|  During my last visit to Napa Valley organised by the Napa Valley Vintners Association (NVV) of which Honig is currently a Board member, I had briefly met Michael as I was ready to leave after a visit to his family vineyard and tasting organised by his wife Stephanie and he arrived from a business trip. ‘I am always arriving from somewhere,’ says the guy with easy demeanour as we meet for the second encounter at the Rick’s Bar at Taj Mahal Hotel to taste his two Sauvignons- Cabernet and Blanc.
Honig might be the only winery in Napa, specializing only in Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon- making 50,000 cases of it! They are a medium size producer by Napa valley standard. About 75% of wines they produce are white although Napa is known more for its reds. The logic is- they make high quality wines and sell them mostly to restaurants which in turn sell more wines by-the-glass that are generally whites.
The Indian market represented through the Mumbai based Wine Park, also demands more of the whites; the basic Sauvignon Blanc is delicious, medium-bodied wine with loads of gooseberry, passion fruit, and citrus flavour -quite popular. Similarly, the red Cab is also their basic version with about 95% of Cabernet Sauvignon and small quantities of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot in the blend. Very juicy, soft on tannins and full of black berries and complex fruity flavours, it’s a very palatable wine for the Indian customers, having lesser alcohol, lot of truffle and opulence with a pleasant sweet underline.
Michael is quite realistic about his expectation from India although he is quite happy with the performance of the importer-the Wine Park. ‘We know it is a long term market. In that sense, this is a trip for my grand-children. We shall make profits only in the distant future. But we also know that the Indian market has the potential of surpassing the Chinese market,’ he tells me.
Like most other Napa Valley quality producers who visit India, Honig as the Director of Napa Valley Vintners Association asserts, ‘though we promote our products, part of our efforts are also to promote Napa Valley appellation. People need to understand that Napa Valley is not a Volkswagen but a Rolls Royce of wines and the quality costs money.’ He adds, ‘we could make cheaper quality wines but that is not our forte or objective. We produce the best we can and want nothing to do with cheaper class wines.’
Honig practices only sustainable farming methods at the vineyards. As a leader in sustainable farming, Michael chaired the first California initiative to develop a Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Practices, a voluntary program establishing statewide guidelines for sustainable farming and winemaking. He says, ‘sustainability can be a lot of things to different people- saving the planet is one important factor but better quality is more easily understandable.’ He agrees when I tell them that most people in India don’t think about the planet but look at their pockets and the price. He says the attitude is universal. ‘Vast majority don’t care. The so-called Gatekeepers who care for the planet are only about 5%. But most people like to buy good quality and when they are convinced about the better quality from sustainable land, the reaction is positive. I like to give them the example of a tomato. Our tomatoes come from South America and are imported green and raw. If we buy them fresh from California the fruit is red, more ripe and delicious. Similarly our grapes have better quality and so is the wine.’
Honig family owns 70 acres of land in Rutherford but also buys some fruit to supplement its requirements. It focuses only on two varieties and quality. ‘If I wanted cheap wine I could do what I wanted. It’s all about quality. We only make two wines- Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Our soil is very good for Sauvignon –since both belong to the same family they grow best in our soil.’ Located near Camus, Mondavi and Inglenook, the winery has an excellent Tasting room. ‘We charge $15 for tasting flights of 4 labels but the amount is refunded when one buys more than $35 worth of wine,’ he says, adding ‘about 10% of our wine is sold at the Cellar Door.’ Interestingly, the Reserve wines which are almost twice as expensive are sold primarily at the Cellar Door as they are exclusive. Over 10,000 people visit the winery every year and most of them through word-of-mouth and several repeat visitors.
Michael was to visit Bangalore and then Mumbai. ‘This is my first visit but surely I will be back soon and more often,’ says the man who spends 75% of his time travelling and promoting his wine, as I am ready to leave and have him meet the other people waiting to chat with him and taste wines from Honig-the Sustainable Sauvignon König* from Napa
Subhash Arora
*König= King |