthier. They shook hands, talked about each other’s roots and Lucie told Greg that we had tasted his wine at Bounty Hunter and that we felt we had to find the winery, bien sûr! He immediately gave us each an empty glass and invited us to follow him for a private tour of the cellar. We were introduced to Michael Richmond, the winemaker at Bouchaine and the owner of the vineyard that grew the grapes of that Pinot Noir we drank. We walked all together through the cellar. We had a fantastic time, listening to Greg Gauthier’s winemaking story, talking with him and tasting wines directly from the barrels.
According to Greg’s research on the history of Gauthiers in the wine trade, the name can be found in France in the Champagne, Cognac and Loire Valley regions. But he says that his roots and passion for winemaking are strictly American. In 2002, with the acquisition of three tons of Carneros Pinot Noir grapes, Gauthier Select Vineyards was founded. Gauthier Select Vineyards (that’s the name of the company, although the label says just Gauthier and the web site is www.gauthiercellars.com) is now in its 13th year of operation. His production of Pinot Noir is small and unfortunately his wine cannot be found in New York, but can be ordered directly from Gauthier Select Vineyards.
You understand that this is Lucie’s post. She is from Québec and very proud of her roots.