Routas rosé and helped light a fire under the category.
My soul hometown is Waterbury Center, Vermont. As I said, I moved around a lot, but that was the one place that was consistent, it’s where my mom still is. Waterbury is known for two guys named Ben and Jerry who started a little ice cream company there. They bought an air stream trailer, painted it cow colours, and went around the country scooping out ice cream and made it a national brand.
Here we were making lots of rosé, and were like, okay, they bought an air stream trailer, I can buy an old Cadillac and paint it pink. This is going to be my method to get people to talk about something that made no sense to most people. Actually, pink wine did make sense. It was thought of as a sweet thing for someone who wasn’t sophisticated.
Tell us more about the wines you make with Charles Smith under the Charles and Charles brand...
I’ve had a vision to make world class rosé in the Columbia Valley. So in July 2008 I called Charles, he was the only person with a Washington telephone number that I knew. And I think he’s the most talented winemaker in Washington State so could he either point me towards some great growers or can we do this thing together?
When I asked Charles about joining me in this mission to make world class balanced Provencal style rosé he paused for a second as he had a lot going, which I did as well, but them gave a confident, ‘we gotta do this’. So we started with total focus on making world class rosé in the United States. But as I learned more about the opportunities for making Cabernet, Syrah and other varietals through Charles and his team, we realised we had to make more than just rosé. At this point, we’re dedicated to five wines: rosé, Cabernet blend, Chardonnay, Merlot blend and Riesling.
Charles & Charles at the 2015 Wine Star Awards.
You’re also part of the Three Thieves?...
This is a project with two friends, Joel Gott and Roger Scommegna. It started about the same time we received the offer on my dad’s winery, Routas.
We launched Three Thieves in 2002, and in that first year we came out with a litre jug of Zinfandel. It was a total lark to make fun of the wine industry by putting delicious Zinfandel into a jug. Jug wine was the icon of cheap and bad and we were playing with all of that. It launched this whole series of wines that’s been very exciting.
Charles Bieler’s Charles and Charles and Three Thieves wines are available to the UK on trade through Lanchester Wines.
MEET CHARLES’ PARTNERS
Roger Scommegna: The Dreamer Serial entrepreneur, connoisseur, grape grower and hotelier Roger Scommegna was born to an American mother and immigrant Italian father, learning childhood lessons about hard work and creativity that have shaped his career to this day. Roger has a rare talent for spotting opportunities and giving the public what they want. In 1983, looking to buy his first home and frustrated by the difficulty of finding available houses, Roger started a marketing
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company that ultimately became Realtor. com, the world’s most trafficked real estate website. He began a new chapter as a winemaker and hotelier in 1999, becoming a partner in the Boonville Hotel and building Signal Ridge vineyard in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley. Other recent projects include up-start beverage companies, Black Dot Vodka and Bite Hard apple cider
Joel Gott; The Master
A fifth-generation winemaker, he grew up in the business, learning everything he could from his father and grandfather, both legends in California’s wine industry. Joel made his debut at a very early age, helping out in the vineyards and cellars as a little boy. It was no surprise when he became apprenticed to Mike Lee, wine master at Kenwood Vineyards in Sonoma. Joel’s first solo act as winemaker came in 1996 with an intense Zinfandel from Amador County, a show-stopping wine that garnered Joel Gott Wines critical acclaim. In 2003, Joel formed the Three Thieves with fellow wine lovers, Roger Scommegna and Charles Bieler. The trio launched Bandit wines and The Show, amongst other side projects. Food is also on the bill for Joel—he and his brother revamped Taylor’s Automatic Refresher, a legendary St. Helena burger joint, and rechristened it Gott’s Roadside. Today, it’s a destination restaurant with three popular locations.
www.bielerandsmith.com www.threethieveswines.com
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