Tate Wine
Established in 2011, TATE is known for single expression wines from independently owned, micro-vineyards across the valley floor and mountain sides of the Napa Valley. Founded by husband and wife team David & Suzanne Tate; they have grown to producing just over 1,000 cases annually of Chardonnay from Yountville, Merlot from Calistoga and single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon's from St. Helena, Mt. Veeder and Howell Mountain.
The wanderlust gene caught winemaker David Tate early on – leaving his native Victoria Island in British Columbia in 1994 he hitch hiked for 6 months on an epic trip southward – eventually ending up in Peru. Looking to further expand his horizon and taking advantage of the benefits of being in the commonwealth, later he turned his sights to Australia. Securing an Agricultural visa he was given two choices for work – at a pig farm or at a vineyard in the Barossa Valley. He chose the Barossa and its vineyards and ended up gaining valuable vineyard management experience at several wineries including at Rockford Wines. While in the Barossa he met a Frenchman whose family owns Domaine Richeaume in Provence, France – at an invite from the family, David packed up and moved to southern France and spent a year working for the family.
Realizing he was more then intrigued by the world of wine, he returned to North America and earned his Bachelors Degree in Viticulture and Enology at Brock University in Ontario. While working in New Zealand following graduation a friend called and offered him a job in California at Ridge Winery (their Montebello property). It was at Ridge that David was introduced to mountain grown Cabernet Sauvignon. He spent five years there before leaving as their assistant winemaker.
Ready for a change, he realized he wanted three criteria in his next job: have full control over the vineyards and winemaking, work with a small producer and continue to make mountain grown wines. In 2007 he was introduced to Hal and Fiona Barnett – who offered him control of his desired criteria (coincidentally Fiona is also Canadian having grown up in Vancouver). David has been the winemaker and General Manager at Barnett Vineyards since 2007.
The label is simple yet attractive; the silver corkscrew is an homage to Donn Reisen, (30+ years at Ridge Winery) who imparted his years of wine wisdom to David during their time working together at Ridge. It might sound cliche, but is is very true – he told David, “one can make the best wine in the world but if you have no way to sell it, you will end up drinking it by yourself”. Donn gave David a corkscrew as a present several weeks before his death. And on a larger scale, the corkscrew represents all those who have been a part of both David and Suzanne’s lives – especially their mentors in the wine industry.
As a small producer among hundreds of small producers, in Napa Valley alone – the Tate’s are doing things correctly and are in this for the long haul- age is on their side, both David and Suzanne are ‘all in’ on this – both handle the primary aspects of their business themselves and they have the right philosophy on pricing – start out affordably and grow with your customer base – i.e. earn their trust over time.
