Photo: Bruce Fleming
Cafaro - No Ordinary Joe
By Dick RosanoIn the wine industry, where celebrity status often puts the winemaker on public view, it's nice to meet a man who will stand behind his wines rather than in front of them. Such is the case with Joe Cafaro, a winemaker who has earned a reputation for elegant and forceful wines at a number of prominent estates throughout Napa Valley, and who, since 1986, has been bottling a small collection of upscale, varietal reds at Cafaro Cellars. In an era in which California winemakers are commonly blending to establish a panoply of flavors in a wine, it's refreshing to come across a purist who is committed to accentuating the flavors of a particular grape.
The inaugural releases of Cafaro Cellars wines were the 1986 Napa Valley Merlot and the 1986 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. When they debuted in August 1989, both were praised by the critics and snapped up by the cognoscenti. And while the present-day portfolio is confined to Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon -- his mastery of which he could stake his future on -- a Syrah is in the developmental stages.
By limiting the field to only a few reds, Cafaro has carved out a fairly unusual winemaking niche. Richard Arrowood of Arrowood Winery, a former classmate, neatly sums up Cafaro's success: "He focuses on [making] small lots of extraordinary wine."
Cafaro's ideas about winemaking and style took shape while honing his skills at Chappellet, Keenan and Acacia. "My philosophy is very simple," he says. "I get the finest grapes available and do as little as possible during the natural process to bring out every characteristic they have to offer." Cafaro blends the same variety sourced from different sites, seeking complexity based on terroir rather than on the unique qualities possessed by different grape varieties. This approach is consistent with Cafaro's belief that the varietal character is paramount and sourcing the same grape from various vineyards is preferable to blending different grapes together to achieve the complexity he desires.
In March, Cafaro and I walked through the cellar to taste his newer wines from barrel -- wines he makes at the Miner Family Winery on Silverado Trail in Oakville, and ages in a cool, dark corridor of the winery's underground caves. He arrived for our session in a shiny red-and-white 1967 Austin Healy Mini-Cooper, a name that aptly describes the size of this Lilliputian car. "It's a fun car to drive," Cafaro says. "I use it mainly to commute to the wineries around Napa." Those wineries include the Krupp Project and Emilio's Terrace, for whom Cafaro maintains a consulting relationship. His infatuation with cars and motorcycles proves an interesting flip side to his passion for elegance and grace in wine.
His 1998 Merlot is full of juicy fruit and sensuous aromas; the 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blockbuster; and the princely 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva is highly extracted and complex.
Cafaro graduated from Fresno State University in 1969 with a degree in enology and viticulture.
"I became interested in wine from a high school physics teacher who worked at a nearby winery," Cafaro recalls. He also found inspiration from his grandfather, who, like so many Italian immigrants, made wine at home.
The study of enology combined many aspects of science that Cafaro's mechanical mind craved, while the dual element of creativity that winemaking afforded appealed to his freewheeling spirit.
He followed up his education at Fresno with stints at Charles Krug (1969-1971) and Chappellet (1971-1977), where he apprenticed to Phil Togni for three years, then served as winemaker for three more. "To Phil, the vineyard was the most important part of the equation," Cafaro recalls. This focus on the vineyard brought Cafaro out of the winery and into the field, where he discovered that he could manage the final product, not in the lab, but in the various microclimates enjoyed by the same grape varietals.
In 1977, he moved to Robert Keenan Winery, where he established his own style -- and the style for Keenan -- for making juicy, full-flavored, intensely concentrated red wines.
"Joe would leave no stone unturned, sometimes staying at it until three in the morning," says Keenan's son, Michael, who endured those late nights at Cafaro's side as his assistant.
Now winery president, Keenan holds the wines crafted by Cafaro in high regard. "I tasted Joe's 1981 Keenan Cabernet Sauvignon recently, and it still tastes delicious," he confirms.
Keenan believes that Cafaro's uncompromising demand for depth and concentration in flavor has been the key to his string of winemaking successes. He also notes that during Cafaro's tenure at Keenan his coworkers often tried to crack his serious deportment by speaking among themselves in Spanish, a tactic intended to nettle Cafaro and get him to lighten up a bit.
Indeed, all those interviewed for this article agree that Cafaro blends a fanatical dedication to work with an engaging personality. He is quiet but quick to smile, and his soft voice and gentle demeanor sometimes disguise an inner intensity.
There came a point during his tenure at Keenan when his winemaking philosophy diverged from that of management's, and in 1982 he was lured to Acacia by a job offer he could not refuse.
Cafaro worked as winemaker for Acacia Winery's Bordeaux project from 1983 until 1985, and was initially encouraged by the concept. This was Acacia's early attempt to produce red wines using the varieties that dominate the Bordeaux-style blend: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, malbec and others. He was proud of the wines he made for Acacia, but disappointed with management decisions. It may have been this disenchantment that pushed him to establish his own label -- a move that gave him the control he wanted from the vineyard to the retail channels.
To ensure that he attains quality in the cellar, Cafaro makes it his point to know everything that's going on in the vineyards. He has carefully studied Napa's microclimates and soils and is well-versed in the subtle differences.
"He knows better than most the small differences in the many districts we call ÔNapa'," observes Craig Williams, general manager at Joseph Phelps Vineyards.
This keen sense of place allows Cafaro to develop layers of flavor and complexity without venturing very far from the pure varietal character that is his target. He admits that, occasionally, a few percentage points of merlot may wind up in his Cabernet Sauvignon, but it's rare, and he tries to avoid it.
"My passion is to produce wines I love to drink," Cafaro declares, "wines that are elegant enough to have complete continuity; wines that complement a meal, not wines that are meals in themselves."
In order to pave the way for his own label, in 1985, armed with an impressive résumé, he turned to consulting work. Robert Sinskey Winery, Dalla Valle Vineyards, Jaeger Family Winery and Oakville Ranch Winery are among the notable producers that tapped his expertise. Indeed, Cafaro's advice is credited with establishing the house style for these producers.
"Joe is very fond of picking ripe grapes, but with balanced acidity," says Jeff Virnig, winemaker of Robert Sinskey Winery and Cafaro's apprentice during the early days of that winery's existence. "He always said what was on his mind, and good wine was all that was on his mind."
Cafaro continues to consult with select Napa wineries, such as Emilio's Terrace and Krupp Brothers, but his own label is the emotional core of his winemaking.
He has sourced from Truchard Vineyard in Carneros for merlot and cabernet sauvignon, from Krupp Vineyard in Atlas Peak for the same grapes and from Oakville Ranch Vineyard in Oakville for cabernet sauvignon. This site-specific approach to blending is more challenging than simply reaching for another grape with known blending potential. "By using one variety from specific vineyards in specific appellations I can better control the style of wines I am trying to produce and retain the integrity of the variety," Cafaro says.
Of course, it helps to have Cafaro's talents when pursuing such a course.
"He has very quietly become a reference point for many of us in the industry," Williams says.
And although his winemaking skills are heralded, Cafaro's unassuming nature has kept him out of the Napa Valley limelight.
"He's on the opposite end of the spectrum from a lot of big-name producers," says John Shafer, the founder of Shafer Vineyards, who knows him both professionally and personally. Cafaro married Shafer's daughter, Libby, in 1981. "He's not a self-promoter," says his father-in-law, "but his wines speak for themselves."
On the surface, Cafaro's winemaking approach, which he says is "traditional in form and modern in execution," seems similar to many others, but it is the nuance found in his perfectionism that separates his wines from the pack.
He pumps the juice over the cap twice a day during fermentation for greater extraction, but ferments in stainless steel. After primary and secondary fermentation, all wine goes into small oak barrels (mostly French), half of which are new each year.
"I have found that American barrels go especially well with hillside fruit," he says, "but I would not want too much in the blend." The wines are oak-aged for two years, then bottle-aged for another year before release to soften the wine and round out the flavors.
Cafaro maintains a relatively small annual production of 3,200 cases so he can give the wine the level of attention he believes is necessary to make wines of distinction.
Cafaro likens winemaking to his other hobbies, especially motorcycles: "[In both arenas], you have to concentrate and focus on what is going on around you, thinking of nothing else," he says.
Longtime friends recall that he was interested from an early age in anything with an engine attached to it. "In high school, he had a 1934 Ford pick-up," says Ken Deis, winemaker at Flora Springs. "Later he had three Alfa Romeos and a Lotus."
Today the 55-year-old Cafaro can be seen cruising along the Silverado Trail on his BMW motorcycle or zipping about in the Mini-Cooper. And though he once used his stable of vehicles in search of excitement, he now uses them to locate new grape sources along the roads and hillsides of Napa Valley.
In 1996, he and Libby cleared and planted Cafaro Family Vineyards, located just south of the Stag's Leap district. "It is so important to have outstanding grapes that I decided to plant my own vineyard," he explains. The 15-acre parcel includes cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and petit verdot. Cafaro anticipates that its yield will account for 80 percent of his future bottlings under the Cafaro Cellars label. He will continue to source from other vineyards as well, he says, "both to retain the wine style we've achieved and to maintain a layered personality in the wines."
Having worked in the Napa Valley wine scene for over three decades, Cafaro remains highly charged by the pleasures and challenges it presents. He lives by a simple guiding philosophy that has served him well. "Life is too short to not do the things that bring some pleasure," he notes. "In my case, it's cars and wine."
Tasting Bar
Cafaro Cellars, 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon -- ($39): A blockbuster wine with aromas of sweet oak, cherry and soft spice. Dense, chewy flavors of blackberry, cherry and raspberry offer spectacular depth and length.
Cafaro Cellars, 1998 Merlot -- ($37): Sensuous aromas of coffee, toast and cherry. Juicy, supple flavors of blackberry and cherry fruit with additional notes of anise and cedar. Fabulously deep and beautifully textured with a lasting finish.
Cafaro Cellars, 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva -- ($90): First impressions of cassis, licorice, cocoa and mint with secondary scents of blackberry and cherry. Highly extracted flavors of blackberry, cherry and black currant accented by licorice and cocoa notes. -- Dick Rosano
Contributing Editor Dick Rosano is a Washington, D.C.-based wine writer and the author of Wine Heritage: The Story of Italian-American Vintners.
