They once named a then-revolutionary harvester after Tony Baldini. His work planting and managing the original 500 or so acres for Trefethen Vineyards eventually led to the formation of the Oak Knoll District AVA. And despite his home being picketed by the United Farmworkers, Baldini counted UFW leader César Chavez as one of his friends.

Despite not having a formal degree in the viticulture sciences, Tony Baldini was the type of farmer who could just look at a vine and know instinctually if it was going to produce good grapes or not.

Tony Baldini, it could be said, was a hell of a vineyard man, one of the pioneers in the halcyon days of the Napa Valley during its boom period of the 1970s and ‘80s.

Today, Baldini, who worked for Trefethen Vineyards from 1968 until he retired in 2000, is 78 years old and is suffering the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease. But his son Tony Jr. called recently to tell me about the work his father had done for the California wine industry, and to let people know not to forget his dad.

Tony Jr., one of Tony Baldini’s eight kids, works in the industry, as the brand manager for Don Sebastiani & Sons. One of the brands he oversees is one with the whimsical name of Screw Kappa Napa. It’s a clever play on words that some might think takes a good-natured poke at the Napa Valley. But as if to ensure that he only has the highest regard for the region – as does his dad – in about a one-hour telephone conversation, Tony Jr. was extremely effusive about both Napa and his father, who aided in putting the valley on the path to success.

He spoke of how Tony Sr. began his career as a “custom farmer” in Contra Costa County, east of San Francisco, for Henry J. Kaiser, the American industrialist, whose vision led to the formation of one of the largest HMOs in the country.

And he spoke of how Tony Baldini came to grow grapes in the Napa Valley, beginning in the early ‘60s when he consulted for Schramsberg, Domaine Chandon, Cakebread, Phelps, and Silver Oak.