Beckstoffer Vineyards, the largest independent family-owned vineyard company on California's North Coast, has played a defining role in the history of the Napa Valley wine industry. They've pioneered innovations in grapegrowing technology, modernized vineyard management and brought new respect to the winegrape grower--all this, and in just 30 years.
Andy Beckstoffer arrived in the Napa Valley in the late 1960s. Supported by a graduate degree from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Andy established the Vinifera Development Corporation for Heublein Inc. in 1970. In 1973 he bought the corporation. The years that followed were lean ones for the California wine industry, although Andy continued to build his vineyard estate in Napa and Mendocino counties. After restructuring in 1978, Vinifera was renamed Beckstoffer Vineyards. In 1983 Beckstoffer Vineyards owned 873 acres in Mendocino County and almost 200 acres in Napa Valley. Driven by a commitment to planting premium varieties, Andy Beckstoffer was also dedicated to planting red wine grapes, especially cabernet sauvignon. "Our view has always been that red grapes should be cultivated in Napa Valley--that this is cabernet country. We are now pioneering the development of Merlot in the cool climate area of Carneros."
In 1988 Beckstoffer Vineyards purchased the first of a series of historic premium vineyards--the old Beaulieu Vineyard No.3 east of Rutherford, originally developed by Georges de Latour and the source of some of Beaulieu's most prestigious bottlings. "We buy only the best and pay what the market demands," said Beckstoffer. Four adjacent properties have been added to create Vineyard Georges III.
In 1992 Andy bought the Cabral Ranch in Carneros from Charles Krug, which he calls Carneros Lake Vineyard; 1993 saw the purchase of adjacent land; Louis Martini's Las Amigas Ranch and the historic Beaulieu Vineyard No.4; a portion of the original To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville. In 1996, he purchased a portion of the famed Vine Hill Vineyard, which he renamed Vineyard "X." A year later he bought 25 acres of the historic St. Helena vineyard first planted in 1859 by Dr. George Belden Crane. These vineyards are recognized historically as among the highest quality vineyards in the Napa Valley.
Beckstoffer's passion for historically important vineyards was (and still is) rivaled only by his passion for preserving them. His vineyards support grape production and have been at the forefront of community-based projects with the Napa County Resource Conservation District. In 1997, the State of California honored Beckstoffer Vineyards with an award for innovative Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The award recognized Beckstoffer's commitment to new viticulture technologies and IPM practices, and in establishing new vines that minimize pesticide use. "It is not enough to grow great grapes or make great wine or to make money doing it," said Beckstoffer. "We must also be sensitive and responsible to the environment in which we live."
The Red Hills area of Lake County is proving to be well positioned for premium grapegrowing, particularly cabernet sauvignon. This will result in a more affordable premium wine in the marketplace. "We are exporting to the Red Hills district of Lake County all of the new technology we learned and developed in Napa Valley when we replanted after phylloxera in an attempt to make the Red Hills area truly premium wine country," Andy related.
As a result of his willingness to experiment with closer spacing, innovations in pruning and trellising, and his introduction of drip irrigation, the vineyards of Andy Beckstoffer are some of the most technologically advanced in Napa Valley, and he is in the process of integrating these innovations into Lake County.
As a respected trendsetter in grapegrowing, Beckstoffer Vineyards greatly contributes to the worldwide prominence of the Napa Valley wine industry. Beckstoffer Vineyards delivers over 11,000 tons of grapes annually to winemakers. At 700 bottles a ton, Beckstoffer's influence over Napa Valley and Mendocino wines runs into tens of millions of bottles, especially when viewed over the company's history spanning three decades. Since the 1970s, Beckstoffer Vineyards operations have produced over 140,000 tons of Napa Valley grapes.
Beckstoffer Vineyards has pioneered innovations in grapegrowing technology, changing the way grapes are grown in Napa Valley, and beyond. The conventional wisdom that reasonable quantity and super premium quality are incompatible has been challenged. Canopy management techniques that include new methods in pruning, trellising, and vine spacing have brought improved access to sunlight, resulting in increases in both quality and tonnage. Adding drip irrigation has opened up whole sections of the Carneros region to new plantings. Sustainable agriculture has brought new life to soils and vineyards. These changes are part of the continuing revolution in vineyard management.
According to Andy, "The past ten years have been a revolutionary time in the wine industry. The adoption of new global technologies, rootings and clones in the vineyard, and the attitude to strive for the highest quality allows us to enter the 21st century as consistent producers of many of the best wines in the world, with the growers and vintners participating together in the work and in the prize..."
In 2000, Andy and Betty Beckstoffer were honored as St. Helena's "Citizens of the Year."
In September of 2005 Andy was awarded the Grower of the Year Award by COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts during its annual Jefferson Bacchus Gala & Auction.
And most recently, in May of 2006, the Napa Grapegrowers Association awarded its first Grower of the Year Award to Andy.
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