on these wines is via allocation direct from JACK. In this case it’s a good time to know JACK because the wine begins at $45 and rolls as high as $400 for a 2019 magnum of cab from Atlas Peak.
was a three-time Gold Glove centerfielder who never met a fastball he didn’t like. He played for the Yankees, the Blue Jays and the California Angels. Iannetta spent his time behind the dish, a man after my own heart. He was a Rockie, an Angel, a Mariner and a Diamondback. He finished his 13-year career in 2019 with 141 dingers and a .230 average. The winery is named for the initials of their kids, Jayce, Ashlyn, Christian and Kylie. JACK produces a trio of wine varietals, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir and a white wine blend. This may sound like a broken record, but the only way to lay your hands
2007 when shared dinners began to include wine tastings. The two players included their spouses as well as friends John and Noelle Micek. As the wine tastings became more elaborate the three couples began talking about going into the wine business. Besides a love of wine, there is more tying them together at Red Stitch. Tricia Roberts, Dave’s better half, went to sommelier school and is a certified specialist of wine. Both John and Noelle Micek have taken viticulture classes at UC Davis. But they leave the winemaking to Rolando Herrera of Mi Sueno Winery. Red Stitch sources grapes from Napa Valley as well as Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey County. Red Stitch produces three varietals—cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir and chardonnay—and they offer various wine packages. It produces about 1,000 cases of wine a year and has no tasting room. Aurilia is still in the game as a baseball analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area and was voted into the Giants Hall of Fame in 2010. Besides wine, Roberts has a side gig as the manager of the LA Dodgers. He has managed the bums for nine years and was voted Manager of the Year in 2016. At the time of this writing, Aurilia was out of the country and Roberts was bogged down with making out lineup cards and figuring out where Mookie Betts should play.
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“I never had a job, I just always played baseball.” —Satchel Paige Red Stitch Rich Aurilia and Dave Roberts were teammates on the San Francisco Giants in
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“Some days you win. Some days you lose. Some days it rains.” —Ebby Calvin LaLoosh from Bull Durham Selah Winery When Joe Blanton broke in as a rookie with the A’s, he dined with teammates and watched as the veterans would order wine with their meals. He had never really drunk wine before. In 2005 he began taking off- days in Napa, tasting wine and enjoying the area. While still playing, he began annual visits to Napa in November. “I’d go for two weeks, post-harvest, and I was meeting winemakers, winery owners and I was falling in love with Napa,” Blanton said. Blanton said a visit to Tom Seaver’s house was a turning point for him. “We talked baseball, we talked wine, it was amazing.” Blanton said they walked the vineyard together and he started to feel like maybe wine could be something special for him. He bought the Selah property while he was still playing, thinking that it could be what he would do post-playing. “Everybody who plays comes to that hard-stop when
28 NorthBaybiz
October 2024
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