KINTON: The Life and Times: Coco Chanel:Paris as Andy Beckstoffer:Napa

"Andy Beckstoffer has changed the economics of high-end viticulture, but his true legacy will be as a steward of the land."

-- The Long View (Gourmet, February 2006)

Surely, at some point you've had a bottle of wine made with grapes from a Beckstoffer Vineyard. Whether it be a Carneros Pinot Noir or Chardonnay; Rutherford Cabernet; Oakville Cabernet or St. Helena Cab Franc.

Beckstoffer, more than anything else, is a farmer.

A native of Richmond, Virginia, Andy attended Virginia Tech on a football scholarship and earned a degree in engineering. Service in the Army brought Beckstoffer to San Francisco, and 3,000 miles closer to winemaking in the nearby Napa Valley. While he returned to the East Coast to earn an M.B.A. from Dartmouth's Amos Tuck School of Business, California was not forgotten. Upon graduating in 1966, he was recruited by Heublein, Inc. as an analyst in production and finance.

At Heublein, the young analyst quickly made his mark by convincing them that the California wine business promised long-term growth. "All the studies we prepared clearly showed where the premium wine market was headed," recalled Beckstoffer. "Heublein was one of the first to discover the super-premium wine potential."

To get them in the wine game, Beckstoffer and his team helped Heublein negotiate the purchase of a majority interest in United Vintners--a wine producer that owned Inglenook, one of Napa Valley's oldest premium wineries. In December 1968, a few months after the sale, a Forbes magazine article reported table wine sales had tripled since 1950 and current wine sales were running 20 percent ahead of the previous year. "The potential for growth is thus breathtaking," observed the investment publication. Beckstoffer was just 28 years old.

Andy Beckstoffer and his family are firmly rooted in the soil of California wine country. After more than 30 years of cultivating Napa Valley grapes, they continue to play an integral role in the evolution of the industry-bringing their viticulture expertise and a passion for premium wine grapes to Mendocino and, more recently, Lake County.

A native of Richmond, Virginia, Andy attended Virginia Tech on a football scholarship and earned a degree in engineering. Service in the Army brought Beckstoffer to San Francisco, and 3,000 miles closer to winemaking in the nearby Napa Valley. While he returned to the East Coast to earn an M.B.A. from Dartmouth's Amos Tuck School of Business, California was not forgotten. Upon graduating in 1966, he was recruited by Heublein, Inc. as an analyst in production and finance.

At Heublein, the young analyst quickly made his mark by convincing them that the California wine business promised long-term growth. "All the studies we prepared clearly showed where the premium wine market was headed," recalled Beckstoffer. "Heublein was one of the first to discover the super-premium wine potential."

To get them in the wine game, Beckstoffer and his team helped Heublein negotiate the purchase of a majority interest in United Vintners--a wine producer that owned Inglenook, one of Napa Valley's oldest premium wineries. In December 1968, a few months after the sale, a Forbes magazine article reported table wine sales had tripled since 1950 and current wine sales were running 20 percent ahead of the previous year. "The potential for growth is thus breathtaking," observed the investment publication. Beckstoffer was just 28 years old.

In 1994 Andy was a founding member of The Rutherford Dust Society and served as its initial President. He remains on the Society's Board of Directors and is the current President.

Beckstoffer was bringing basic business principles to agriculture. As a leader in modern viticulture practices, many of his ideas from irrigation to vine spacing were considered radical when introduced. Time has proven them beneficial from a farming and financial standpoint.

Andy Beckstoffer and Betty, his wife of 45 years, share more than their viticulture expertise with others. In 2000, they were jointly awarded "Citizens of the Year" by the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce for their dedication and active participation in the community.

In September of 2005 Andy was awarded the Grower of the Year award by COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts during its annual Jefferson Bacchus Gala & Auction.

In May of 2006, the Napa Grapegrowers Association awarded its first Grower of the Year Award to Andy.

In 2007 the Napa County Farm Bureau acknowledged Andy as Agriculturist of the Year, and that same year he also received the first ever U.S. Congressional Wine Caucus Commendation.