How one call from California legend Robert Mondavi changed the fate of this historic winery

San Francisco Chronicle​

2 days ago

For decades, the charming Canard Vineyard has sat in the shadow of its neighbor: the gondola at Sterling Vineyards, one of Napa Valley's biggest tourist attractions.
Canard's tiny, unassuming operation, which has some of the oldest, burliest vines in Napa Valley, is the antithesis of Sterling's white-washed mountain perch across the street. 'We've always been kind of under the radar,' said Adam Fox, Canard managing director and partner, 'and that's kind of how we like it.'
But that could soon change. Despite its founding in 1983, Canard opened to the public a couple of years ago for the first time, unveiling a fascinating history involving the Donner Party and a fateful phone call from California wine legend Robert Mondavi. Offering a no-frills, old-school experience — complete with two friendly pigs — Canard may finally stand out in a sea of flashy, corporate-owned estates.
When Rich Czapleski and his wife, Carolyn, purchased the Calistoga property (1016 Dunaweal Lane), one of the first things they did was hire a vineyard manager, who advised them to rip out the Zinfandel plantings on the property. 'Everyone was pulling out Zin. There was a lot of money (being paid) for the French varieties,' said Fox. Czapleski wanted to plant Bordeaux grapes.
But a week later, Czapleski, a stockbroker, received a phone call. Robert Mondavi was on the end of the line, and he was inquiring about Czapleski's plans for the old Zinfandel vines.
When Czapleski shared his decision, Mondavi urged him to keep the vines, explaining that 'the history of Napa Valley is right here in this vineyard,' Fox said; Italian immigrants planted many of Napa Valley's early grapes using vine cuttings they brought from home. Over time, Italian grapes were largely replaced with French varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon, which ultimately put Napa Valley on the map. In the 1960s, when Mondavi was founded and Cabernet Sauvignon began its meteoric rise, acreage grew by more than 450% to over 2,500 acres, according to the California Grape Acreage Report. Today, there are 23,000 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon planted in Napa Valley compared to just 1,300 of Zinfandel.
'He was really adamant about protecting this vineyard,' Fox said of Mondavi.
Two days later, Czapleski's phone rang again. Another Napa Valley visionary, Joe Phelps of Joseph Phelps Vineyards, was calling with a similar appeal. 'When you're the new guy in town and Mondavi and Phelps tell you not to pull out that vineyard, you listen to them,' said Fox. 'Those two phone calls literally saved that vineyard.'
After Czapleski decided to keep the Zinfandel vines, three Zinfandel heavyweights — Ridge, Ravenswood and Storybook Mountain Vineyards — reached out saying they wanted to buy his grapes. 'He didn't know who to sell it to,' Fox said, so he created a friendly competition. 'He said, 'Give me a bottle of Zinfandel in a brown paper bag and whoever's wine I like the best with the lamb I'm grilling tonight will get the contract.''
Joel Peterson, the famous founder of Ravenswood, won and signed on as Canard's first winemaker as part of the deal.
Czapleski replanted the rest of the estate to Bordeaux varieties, but the Zinfandel remains, taking up six of Canard's 23 acres. All of the Zinfandel vines are over 100 years old, and some as old as 140; these may now be the oldest Zinfandel vines in Napa Valley, according to the Old Vine Registry. While mostly Zinfandel, the block was established as a traditional field blend, with between 10 and 15 different Italian varieties interplanted.
Because of their age, the vines don't produce much fruit, but Canard has no plans to remove them. 'For economic reasons, we should have ripped them out. Forty-two years later, and they still don't pay for themselves, they don't even cover the farming costs,' said Czapleski. 'But it's not always about money. Sometimes, it's about history.'
When guests pull up to Canard, which translates to duck (Czapleski's nickname) in French, they're usually greeted by a pair of rescue pigs: the rambunctious Felix and the docile Wilbur. Stunning gardens, curated by Carolyn Czapleski, a master gardener who once owned a wine shop on the Sonoma Plaza, surround a farmhouse built in 1859. The original owner was Reason P. Tucker, an early Napa Valley settler who led the first rescue effort for the Donner Party trapped by snow in Lake Tahoe. In return, California general and statesman Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, who played a pivotal role in California's independence from Mexico, gave him a land grant for the Calistoga property. A social hot spot in its heyday, it's now a quaint hideaway where the Czapleskis live.
Tastings ($75-$150) are hosted by Fox or Rich Czapleski, who, at 82, can still be seen driving his tractor through the vineyard. An old garage was converted into a simple, cozy and private tasting room. 'We want to keep the authenticity of what Napa used to be,' said Fox, though the price point is more in line with modern day. 'To me, that's farmers and winemakers, and it seems like that's changed a little bit.'
Fox would know. When he met Czapleski in 2010, he'd just left a job at a corporate winery. 'It felt like a machine. The tasting bar was three people deep. It felt like there was nothing but tour buses,' he said. 'It didn't feel like the Napa in my head.'
But when he stepped onto the Canard estate for the first time, he said it fit 'that image in my head of what a real Napa winery is.' He called Czapleski over and over, trying to convince him to turn Canard into a more serious business endeavor. At the time, Czapleski was semi-retired, selling most of the grapes and keeping a small amount for the Canard label. Fox ultimately won him over at a lunch, during which Czapleski said he 'hired him on the spot.' Fox became a partner in Canard, which now produces just under 4,000 cases of wine, including three Bordeaux blends and two Zinfandels — which Czapleski described as 'more elegant' than the stereotypical 'big, jammy, fruity' Zinfandels — annually. The winery doesn't make any white wines, but does have a rosé that's a rare blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and 100-year-old Zinfandel grapes, a 'red wine drinker's rosé,' said Fox.
When he came on board, Fox wanted to host tastings at the property immediately, but the permitting process took years. Yet the timing may have been just right, coinciding with a noticeable shift in the industry: Some wine drinkers are trading lavish lounges and caviar pairings for more casual, unpretentious experiences that hearken back to Napa's early days of wine tourism.
'When you come down this driveway and an old guy on a tractor pours you a glass of wine, you taste the authenticity, that pride that goes into putting their name on the label,' Fox said, noting that Czapleski's personal phone number is also printed on it. 'He's the real deal.'