Nick Nardolillo has two tasting rooms: one in Livermore and one in Capitola, on the Monterey Bay. He can just as easily look the part of the Santa Cruz shredder, an ad agency executive, a school teacher, an intelligence analyst or even, a winemaker. He cleans up well and is well put-together enough to play all those parts. In fact, he has. From Air Force Intelligence officer in Vietnam, to elementary schoolteacher, Nick Nardolillo has done it all. And he’s far from finished reinventing himself. He’s having way too much fun.

Nick’s family had vineyards in native Italy, near Genoa so he’s been around wine all his life. In fact, like most European kids, Nick has been drinking wine with dinner since he was old enough to sip from a cup. Still, Nick got into winemaking primarily because the B & B property he wanted to buy in Sunol (a rural town adjacent to Livermore) sold before he could make an offer on it. So his realtor showed him a sweet property in Livermore instead: it was ideal for a B & B and just happened to have a vineyard planted.

And not just any vineyard. No, this was the Folkendt Vineyard, made famous by Steven Kent Winery for the fabulous Cabernet Sauvignon which they made from this lofty site on Livermore’s eastern edge. Nick figured he could learn anything and now that he had a vineyard, he might as well have a winery. He jumped in and went to work, producing award-winning wines instantly. In fact, in the 2005 San Francisco Chronicle competition, his White Crane 02 East Ridge Estate Cabernet was a double gold medalist and the 02 West Ridge took Silver.

Nick and I got together recently to catch up on the developing persona of the Livermore Valley winegrowing region, now that he’s had a few years in the wine business.