What They're Saying...
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Enjoy Napa Valley new release wines during the Holidays (Photos)December, 2012 Phifer Pavitt 2009 ‘Date Night’ Cabernet Sauvignon – From a new comer in the Napa Valley, this beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon promises you will be back for more. With a 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petit Verdot, both organically grown, the fruit is allowed to dictate the wine style and it shows. |
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Faces & PlacesDecember, 2012
PARTY TIME — This year’s annual Napa Valley Vintners holiday party was hosted by étoile Restaurant at Domaine Chandon and was attended by nearly 300 vintners. From left to right: Suzanne Phifer Pavitt & Shane Pavitt of Phifer Pavitt Wine, Susan and Duane Hoff of Fantesca Estate & Winery. |
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off the beaten pathDecember, 2012 Then a little further up on the Silverado Trail sits Phifer Pavitt Winery on the side of a hill. Another small production winery producing a Cab named "Date Night" because all of their important decisions, including starting this winery, were made on date night. |
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A WOMEN’S PALATE WINEMAKER PROFILE:
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Phifer Pavitt released the 2009 Cabernet SauvignonNovember, 2012 By Edgar Solis On September 15, 2012 Phifer Pavitt Wines released their 2009 Date Night Cabernet Sauvignon at their property off Silverado Trail in Napa. Proprietors Suzanne Phifer Pavitt and Shane Pavitt along Winemaker Ted Osborne welcomed wine lovers, family and friend to the release of their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon paired with delicious small bites to eat: lamb kabobs and mint chutney, cheese bread with caramelized onion jam, mini sandwiches, Gazpacho and others. |
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How a date night became a wine — and a Calistoga wineryOctober, 2012 By Paul Franson The owners of Phifer Pavitt Winery in Calistoga are a little unusual these days. Neither rich nor coming from the wine business, they followed a path that was once familiar: They bought some property, started making wine in a leased space from grapes they bought, and then built a winery and tasting room. They’re only now looking seriously at planting grapevines ... |
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Phifer Pavitt WineryOctober, 2012 By Paul Franson No sign, but a two-dimensional statue of a cowgirl marks the entrance to Phifer Pavitt Winery. Submitted photo |
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So Happy Twogether, Suzanne and Shane of Phifer PavittAugust, 2012 By Kaye Cloutman Who doesn’t find irresistible a good ol’ love story especially when it involves wine? GEV was recently guest at a winery whose story has all the ingredients for a great movie. Phifer Pavitt Wines is a dream of Suzanne Phifer and Shane Pavitt, who moved to the Napa Valley in 2001 and over the course of several years of ‘date nights,’ hatched the idea for their own Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The winery opened in November 2010, and is housed in an historic “Napa Valley vernacular” barn, with a board-and-batten façade and a metal roof, nestled into a scenic spot looking out over views of Napa Valley. |
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DATE NIGHTSouthern girl and city boy meet and make great wine.July, 2012 by Jan Walsh Photography by Beau Gustafson I recently lunched at Bottega Café with Napa Valley’s Suzanne Phifer Pavitt, proprietor of Phifer Pavitt. I enjoyed both her story and her wines. Being proprietors of Phifer Pavitt is a dream come true for this devoted couple. Pavitt grew up in Ringgold, Ga., just about as far across the country as she could have been from her husband Shane Pavitt’s hometown of Manhattan Beach, Calif. Yet after 13 years of marriage they are still best friends, partially due to their weekly date night. The couple goes out on a date once a week with no technological devices — no “iAnything,” she says. |
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Damnit! Shoulda Written about Phifer Pavitt Date Night 2007 Last Year!June, 2012 Posted by Fredric Koeppel under Cabernet sauvignon , California , Napa Valley But, here it is, almost the middle of 2012 and I’m finally getting down to it. As happened with the renditions of Date Night for 2006 and its initial release of 2005, I was knocked out by this wine, the 2007, an example of the purity and intensity of which Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon is capable when treated with respect and thoughtfulness. Not general Napa Valley, but for the Phifer Pavitt cabernets a specific site, the all-organic Temple Family Vineyards in Pope Valley, a small and lightly populated area — but not yet a legally recognized American Viticultural Area — north of Howell Mountain in the extreme northeast region of Napa Valley. (Napa Valley now contains 16 sub-appellations or AVAs; how long before not an acre of valley floor or mountainside does not carry a federally approved title?) Though shoe-horned into its famous neighbors, as far as the federal viticultural boundaries are concerned, geographically, Pope Valley faces the opposite direction, draining away to the east and Lake Berryessa (motto: “I’m the second-largest artificial lake in California!”). Pope Valley is home to the Dollarhide Ranch, which supplies St. Supery with cabernet sauvignon and sauvignon blanc grapes, and to vineyards for such producers as Cosentino, Peju, Rutherford Hill, Kathryn Hall and others. The Phifer Pavitt winery, owned by Shane Pavitt and Suzanne Phifer Pavitt, is on the Silverado Trail near Calistoga. Winemaker is Ted Osborne. |
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3 Hidden Haunts in Calistoga
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Phifer Pavitt WinesTwo Guys From Napa, May 2012 When a country girl and a city boy fall in love and move to Napa Valley, this is what happens when they start a winery. Come here for a sophisticated but down-home tasting experience in a renovated barn with refurbished snow fencing from Wyoming on the walls, recycled blue jeans for insulation, an enormous black walnut tasting table, chandeliers made from hay baling wire, country music in the background, and most likely the charming Ms. Phifer-Pavitt as your hostess while you sit on hay bales and sample their wine. This very small winery has made Cabernet Sauvignon for a few years and released their first Sauvignon Blanc in 2012. 4660 Silverado Trail, Calistoga (707) 942-4787 [reservation required] |
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New WineThe Weekly Calistogan, April 2012
Winemaker Gary Warburton, left, pours a glass of his new creation, a sauvignon blanc for Phifer Pavitt Winery in Calistoga, the first white from the producer. The winery sources its sauvignon blanc grapes from Juliana Vineyards, an organically farmed vineyard in Pope Valley. Warburton is the father of owner Shane Pavitt, who operates the winery with his wife Suzanne Phifer Pavitt. At right is winemaker Ted Osborne, who is responsible for the winery’s cabernets. The event held Saturday was also a chance for the Pavitts to show off the refinished loft in their winery building, an old barn rescued from demolition at a Franz Valley farm. The new loft was converted, using entirely recycled and reclaimed materials, from a storage area into an attractive event space. |
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Hear Suzanne Phifer Pavitt, With Her Wonderful Interview on WIST Radio The Wine Show !February 2012 Just Press the arrow button below to hear Suzanne ! Advance to minute marker 25:30 where the inteview begins.
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A Date Night Drink
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Meet Suzanne Phifer Pavitt, DATE NIGHT WineWith Special Video !October 2011 This is the story of city boy meets country girl. What you may not know is that every country girl that has ever successfully worked her way out of the country life has worked exponentially harder than any city boy could imagine. |
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Phifer Pavitt 2007 Date Night Cabernet SauvignonAugust 2011 While I am always excited to try new wines and share my thoughts about them, I rarely get excited about physically sitting down at my PC and typing up a review. This time however, is an exception, as I have been excited about writing this review since my trip to Napa Valley back in May. |
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Suzanne and Shane's Wedding...May 2011 Wedding date: October 1998.... Read the article... |
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10 Questions: Making time for ‘date night’March 2011 Suzanne Phifer Pavitt remembers her early days of living in Napa Valley. Back in 2002, Phifer Pavitt and her husband, Shane Pavitt, had decided to move to Calistoga full time. Parents of two infants, the couple was in the midst of starting Phifer Pavitt Wine. To top it all off, Phifer Pavitt was acting as the general contractor on their dream home in Calistoga. “That was a crazy time,” Phifer Pavitt said. “I thought I’d have a nervous breakdown.” How did she survive? Read more... |
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Dream property offer made on the back of a menuFebruary 2011 By Pat Hampton, MUD CITY WEEKENDER Swept up by the food, wine and people of Italy on a romantic getaway, Shane Pavitt and Suzanne Phifer dared to dream about someday owning their own vineyard property. They were caught up in reading “Under the Tuscan Sun” before the movie was out and went to look at property in Italy and thought, “What if we moved here?” It wasn’t practical because of wanting to be close to relatives. |
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Hear the Pavitts on KGO Radio, Dining Around With Gene BurnsFebruary 2011
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Suzanne Interviewed on Wine Crush RadioFebruary 2011 Part 1 Part 2 |
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Phifer Pavitt Wines | Wine Tasting Room of the WeekFebruary 2011 By James Knight Graffitied with cowgirl sass, lit with recycled, fence-wire "chandeliers," the brand-new winery's interior is furnished with hay bales. A sometime-working 1946 Farmall tractor ornaments the front of the building, itself largely remade from a recycled redwood barn. The massive plank bar comprises two slices from the trunk of what must have been a granddaddy of a walnut tree. |
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Join Date Night Proprietors on Valentine's Day!February 2011 Vintners Suzanne Phifer Pavitt and her husband Shane will greet guests from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14 at the Solbar restaurant in Calistoga. Their latest Date Night Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2007 vintage, will be for sale by the glass, which is unusual, since it is usually not available anywhere by the glass. Suzanne Phifer Pavitt said, "How fun it will be for those celebrating with their valentines to enjoy our wine, which celebrates romance as well." Phifer Pavitt Winery opened its tasting room this past November. The tasting room, located at 4660 Silverado Trail (just north of Dunaweal in Calistoga), welcomes visitors for tastings at 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. on Mondays through Saturdays at a cost of $25 per person. To make an appointment for a visit, contact 942-4787 or suzanne@phiferpavittwine.com. |
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My 50 Best Wines of 2010 - Phifer Pavitt Date Night Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Napa Valley. Exceptional!!January 2011 What could be more straightforward than that? Not that all lists aren’t arbitrary in some degree, but after going through all the posts from 2010 on this blog several times and doing some cogitating and sighing and reluctant winnowing, here they are, The 50 Best Wines of 2010, as experienced by me and written about last year. |
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One Bottle Post: 07 Phifer Pavitt Date Night Cabernet SauvignonJanuary 2011 I've been drinking Phifer Pavit Date Night Cabernet Sauvignon for about five years. The first time I tasted it, I wasn't out on a Date Night, but at a fundraiser in a private home in the Hollywood Hills. It was the stellar wine of the evening, and it still rates a minimum 95 Eve Points every year. The current vintage came via my Chateau Pacific winemaker friend from Manhattan Beach, Gary Warburton, as his step-son is the other half of the Date Night couple: Shane Pavitt. (Full disclosure: It was a gift.)
Aroma: Blackberry, black cherry, white pepper, mushroom, bell pepper with just the perfect chaser of mint. Taste: High tannins, black pepper, dry, very pleasant mouth feel, black cherry, long peppery finish, thinking good now or hold 5-10 years. Tasted again in 10 minutes and some of the tannins blew off - though I loved it either way - and it became even more rounded. Eddie (my Date Night partner) said it "opened up" nicely. Retail $75 (Though I expected more like $100 for a Napa Cab.) 14.8% alcohol. 96 Eve points. Want more? Call 707-942-4787. (In Napa try the wine in their new tasting room.) |
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For the Phifer Pavitts, every night is a Date Night – Calistoga winery now open - San Francisco wineDecember 2010 A must-visit for couples seeking romance in the Napa Valley is the newly-opened Phifer Pavitt Winery in Calistoga. Suzanne and Shane Phifer Pavitt make a cabernet sauvignon called Date Night, so named because of the many dates they had during their courtship where they dreamt of a life together making wine. They settled in the Napa Valley in 2001 releasing their first vintage in 2005. |
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between the Life vines podcast!December 2010 Their 28th podcast features Bruce Cakebread-President and CEO of Cakebread Cellars, Suzanne Phifer Pavitt of Phifer Pavitt Date Night Cabernet and our first Italian winemaker Marko Moroder of Moroder Wines in the Ancona area of Italy. |
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Tastenapa.com Personal Review!November 2010 "Date Night Cab = Love & Inspiration"
Find all about the excitement here. |
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auction napa valley 2010June 2010 Last Thursday night, Zach and I went to Shane and Suzanne Phifer-Pavitt’s house to cook a Wine Auction dinner. Ted Osborne is the winemaker for Olabisi and Datenight (which is Suzanne’s Cab), the labels of the five wines that were poured over the course of dinner. I’m going to let the pictures tell the story (Kim Wedlake, Ted’s wife, took the good ones), and try and locate a couple of links for pieces done by food writers who were at the dinner. |
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Auction Napa Valley kick-off dinner is a date night at Phifer PavittJune 2010 Throughout the Napa Valley on Thursday evening, vintners were holding welcome dinners for guests and bidders participating in the 30th annual Auction Napa Valley. In Calistoga, one of these special dinners was hosted by Suzanne Phifer Pavitt and Shane Pavitt of Phifer Pavitt Wines, producer of Date Night Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. |
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Live from Auction Napa Valley 2010June 2010 A four course dinner, prepared and served by Sharp and his agreeable Solbar crew, included such tasty offerings as seared Alaskan sablefish with black garlic, Duroc pork tenderloin and belly with plum mostarda and polenta, plus strip loin of Painted Hills beef paired with toothsome vest-pocket potato agnolotti — the latter dishes complemented by Date Night 2005 and Date Night 2006. For the real yummy chocolate pot de crème, the Pavitts broke out the yet-to-be released Date Night 2007 — dark, ripe, mysterious, bewitching. |
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Napa Valley Wine Auction “Welcome to Napa Valley” Bidder Dinner May 2010 We are so excited to be hosting one of the Napa Valley Vintners “Welcome to Napa Valley” bidder dinner parties at our house. These special dinners affords you an insider’s look into the cellars and lives of some of the world’s most-renowned names in the wine industry. Please join us at our private estate off Silverado Trail for what promises to be a remarkable evening of food and wine pairings. Winemaker Ted Osborne provides casual insight to his extraordinary artistry. SolBar Chef Brandon Sharp serves up the type of inspired fare that has made him such a rising star on the culinary scene. Sit back and enjoy, while the sun sets above the picturesque patchwork of vineyards that comprise Napa’s most newly minted appellation.
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What do Date Night and Wine Spectator have in common? May 2010 Click here to see what winspectator.com had to say about our recent trip to the premiere of Date Night the movie. |
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Guess What’s Coming to Theaters? February 2010 HINTS: Tina Fey, Steve Carell, www.datenightthemovie.com, April 9 2010 |
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Paula Deen – Cooking Doyenne January 2010 When Paula Deen makes Valentine’s Day suggestions, we listen! |
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Top 10 Wine & Movie Pairings December 2009 |
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A Second Date with "Rational Denial"November 2009 "A Second Date"
Read all the sweet somethings here. |
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A Podcast with Tasting Notes!November 2009 "Two Guys and a “Date Night” Cabernet"
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An Appearance in Cuisine et Vins July 2009 You never know what will appear in your inbox. Today I learned that pictures from my trip to the French wine country will appear in the August 09 issue of Cuisine et Vins de France! |
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James Laube: “Another Super Bonus Round of Cabernets” April 2009 Posted by James Laube in his blog : 03:43 PM ET, April 20, 2009 Not only were many of the 2006s outstanding — among them a trio of Hall Cabernets (at $70, $100 and $150), Girard Artistry ($42), Chappellet Signature ($52), Piña Howell Mountain Buckeye Vineyard ($85), Snowden Reserve ($75), Phifer Pavitt Date Night ($75) and a pair of Buehler wines at $36 and $45 respectively — but these wines are a bit trimmer in terms of ripeness, more like 2005 than 2004, the latter having been a super-ripe vintage. Winemakers say the wines ripened and developed flavors at lower sugar levels, hence their lower alcohol percentages. While I enjoy many styles of Cabernet, from opulent to tight and Bordeaux-like, the 2006s struck me as being exquisitely balanced, rich without being heavy, and distinctive in reflecting where they’re grown. The Piña, for example, has a rich core of gravelly-pebbly currant and sage, true to Howell Mountain. And Phifer Pavitt’s Cabernet comes from Pope Valley; it might be the best wine from that appellation that I’ve tried. (PopeValley is legally part of Napa, but is separated from the valley by Howell Mountain.) This is the second exciting vintage from this producer, and I’m sure that once people realize how good Pope Valley wines can be, you’ll start to see and hear more references to the Pope Valley-Napa Valley appellation –and more producers seeking its grapes. The wines are rich and fleshy, with gobs of fruit and great depth, but not as heavy as some Cabernets from the valley floor. |
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Top 100 Wines of 2008 / San Francisco Chronicle[Date Night] was chosen as one of the Top 100 Wines of 2008 in the December 7 San Francisco Chronicle. Jon Bonné, the wine editor, wrote in his introduction that the wines he chose "... are showing their mettle at a time when it's hard to stand out. There are more West Coast wineries than ever before.... The proliferation of new names can be dizzying. And yet the competition is propelling the most talented vintners to do their very best. ...every wine in the Top 100 shows the virtues of that quest to stand apart." Here's what he said about the 2005 Date Night: "The name and the cowgirl label of this Napa newcomer belie an impressively serious effort made from Pope Valley grapes. Defined by a gorgeous, deep nose: blackberry, violet, mint and a perfume overtone. Black fruit on the palate is just plain lovely -- bold, pitch-perfect and ripe, with broad, finessed, seductive tannins. Ready to drink." Link to article. |
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Five Cult Wines You Haven’t Heard Of / October 2008 October 2008 by Julie Brosterman (CEO & Founder of Women & Wine) |
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Make It a Date / October 3 2008 October 2008 Posted by Fredric Koeppel under Cabernet sauvignon, Best Wines When I wrote about cabernet sauvignon wines from Napa Valley and Sonoma County last week, I omitted one because I thought it deserved mention by itself. The first vintage from this new winery, the Phifer Pavitt “Date Night” 2005, Napa (more…) |
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Good Wine Under $20 Blog August 2008 Good Wine Under $20 Blog / Finding a Wine You Love? Priceless. |
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Rational Denial Blog August 2008 He’s smitten! There were lots of sweet somethings in their take on our wine, but here’s just the closing: Grapes were sourced from a single block, organically farmed and hand-picked. Vinification is low-intervention using only wild yeasts. No fining, lightly filtered. If your date is good enough to stand up to this Red, it probably should end at a little chapel in Reno. Rational Denial looks at the science of attraction and Date Night Wine, among other things. |
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Chronicle Wine Selections / Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon more than $50Lynne Char Bennett, San Francisco Chronicle, November 14, 2008 "Rating: THREE AND A HALF STARS 2005 Phifer Pavitt Date Night Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($75) The eloquent, complex nose sells this wine. Delicate and perfumed with mushroom, loam, violet, sweet blackberry and mint. Generous, almost fat, juicy fruit flavors - plum, cassis and black fruit - combine with bold tannins on the finessed finish." Complete article. |
| iWineRadio - WineFairy.com | iWineRadioJuly 2008 Suzanne Phifer Pavitt, Co-Founder, Phifer Pavitt Wine, Calistoga. Intoxicating... Date Night Rules at Organic Phifer Pavitt Wine in Napa. Phifer Pavitt Napa Valley 'Date Night' Cabernet Sauvignon has it all... dark chocolate, cut hay, wild herbs, toasty oak, tobacco, tea leaves, leather... A huge fruit-forward organic monster. According to Southern born country girl Suzanne Phifer Pavitt and Southern California city boy Shane Pavitt, the most important decisions in their lives have been made on their cherished Date Nights: The new job, starting a family, purchasing property for a winery! |
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Wine Library TV with Gary VaynerchukSuzanne pours the 2005 AND 2006 Date Night, adds in Veré chocolates, and wows Gary and the Vayniacs. |
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It ain't called 'Cowgirl Cabernet'By David Stoneberg St. Helena Star, February 07, 2008 After a while, Phifer Pavitt opened a bottle of Date Night, to let it breathe a little. She said the 2005 vintage is nearly 100 percent cabernet with “just a whiff of petite verdot.” The grapes were grown by Arthur Spencer at his Temple Family Vineyards in Pope Valley and were harvested on a “nearly ice cold October morning,” according to the tasting notes. The winemaker is Ted Osborne, assisted by Phifer Pavitt’s father-in-law, Gary Warburton. "Shane’s parents are very involved in the wine making," Phifer Pavitt said. "It’s a family affair and Gary loves Ted and wants to make a good wine." She adds the grapes are grown organically. Complete article |
Growing up in rural Georgia, Suzanne Phifer Pavitt never imagined she would become a vintner in the Napa Valley, in business with her husband and two young sons, in a storybook setting on the side of a mountain.
It all began when a country girl from the small rural town of Ringgold, Georgia, fell for a big-city boy from Manhattan Beach, California. Forced to decide which life to lead, Suzanne and Shane Pavitt chose to stay away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but the couple soon realized that the country life doesn’t necessarily afford more rest and relaxation. They found, as Suzanne puts it, that “life doesn’t come with a pause button.” So in the hope of staying connected and preserving the spark, the Pavitts declared a weekly date night. Now every Monday night the couple has a standing date, giving them a chance to enjoy each other’s company and talk about their life together.
