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Feature Article from the June 2006 Magazine Issue
How Francis Mahoney Repackaged Himself
Mahoney founded Carneros Creek in 1972, and quickly won critical praise for balanced and elegant Pinot Noir with bright, focused fruit. Carneros Creek grew steadily over time, reaching more than 30,000 cases in 1998, when investment banker Bill Hambrecht bought an interest in the winery. The facility was expanded and updated, and in mid-2001, Mahoney left the winery, intending to take care of his vineyard holdings and enjoy life.
However, Hambrecht hit a rocky patch, and sold the Carneros Creek brand in 2004, although he and Mahoney still own the winery itself. Mahoney, who owns 160 acres of vines in Carneros, was suddenly back in the thick of the wine business, in a sense, repackaging himself while remaining firmly rooted in Carneros.
How did that work? I asked Mahoney over lunch and a tasting of his wines.
"There were some white knuckle days," he admitted. "How did I do it? I just got out of bed every day and did what I do. Just kept at it. I went on the road as my own national sales manager, picking out key markets, not trying to be everywhere."
Mahoney said he went back on the road because he didn't trust anyone else to tell his story.
"When I got back into the winery, it was a shambles. The brand had fallen to 9,000 cases from 32,000. I started calling people, people that I knew, in the key markets and just went back to work," he said.
Mahoney did have a few aces in reserve. One is the 115-acre Las Brisas Vineyard near San Francisco Bay in Sonoma Carneros. Mahoney started developing the vineyard several years ago. "The vineyard is an old stream bed laid in with decomposed sandstone, silt and gravel, and about 20% black clay. It's unusual soil for Carneros." He believes Pinot Noir from the site gives a ripe expression of red cherry fruit and spice with a good underlying structure.
The vineyard is planted to 15 different clones of Pinot Noir. Mahoney was one of the first to study Pinot Noir clonal selection in Carneros, a project he started in the 1970s and is continuing. He also planted two Italian varietals--Montepulciano and Vermentino--and the Spanish varietal Tempranillo at Las Brisas. He has Pinot Noir and Syrah planted on the 45-acre Mahoney Ranch Estate Vineyard in Napa Carneros. So he was ready with the right grapes for the launch of the Mahoney label just over a year ago.
Prior to that, he had relaunched the Fleur brand, first introduced in 1991 as Fleur de Carneros, now called Fleur de California to allow for wider sourcing of grapes. "Fleur is the brand of the hour," he said. "We introduced it in May of 2004 and it is now over 20,000 cases."
Francis Mahoney
The Mahoney line is made from all estate-grown grapes. Varieties offered include Pinot Noir, Vermentino, Montepulciano and Tempranillo. Mahoney explained that he planted the Italian grapes after a trip to Italy with his wife, Kathleen Salverazza Mahoney, who is of Italian origin. The Tempranillo was planted because his daughter, Shannon, had studied and worked in Spain and became a fan of the varietal while living in Madrid.
He said the Pinot Noir bottled under the Mahoney label is bold yet approachable, offering a pure expression of varietal character. Mahoney said that's how Carneros began. "Then we lost our way in the 1980s and let oak suck the fruit from our Pinot Noirs. We made wine for critics, not to match our soil and climate."
As part of his personal "relaunch," Mahoney decided to quit making wine for the critics. "I want to make wine that comes from the place, not make wine for the numbers. In a way, it's a return to the European wines of the 1970s, before they started chasing the numbers. I'm not impressed with big wines."
He admitted that there was a time he quit drinking his own Chardonnay. "Now, I can drink my own Chardonnay again," he said. He takes a minimalist approach regarding oak on the Chardonnay, and the 2004 version did not go through malolactic.
Mahoney is quick to credit winemaker Ken Foster, a veteran hand at Pinot Noir, with playing a critical role in his reinvention. "He keeps the winery working and when there is something to do, he does it. He even had a hand in designing the label."
The ultimate test of the repacking of Francis Mahoney is wine quality. No worries there. The wines offer the same elegance and style that Mahoney established at Carneros Creek. Maybe even a notch up. I was especially impressed by the Vermentino and the Tempranillo. Vermentino is rarely made in California, and Mahoney's is right on the mark as to varietal character, offering yet another attractive alternative to Chardonnay. Tempranillo is becoming something of a trend in California and, again, Mahoney has hit the bull's eye.
Looks like a successful repackaging project.
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