EPISODE # 12 BILL BONETTI RETIREMENT & THE WINE INDUSTRY ALMOST DIDN'T KNOW.

Episode #12 takes you through the event that led up to what became a fitting tribute to Bill Bonetti and his retirement from winemaking, not just at Sonoma-Cutrer, where he was from the beginning back in 1981, but from his illustrious 42 years of winegrowing.

I had always looked at Bill as the Leonardo da Vinci of the wine business. He was always tinkering, trying to find another way to perfect the process of winegrowing from the vineyard to the bottle. From the day I met Bill back in 1988 during the interview process for the position of VP of Sales & Marketing at Sonoma-Cutrer, I felt I could learn something more from him that would increase my appreciation for the process of winegrowing, and I can say I did.

This episode will highlight how I turned a low-key Beer & Chips celebration on a Friday afternoon at the winery into a full-blown promotional event with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group and the properties where they had recruited and put in charge of their Dining Rooms Michelin Star chefs from Europe back in 1991 and 1992.

Take a listen or read the transcript below.

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Transcript

EPISODE #12; BILL BONETTI RETIRES & THE WINE INDUSTRY ALMOST DIDN’T NOTICE

SPEAKERS

Fred Reno

Fred Reno  

It was yet another beautiful early August day in 1991 at Sonoma-Cutrer vineyards as we began preparing for the upcoming harvest. But it wasn't a normal Friday. It was August 2nd, around 3 pm, when a low-key celebration and recognition ceremony took place for Bill Bonetti on the occasion of his retirement. 

 Although I knew that Bill had planned to pull back as of August 1st as our full-time winemaker and to have Terry Adams, his protege, succeed him, taking the reins of the ‘91 harvest, I was not given any significant advance notice of this afternoon's event. In fact, I only heard about it earlier that day. 

 As a result, I believe it was one reason the attendees at this get-together were a diverse group comprising office employees still at work on a Friday afternoon in August, vineyard workers, Bill’s staff, and various other individuals. We toasted Bill with beer and chips. No big deal. Brice Jones said a few words about how important Bill had been to the development of Sonoma-Cutrer, and that was it. 

 Although I had gotten used to Brice's inability to recognize his staff in meaningful ways, I still went home for the weekend shaking my head as I kept thinking, Bill Bonetti was the Dean of winemakers in California at the time, a person who, without his vision and experience, Brice would never have gone as far or enjoyed the credibility that he and the wines did. 

 My wine was racing as I thought, " Is that all there is? Can this be possible? Bill deserves so much more than a Friday afternoon beer and chips on a patio overlooking croquet courts, no less. As I tried to make sense of it, once again, Brice’s lack of appreciation for what Bill had contributed to his and the company's success, my mind went to work, beginning to imagine what we could do and what would be a truly fitting tribute to Bill Bonetti and his legacy. Then the perfect idea hit me. Sonoma-Cutrer was about to release the published proceedings from the Focus on Chardonnay Symposium it had organized, originally in 1986, and now in the 1990 Focus on Chardonnay. And the proceedings that chronicle the event held in Burgundy, France, in July of 1990 were about to be released. This was clearly the perfect event to bring together a larger gathering of industry leaders. My idea was we should host a wine trade and press luncheon in San Francisco, pairing the release of the Focus on Chardonnay proceedings with the official announcement of Bill Bonetti’s retirement. I was confident we could achieve a significant turnout if we chose a venue sure to attract the top press and buyers in the Bay Area. 

 At the same time, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group had begun to recruit top-quality Michelin-starred chefs and place them in some of its flagship properties, including the San Francisco Hotel. It was part of a larger effort to win the Malcolm Baldrige Award for Service in 1992.

 On Monday morning, after arriving at the winery, I immediately went to Brice's office to sell him on the idea of tying the release of the proceedings of Focus on Chardonnay with the announcement of Bill Bonetti's retirement. This would ensure interest from both the trade and the media. Brice, of course, was skeptical and didn't believe we could attract the right folks for a lunch in San Francisco. I said, "Brice, the Ritz-Carlton hotels are currently hiring Michelin-starred chefs from Europe and placing them in the dining rooms at a handful of properties in this country." San Francisco just received one, and I know the dining room manager at the property. If I can get him to open the Dining room for a private lunch, I believe we have enough bells and whistles between Bill Bonetti’s retirement and the proceedings from Focus on Chardonnay. Additionally, no one ever gets to taste. The Founders Reserve Chardonnays are five-liter bottles that we only bottle 25 each year. If we use three or four vintages of these wines and have the chef prepare a menu specifically for the wine, I am confident that this will draw the press and top people from the trade. 

 Brice agreed to the event but wanted a test luncheon with the chef in advance. There was no way I was going to ask Nick Peyton, the dining room manager, who, some years later, along with Chef Douglas Kean, opened the best restaurant in wine country, Cyrus. No, I wasn't going to ask him to open the Ritz Carlton dining room for a private lunch. And, oh yeah, by the way, Brice would like the chef to do a test lunch. He would look at me like I was crazy. 

 I suggested to Brice that we go to dinner and order dishes from the menu, along with some of our wines, to get a feel for his cuisine. I knew the chef spoke only French, but Donna Bernheim, who worked with me at the time and was responsible for coordinating the details of the Focus on Chardonnay event, spoke excellent French and could translate between Brice and the chef. Should he have any comments or want further changes to the menu? 

 I did get Nick Peyton to agree to an interaction like this so that he would not feel embarrassed or insulted by my request. Well, the event was a smashing success. We had all the right people in attendance, and the wines proved to do the trick, as they showed outstandingly and validated not only Sonoma-Cutrer’s position in the market for the highest quality Chardonnay, but Bill Bonetti and his deft hand at wine making.

 As the lunch wound down, I had to leave for Atlanta, Georgia, that afternoon on an already scheduled market trip. By eight o'clock that evening, I was in the dining room of the Ritz Carlton Buckhead, enjoying dinner with my friend and hotel manager, Joseph Violi. Joseph was a real professional and someone who became a good friend over time. One of his strengths was his flair for the moment and his ability to promote himself and the hotel. As I described the luncheon I just experienced back in San Francisco, he jumped in and said, "Fred, how about we do a series of these dinners at all of our properties where we have Michelin-starred chefs?" He then added a twist that turned out to be a brilliant idea. His proposal was for Sonoma-Cutrer to sponsor half the dining room and invite the top trade people we would like to host. The Ritz-Carlton would sponsor the other half of the room and invite its VIP customers and selected media. I thought to myself, what a creative promotional opportunity for Sonoma-Cutrer to honor Bill Bonetti, his years of winemaking, and showcase these fantastic Founders Reserve Chardonnays that no one ever gets to experience alongside the most exceptional chefs' cuisine in the country. Immediately, I agreed and added that we should make these black-tie events. Now all I had to do was convince Brice, when I returned from Atlanta, to buy it and see the value of this co-branded event. 

 The first dinner was in Boston on Monday, September 13. We went on to Washington, DC, the next evening, and then on Wednesday, finishing in Atlanta. The event was a sellout, and Bill Bonetti was a star. The humble and authentic manner he displayed as he told stories of his past experiences and the beginnings of Sonoma-Cutrer was captivating and enthralling. By the time we arrived back in California the next day, we were all very exhausted but energized by how well the dinner series had gone so far. We took several weeks off, then headed to Southern California and Laguna Niguel on the evening of Tuesday, October 7, where I thought the menu was far and away the finest of all the dinners.

 Then, finishing in Pasadena a week later, at the venerable Huntington Hotel, for the finale. That evening, the proverbial cherry was put on the top of the sundae when Bill Hall, the hotel's General Manager, in his closing remarks for the evening, announced that the Ritz Carlton had won the prestigious Malcolm Baldridge Award for Service, and that it would be national news the next day. It was a fitting end to an incredible series of dinners that had taken close to a year to plan.