Napa's Resident Crazy Person
John Buehler ventures far from the beaten path
Posted: Mar 23, 2011 11:00am ET
"The
resident meshugana of Napa Valley" is what John Buehler calls himself. Yiddish
for crazy person, meshugana pretty much sums Buehler up. While his neighbors
are asking $100 or more for a bottle, Buehler sells most of his wines for $36
or less.
"Five years ago, people
walked up to me and asked what was wrong with my wines because of what I
charged," Buehler says. "Now I'm a hero."
Funny how
perceptions change with the economic times, but the one thing I've always liked
about Buehler's wines is their old-fashioned value and dependability. Take for
example the Zinfandel Napa Valley 2009 (91 points, $18), which is sleek and focused with
elegantly complex notes of cherry, vanilla and spicy oak.
Not all Buehler's wines rate that highly, but
you'll rarely get that sort of homegrown authenticity from a Napa wine at that
price point. "If John had his way and he could afford it, he'd charge less for
his wines," winemaker David Cronin says. "He really believes wine should be for
everyday."
I'll repeat
that: Napa and everyday. How often do you hear those two words in the same
breath?
The story
goes back to 1972 when Buehler planted his first Zinfandel vines in the
mountains east of St. Helena. The previous year, his father, John Buehler, Sr.,
bought the remote hillside property, once home to a pre-Prohibition winery. The
younger Buehler sold the grapes at first and made a little wine on the side
until he launched the Buehler brand in 1978. (A young Heidi Peterson was one of
his first winemakers.)
It wasn't
always easy. If not for the white Zinfandel craze of the mid-1980s, he might
have pulled out his Zin vines. Even now he makes a decent white Zin with a
California appellation to help pay the bills.
The fruit
from Buehler's mountain vineyards can be big and muscular, and his Cabernets
are at their best with his Napa Valley bottling, in which more supple valley
grapes add texture. The winery takes a similar approach with its Zinfandel,
blending wine from Pope Valley to add flesh to the estate grapes. Buehler was
also savvy enough in the early 1990s to turn to Sonoma's Russian River Valley
for Chardonnay, realizing that Napa was generally too warm and too pricy for
his customers. His Chardonnays are elegant and fruit-forward, generally a good
buy for the price.
With his white pepper
hair, dark mustache and easy sense of humor, Buehler often holds court at the
winery; for those adventurous enough to roam off the usual Napa wine trails,
visiting the winery is a schlep (Yiddish for long trip). "I feel like I'm in
the witness protection program," he jokes of his location down a winding road,
near the base of Howell Mountain.
Maybe
I'm just a softie for someone who isn't in it for a fast buck. What can I say?
All I know is that I like his wines. "It's not about image," Buehler says. "He
who wins the race is slow and steady."
Tim,
Been up to the winery twice and John is one of the best guys I have met in Napa. His wines are all great values for the quality your getting and the reds really have that dusty berry Napa character that I like. Better still he has his whole family involved in the business which is nice to see sometimes instead of walking into a winery that feels like walking into a factory. A great operation.
Matthew Slywka