History

";Though youth gives love and beauty, Age leaves us friends and wine.";

Larry Brooks and Mike Richmond, the two founders of Amethyst, met after a dinner party in 1978 over a glass of wine. How fitting. Like most friendships it was instantaneous. Besides wine, it was kindled by a common fascination with motorcycles and bicycles, the company of women, and the consolations of Art. Twenty nine vintages and hundreds of wine bottlings later not much has changed, though motorcycles have receded somewhat. Friendship,is a bit like terroir in wine you know it's real, but it's hard to define.

In 1989 they planted a tiny two acre parcel around Mike's house in the Carneros. Following some demented logic they choose Nebbiolo as the primary varietal and Sangiovese as the minor. In 1993 they bottled the first vintage. It turned out remarkably well.

Made mostly from Nebbiolo, they called it Vinalia, a homage to Barolo and Barbaresco. Most Cal-Italia wines are heavy on the Cal and light on the Italia. Not this one. You could easily mistake it for a native of Piedmont. It has that wonderful dynamic of a perfumed nose – violet and nectarines if you will - combined with a mouth that is as serious as a heart attack. Wonderful with a grilled steak. It demands rich food. Near immortal, this wine will age forever, or as long as the cork holds.

Things continued as they were with a few hundred cases of this wine made each year until 1999 when another obscure varietal was added to the stable, Malvasia Bianca. This aromatic variety was made in a dry style. This wine too turned out to be a delight.

In 2001 Larry and Mike began making Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Here was a proven thoroughbred that was right in their backyard all along. Combining their 50 years of winemaking experience and some first rate fruit from their partners vineyards they managed yet again to bottle a delicious and a marketable wine.

Napa Valley Cabernet is a classic. There's no point in fooling with a sure bet, so we kept this pretty simple. We used the best grapes we could find, we put it into the most expensive barrels, and we aged it till we couldn’;t stand to wait any longer. We're very happy with the results. It’;s rich in the sense that good Bordeaux is rich. Napa Cabernet is the most expensive wine made in California – that didn’;t happen by accident – think about it.

Finally in 2004 a Pinot Gris( Grigio) replaced the Malvasia. There are two schools of thought with Pinot Grigio, either light and crisp or rich and dense. We base the picking decision and winemaking on the rich and dense model. The vineyard is located in the Carneros region and is planted with a Colmar clone selection on modern rootstock. These Alsatian clones are small clustered and appropriate starting points for a reserve style of white wine. The wine that has resulted is in many ways unlike any other domestic Pinot Grigio.