|
Browse By Price
|
"Uncle" Robert got young Rob, a third generation Californian, interested in the art of fine wine making at an early age during his grade school years. Rob showed a keen interest, and with his mentor and uncle at his side, began to explore and experiment on his own. This interest carried on through high school, and having grown up in Martinez, California on the fringes of the Napa-Sonoma Wine Valley Region, it was natural that Rob would attend the University of California at Davis and study enology.
He graduated from that prestigious institution in the summer of 1975 (with honors) and with a B.S. in Fermentation Science. Rob tackled his first "real" winery job at the Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma, California, but the job was more a hands-on training experience than anything and Rob was soon looking for bigger and better opportunities. He had heard from a fellow winemaker at a neighboring winery that some guy from Washington State (Bill Preston of Preston Winery) was asking around, trying to hire a winemaker and Rob's antenna went up. A meeting was arranged and Rob flew to the Tri-Cities to meet with Bill Preston in March 1977.
Preston hired Rob and he was off and running. Rob's wine making abilities and talents were quickly put to the test. It was at the 1979 Enological Society of the Pacific Northwest's annual Northwest Wine Festival that Preston's (Rob's) 1977 Chardonnay won the "Best of Show" award. Judges and consumers alike were "thumbs up" on the wine's concentrated, fresh Chardonnay flavor.
Rob was at Preston's for seven years and spent another seven years at Hogue Cellars in nearby Prosser before going it alone. By 1983 Rob was making his own award-winning wines and had 400 cases ready for market. Today that number has increased to 25,000 cases containing 10 different labels, several of which are also award winners that Rob creates.
Barnard Griffin Winery wines are currently distributed and sold mostly in the Northwest, but can also be found in fine wine shops and restaurants across the country. Wines are now being produced in the newly-built Barnard Griffin Winery, a goal Rob and Deborah set back in 1975. With the support and advice of friends, relatives and fellow winemakers, Rob and Deborah have now seen their dream become a reality. The Barnard Griffin Winery was opened to the public in May 1997.
Visit the Barnard Griffin website.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vintages and ratings subject to change at any time.
All pricing and availability subject to change.