The news came as a surprise to many.<\/p>\n
Carlton McCoy, wine director at The Little Nell hotel and a fixture in the Aspen wine community, had taken a new job. It may have even surprised McCoy. \u201cI thought I had my forever job, working for the Crown family and Mike Kaplan here in Aspen,\u201d he related in a recent interview at element 47, whose wine cellar and restaurant floor served as his office for nearly a decade. \u201cIf this opportunity had not come along, I might never have left,\u201d he added with a smile that blended both nostalgia and a palpable sense of excitement for the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis opportunity,\u201d of which he speaks, is his new position as president and CEO of Heitz Cellar in Napa Valley. One of the most historic American wineries, Heitz is fortuitously positioned to take advantage of a combination of heritage and assets to expand its role in Napa and in the broader world of wine. Consider that Heitz\u2019s holdings include over 400 acres of prime vineyards in the Napa Valley, ranging from Howell Mountain to Spring Mountain and from Rutherford to Oak Knoll. The winery has a near 60-year-long legacy of producing distinctive and collectible cabernet sauvignon made in a unique style that was the hallmark of Joe Heitz, who founded the winery in 1961.<\/p>\n
Just under a year ago, Gaylon Lawrence Jr., a Tennessee-based billionaire and frequent visitor to the Nell who had shared many bottles with McCoy over the years, made his first foray into wine, buying Heitz Cellar for a wine-press reported $180 million from the founding family. That purchase included over 1,000 acres of land (including the 400 acres of vines), a tasting room smack dab in the heart of the Napa Valley and a 100-year-old stone-constructed winery on Taplin Road high above the valley floor.<\/p>\n
Given this union of resources and history, it is no wonder that McCoy is enthused.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to position Heitz to where it should be as one of the luxury brands in the Napa Valley. We want to educate people on the history of Heitz and help people understand the Heitz palate,\u201d he said about his mission going forward. The Highway 29 tasting room will be extensively renovated in the near future and will adapt the patina of a \u201cMichelin three-star dining room,\u201d according to McCoy. \u201cWe will be placing an extra emphasis on hospitality.\u201d<\/p>\n
As far as the winery operations, the possibilities appear limitless for a winery that already produces 30,000 to 40,000 cases per year of wine (depending upon vintage), the vast majority of which is cabernet sauvignon sourced from single vineyards, including the famed Martha\u2019s Vineyard in the Oakville appellation. McCoy sees growth options within the current holdings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe own the Ink Grade Ranch (a high-elevation vineyard on Howell Mountain) that we have been selling fruit from to other high-end makers. In 2016, our winemaker, Brittney Sherwood, asked the Heitz family if she could start vinifying some wine from the vineyard and she made 400 cases of a Howell Mountain Cabernet,\u201d he said. \u201cIt absolutely blew my mind. We barrel-tasted and it was like nothing else I ever had. It was like, if you were to mix a Saint-\u00c9milion with a Northern Rh\u00f4ne syrah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Possibilities abound.<\/p>\n
There are other potential projects, as well. \u201cThe Heitz family had all of these oddball varietals planted in experimental lots, like touriga nacional, bastardo, malvasia and grignolino (Heitz has long produced a wine from this Italian varietal).\u201d These wines could find their way into another label.<\/p>\n
Lawrence has indicated that youth shall be served in his hiring for key positions at the winery. The 34-year-old McCoy will be working alongside the aforementioned 29-year-old Sherwood, who began working for the Heitz family as an intern and ascended meteorically to her current post. It is a bold move, but one that indicates a plan to marry tradition with contemporary concepts. The Lawrence family, which owns over 300,000 acres of agricultural land, employed similar tactics of linking the old and new in the revitalization of a farm town they own, Wilson, Arkansas, in the Mississippi Delta.<\/p>\n
For McCoy, the new position is the next step in a career that has escalated with alacrity. Raised in a rough patch of Washington D.C., he developed an interest in the culinary arts at an early age that led to a scholarship at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Following a kitchen stint at Thomas Keller\u2019s Per Se in New York City, he returned to Washington where he took a position in the kitchen at CityZen. It was here that he first found a passion for wine. \u201cAndy Myers (a fellow Master) was a great mentor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hired in 2010 at The Little Nell, his passion became an obsession and three years later he passed the rigorous Court of Master Sommeliers exam at the age of 29. During his time in Aspen he oversaw the Wine Spectator Award-winning wine program at the Nell while also working with best friend Csaba Oveges (director of food and beverage) to build the tiny wine cellar in the basement of element 47, which has become a must-stop for global wine connoisseurs.<\/p>\n
But perhaps even greater than his impact on the wine community here has been the community\u2019s impact on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I took the position at the Nell I thought I was not yet qualified,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then when I became the wine director, same thing. But the Nell took the chains off and gave me the chance to grow and to learn so much. I\u2019ll always be grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Personally he has made life-long friends like Oveges and met his partner, Elleree Fletcher, who will be moving to Napa with him this April. Oh, and he has also adopted the Aspen lifestyle. \u201cWhen I moved to Aspen I had never played any sports or done anything physical. Now my lifestyle involves running (he has completed two New York marathons) and cycling. It has changed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now he turns another page.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t really thought about anything but the job yet,\u201d he replied when asked if he has considered the amazing trajectory of his life\u2019s path. \u201cI\u2019m really just in the middle of it and I want to keep moving. Maybe one day I\u2019ll stop and think about it. But for now I\u2019m just moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
And seeking new Heitz.<\/p>\n
Kelly J. Hayes lives in the soon-to-be-designated appellation of Old Snowmass. He can be reached at malibukj@aol.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n