The hope for terroir driven wines is for small producers is to find a way to circumvent distributors -- whose interest is the commoditization of wine -- and sell directly to consumers.
Napa Valley (AVA)
Terroir in the Face of the American Marketing Machine: An Interview with Bob Long
"Big, cooperative wineries aren’t interested in terroir. Small producers will usually be craftsmen, ‘terroirists’ first."
by
Alan Goldfarb
September 22, 2006
Bob Long calls Pritchard Hill a “de facto” appellation, and he would be technically correct. While the area -- in the eastern hills above St. Helena and bounded by Highway 128 -- is not an official American Viticulture Area (AVA), it boasts some of the most famous names in American wine. Wineries such as
Chappellet,
Colgin and
Bryant, dot its hillside. Yet, Pritchard Hill hasn’t come close to AVA status.
Long, 67, brought his family to Pritchard Hill a long time ago, and, with his then-wife Zelma, founded
Long Vineyards in 1977. Long’s family has recently sold the vineyard land and old winery to Portuguese and Connecticut businessman Manuel Pires.
Long and his present wife Pat Perini, now plan to downsize their operation from 4,000 to 300-400 cases of
Cabernet and Chardonnay made from grapes grown on their 2½ acres on Pritchard Hill. The wines, being made by Long at
Hall winery in St. Helena, may undergo a name change, although Bob Long has retained the Long Vineyards name.
He recently spoke to Alan Goldfarb, Appellation America’s Napa Valley correspondent, about Pritchard Hill and describes how he believes the appellation system has been corrupted, chiefly by consolidation and the distribution system.
Alan Goldfarb (AG): Tell us about Pritchard Hill. Will it ever become an AVA?
