Remembering Great Winemaker and True Friend Tom Rinaldi | A Classic Episode

It's hard to believe that we recently lost Tom Rinaldi. He had a big impact on Napa wine and beyond that was a great friend and a fantastic human being.Tom grew up in San Francisco, where he experienced the Summer of Love —think Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead. He tasted wine in Napa Valley on motorcycle trips here starting when he was 16.Later, he signed up for the Navy before entering UC Davis where he studied winemaking — and the rest is history. He essentially invented Napa Valley Merlot as we know it today.He was winemaker for Round Hill, Duckhorn, Provenance, Pellet Estate, and others. In this episode we recorded in August of 2020, during those early months of Covid, his sense of adventure was intact and he looked forward to many more vintages to come. We'll miss him.