December 20, 2024 – The wine industry is really one giant puzzle. Figuring out where one fits, or doesn’t, is a full-time job. I’ve sent out a lot of puzzles for Christmas this year, so puzzles are on my mind.
There was a time when Hahn Estate Vineyards was a major force in the Santa Lucia Highlands. Established by Nicky and Gaby Hahn in the 1970s with the purchase of Smith & Hook Vineyard, where he initially planted Cabernet, Nicky came to recognize the suitability of the SLH climate for Pinot Noir. He led the charge for recognition of the area, beginning in 1988, as its own AVA, and in 1991, the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA was officially recognized.
Nicky was eager to build out his vision of River Road as a splendid spot for hospitality, and tapped chef Brian Overhauser to create a culinary program at the estate. He and longtime winemaker Paul Clifton developed a series of wines specifically for the wine and food pairings, called Chef’s Table. Among them was a Pinot Noir Blanc, the first most had ever heard of this concept of bleeding off the Pinot Noir juice without skin contact to make a wine of the palest hue, filled with the vibrant flavors of Hahn’s Pinot Noir. It was brilliant. So was the Chef’s Table Pinot Gris.
One of the reasons this was possible was the leadership of Tony Baldini, who was GM of Hahn beginning in 2011, ascending to President and CEO of the company until 2020, when he left for Cliff Lede, a couple of years after Hahn passed away.
Earlier this year, I noticed that Jason Lede had been promoted to GM at Cliff Lede, the eponymous brand of his famous Canadian father, who also created the FEL Wines brand in Anderson Valley, about which I’ve written many times.
I pieced a few things together and contacted Baldini, who immediately replied that he was now at Trefethen. He filled me in on the past few years, saying that when he took the job at Cliff Lede—a gorgeous property in Stag’s Leap District whose vineyard blocks are named for rock n’ roll band albums—Cliff told him he wanted to retire, be less involved with the winery and instead travel around the world, enjoying his various domiciles. Boom. Covid hits. Suddenly Cliff was around more, not less. So, too was Jason, who had returned after ticking off the requirements his father specified before he could work in the family winery.
It became increasingly obvious that, like a box of unassembled IKEA furniture, there might be more pieces than the documentation outlines.
Baldini is to be credited with helping to guide Cliff Lede winery through the exceedingly challenging vintage of 2020. But at some point, it became clear that he needed to make his next move.
Baldini is a Napa guy, and had relocated his family to Salinas in 2011 to work for Hahn, a difficult move for his wife and young kids at the time. She still remembers the wind. He remembers the community, and how everyone embraced them. He loved that place and everything about it. Until the pandemic, which forever changed the relationship of the Hahn family with their once-beloved land.
Fast forward to a rainy day in early December this year, when my husband and I caught up with Baldini who is now president at the utterly charming and historic Trefethen Winery, located on a formidably large piece of property surrounded by 200 acres of vines.
The historic winery is impressive. The beautiful country style home of the Trefethen’s, called The Villa, where seated tastings now take place, even more so. The property was home to the Trefethen family, and also Baldini’s.
Baldini walked us over to a huge map of the property on the wall of the Villa and pointed to a spot at the very bottom, next to an irrigation pond.
“That’s where I grew up,” he said. “I have the fondest memories of playing in the pond, and later, riding my bike all around the vineyard, taking temperature readings and bringing them back for my dad.”
His dad had been the foreman of the ranch for 38 years. The memories run deep as the vines.
Baldini’s father, an Italian immigrant, had been hired by the man who bought the property in 1968, Eugene Trefethen, a Kaiser Corporation magnate who had made his living building Liberty ships and Willys Jeeps in WWII, along with the Bay Bridge and the Hoover Dam. He also founded Kaiser Permanente, which today provides health care for millions of Americans.
The land Trefethen purchased was initially established in 1886 as Eshcol Ranch by a Scottish sea captain, and was planted to vines, some of which might have been producing through Prohibition, making sacramental juice. The original winery building was constructed of Douglas fir and redwood across the street from the Oak Knoll train station. It went through many years of decline until Eugene decided farming was appealing and purchased the estate.
That’s where Baldini’s Dad came in. His life’s work was replanting the 220 acres of vineyard of the 400 estate acres, and caring for it.
Meanwhile, Trefethen built the beautiful house we visited. It’s filled with heart redwood, that glows today, with its low ceilings, reflecting the firelight. His wife, Catherine, planted a garden that today forms the basis of the culinary program at Trefethen.
While we enjoyed the excellent food and wine pairings that the kitchen staff created, Baldini told us what it’s like to be back on his old home turf.
“It’s full circle, for sure.”
His brother also worked for Trefethen, which is today still owned and operated by the third generation of the Trefethen family, Hailey and Lorenzo.
Add to that the second generation of Baldini’s.
There’s nothing like the enduring power of family.
About the author
Laura Ness is a longtime wine journalist, columnist and judge who contributes regularly to Edible Monterey Bay, Spirited, WineOh.Tv, Los Gatos Magazine and Wine Industry Network, and a variety of consumer publications. Her passion is telling stories about the intriguing characters who inhabit the fascinating world of wine and food.
