Grower Spotlight: Dick SteltznerBY KELLI WHITE | JANUARY 11, 2017It was January 7, 1976 and only eight days
remained in duck season. Dick Steltzner and a friend had spent the better part
of the day hunting in Chiles Valley, but had little to show for their efforts.
They loaded their meager haul into Steltzner’s single engine plane and pointed
back towards Napa, but Steltzner remained unsatisfied. Somewhere close to the
east-facing slopes of the Vaca mountains, he decided to buzz some irrigation
ponds, flying lower and slower than is recommended, in the hopes of spotting
some ducks. Instead, he unbalanced his typically nimble little “flying jeep”,
as he calls it, and smashed into the hillside, ending ‘wheels up’ in the worst
way imaginable.With his seriously broken legs framing the sky
above him, Steltzner might have hardly considered that he had found himself, once
again, in the right place at the right time. And yet, several thousand feet
overhead, a skydiving plane was preparing to unload its passengers, an
orthopedic surgeon among them. The pilot radioed in the crash’s location while
the doctor jumped down to assist. It took the fire department six hours to cut
a path through the thick mountain scrub, while the doctor worked to stabilize
the two men’s injuries. If the crash had not been spotted immediately and a
doctor not been on-hand, Steltzner’s probability of survival was almost
certainly zero.Steltzner spent the following 52 days in the hospital
and, despite the severity of his injuries, his spirits remained high. Friends
came and went constantly and almost always brought wine, which they gladly
shared with patients and hospital staffers alike. Once he gained in strength, Steltzner
would race around the hallways in a wheelchair. By the time he left, empty
bottles lined all the sills of his room and Steltzner had formed the basis of a
surgeon-studded mailing list for the wine brand he would launch the following
year. The nurses said they’d miss him, and more than one confessed that they
could practically find their way to his room with their eyes closed, drawn
towards it by the smell of wine and the sound of constant laughter.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1484173573603-Dick+Steltzner%2C+when+he+first+came+to+Napa.JPG">A young Dick Steltzner, shortly after his arrival in Napa Valley<img alt="" src="http://"> Dick Steltzner was born and raised in Piedmont,
California – just outside of Oakland. His mother was a member of the extended
Schilling family of Schilling spices (now McCormick). Although this particular
branch of the family had effectively run through their fortune by the time Steltzner
came along, the name still carried weight within San Francisco society, and
they retained a handful of aristocratic tendencies, such as regular travel to
Europe and the drinking of wine with dinner. The Wente family of Livermore
moved in similar social circles, and young Dick Steltzner spent much of his
childhood playing on their ranch. Those bucolic summers instilled in him a love
of farming and gave him a familiarity with viticulture, which would prove handy
in the years to come.After graduating college with a degree in the ceramic
arts, Steltzner sought a quiet, inexpensive place to live where he could focus
on his pottery. As he had family in Napa Valley (his uncle briefly owned La
Perla on Spring Mountain, now a part of Spring Mountain Vineyards), he moved to
Calistoga in 1960. Soon, however, he found himself drawn to the wine industry.
A self-described Riesling fanatic, Dick worshipped Stony Hill, and convinced
Fred McCrea to allow him to scour the vineyards after a harvest and keep any crop
left on the vine. He scavenged enough fruit for one barrel, which he fermented
in the caves at Schramsberg. When the resulting wine earned a nod from his
father, Steltzner’s commitment to the wine industry was cemented.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1484173608899-Steltzner+in+the+cellar+circa+1980.jpg"> Steltzner (right)&nbsp;in the cellar, circa 1980 Shortly thereafter, Steltzner bought 40 acres
on Diamond Mountain for $2,000. The property touched on both of his passions,
boasting a World War II-era clay mine as well as a similar elevation and aspect
to Stony Hill. Dick eagerly sketched out his dream Riesling vineyard, and began
developing the property. The road that he built traced the edges of what would
become Diamond Creek, and its owners, the Brounsteins, quickly befriended the
would-be potter.&nbsp;A turning point in Steltzner’s trajectory came
when the initial plantings at Diamond Creek all mysteriously died. Steltzner
stepped in to assist, drawing upon his childhood experience with vineyards, and
was able to successfully redevelop the property, becoming the storied estate’s
first vineyard manager in the process. This experience lit a spark in Steltzner,
who examined the wave of investment in Napa in the 1960s with an
entrepreneurial eye. Many of these aspiring new vintners were coming to Napa
from outside the agricultural sphere, and were in desperate need of guidance.
In addition, a good portion were small to medium in size, and the dominant
farming companies of the day preferred to work mostly with larger scale
operations. Steltzner’s artisan viticultural services fulfilled a real need at
this fertile time in the valley’s history, and he would eventually grow to
manage dozens of clients and over 400 acres of vines across Napa.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1484173672995-Steltzner+prepping+the+ground+for+planting%2C+circa+1991.jpg"> Dick Steltzner prepping his Stags Leap vineyard for redevelopment, circa 1991 In 1964, shortly after he had purchased his
Diamond Mountain parcel, Steltzner was offered a handsome sum for the as-yet
undeveloped land, which he gladly accepted. He took this money and moved his
operation to the Stags Leap District, which at this point in time was
relatively unpopulated. Over the ensuing decades, Steltzner would play a
critical role in the development of the region. The fruit from his vineyard
informed such legendary wines as the 1972 Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon that placed
fourth in the Judgment of Paris (Clos du Val bought Steltzner fruit while
waiting for their own vineyard to mature) and the inaugural 1974 Joseph Phelps
Insignia. Heitz Cellars also vineyard designated a Steltzner Cabernet at some
point during the 1970s. Beyond the confines of his own vineyard, Steltzner also
developed and managed the vines at Clos du Val, assisted Joseph Phelps in
securing his Stags Leap vineyard, and was instrumental in the formation of the Stags
Leap District AVA. Steltzner’s own brand, which debuted in 1977, also did much
to elevate the reputation of the region, although the quality faltered a bit in
the 90s and early 2000s, when they built a winery and expanded their
production. Burdened by the hospitality requirements of their size, the
Steltzner family sold their winery and front half of their vineyard to the
PlumpJack group in 2012, who founded Odette on the site. Newly streamlined, the
Steltzner brand, which is now partly run by Steltzner's daughter Allison, has undergone
something of a rebirth. Allison&nbsp;and her husband Sam Sharp have also launched Bench
Vineyards, whose Red Wine and ‘Circa 64’ Cabernet are crafted from Steltzner
fruit.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1484174443565-SLD+map.png"> A close up of Vinous Napa Valley Vineyard Maps, Stags Leap But as significant as his work in the Stags
Leap District might be, it can be argued that Dick Steltzner’s most important contributions
to the development of Napa Valley were his efforts surrounding rootstock and
clonal diversity. When Steltzner first took up residence in Stags Leap, he
purchased the land next to Nathan Fay and became only the second grower to
plant Cabernet Sauvignon in the area. His heart, however, still belonged to
Riesling. Gifted with a naturally curious intellect, Steltzner sought to learn
more about his favorite variety, and sent himself to Geisenheim in 1968. There
he met a man named Dr. Becker who took Steltzner under his wing. In addition to
introducing him to a wide selection of Rieslings, Dr. Becker issued Steltzner a
grave and prophetic warning: that AxR-1, the rootstock being promoted by UC
Davis as a more productive substitute for stubborn old St. George, was widely
known in Europe to be susceptible to phylloxera.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1484173742460-Steltzner+pruning%2C+1996.jpg"> Steltzner pruning, circa 1996 Steltzner returned wary of the popular
rootstock but didn’t begin actively campaigning against it until the mid-1970s when
a Chilean man named Gallo McClean moved to the valley. Gallo was a vineyard
developer with seven viticulture/enology degrees and a broad international
experience; he had personally seen vineyards planted on AxR-1 succumb to
phylloxera. His story galvanized Steltzner, as the trickle of development in
the 1960s had become a flood by the mid-70s, and the majority of new vineyards
were being planted on these faulty roots. In addition to alienating him from
the establishment, Steltzner’s vocal anti-AxR-1 stance cost him a good amount
of business. At this point in Napa’s history, a property owner wishing to
develop a vineyard would likely call the Farm Advisor, who would inspect the
site and make a series of recommendations that covered where to plant, what to
plant, and which clones and rootstocks to utilize. A vineyard manager was then hired
to execute the Farm Advisor’s vision. Steltzner’s constant clashing with the
Farm Advisor’s suggestions confused and alarmed many proprietors, who often simply
looked for a new vineyard manager rather than go up against such a respected
authority.Steltzner’s proselytizing, however, did
occasionally land on welcome ears, and those who listened often benefitted
greatly. Philip Togni was among the early Steltzner believers. “I first met
Dick Steltzner in the early 1960s when we were both taking a class at UC
Davis,” Togni recalls. “I remember being impressed by him when, in the middle
of the class, he pulled out some studies and statistics from the Wall Street
Journal. I thought here was an [intellectually] wider guy than I was used to
seeing.” Togni saw Steltzner only rarely in the years that followed, until the
mid-1980s when Steltzner was managing the vineyards at Keenan, which surrounds
Togni’s property on three sides. Philip and his wife Birgitta had already planted
half their vineyard on AxR-1, but a conversation over the fence with Steltzner
convinced them to change their strategy, which ultimately saved them both the
cost of a replant and the time and income that is lost while waiting for new
vines to mature. Togni remains grateful for the advice, adding, “any time you
meet Dick Steltzner you learn something of value.”<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1484173808884-Steltzner+vines.jpg"> Steltzner Vineyard, Stags Leap DistrictAs Steltzner’s business grew, so did his
frustration with the tools available to viticulturalists, and his ire quickly
moved upward from the rootstock to the scion. He blamed UC Davis in particular
for the lack of clonal diversity in Napa’s vineyards, explaining, “I was part
of a growing movement that thought Davis was moving in the wrong direction. There,
the emphasis was purely on cleanliness, mostly lack of virus, over all other
qualities including taste.” As early as 1979, Steltzner began exploiting
loopholes in international and interstate agricultural shipping laws to sneak
in his own plant material. California was especially strict; most roads leading
into and out of the state still have agricultural checkpoints, and shipping
anything directly resulted in a lengthy and often qualitatively compromising
period of quarantine. Steltzner preferred not to wait and so had new vinifera
clones, already grafted onto resistant rootstocks such as the then-uncommon SO4
and 110R, shipped to Canada. He would then go on his annual ski trip to Idaho,
dart over the border to collect his contraband, and drive it nonchalantly into
California in the bed of his pickup truck, concealed beneath layers of snow and
ski equipment.This gleeful lawlessness continued for several
years, and in the mid-1980s Steltzner upped his game. He had begun travelling regularly
to Europe, spending time at both the University of Montpellier and the famed
Italian nursery, Rauscedo. Though by this time Napa Valley was becoming
increasingly cosmopolitan, it was still a rare thing for a vineyard manager to
spend so much time abroad. Steltzner struck up a close relationship with both
institutions, and even got on the harvest rotation for Montpellier students,
whom he enlisted in his mischief. Once his interns returned home after their harvest
in Stags Leap, Steltzner had Rauscedo send them budwood that he had selected (mostly
Merlot and some Sangiovese). The students would then wrap the sticks in plastic,
hide them inside a board game or similarly benign vessel, wrap the package with
holiday paper and ship it to Steltzner in the guise of a Christmas present.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1484173886931-Sangiovese+vines+that+Dick+brought+in+himself.jpg">Steltzner's self-imported Sangiovese clone&nbsp;Though such an elaborate ploy may seem
over-the-top today, Steltzner was doing what he thought necessary to improve
not only his own product, but to enhance viticulture in Napa Valley at large.
And he was not alone in his actions; John Caldwell also famously smuggled vines
into California, and many producers admit with a wink to ‘importing’ their own
cuttings in the bottom of their suitcases following trips to Bordeaux or
Burgundy, though few are as willing to go on record with their antics. And
while the vineyard managers of today have a wealth of government-sanctioned options
to select from, many of California’s most beloved clones, many of them labeled
as ‘heritage’, came in via these illicit channels.&nbsp;In short, Napa Valley owes Dick Steltzner an
enormous debt of gratitude. Though it could be argued that luck played as much
a part in aligning Steltzner’s personal crossroads with the valley’s post-Prohibition
awakening as it did in positioning an adrenalin-seeking surgeon above the site
of his plane crash, that is but the smallest part of the story. It was a
combination of savvy and fearlessness that enabled Steltzner, with no formal
training, to carve himself a leading role in Napa’s rebirth of the 60s, 70s,
and 80s. It was his tenacious intellect that sent him again and again to
Europe’s leading viticultural centers in an endless effort to improve his
craft. It was his distaste for bureaucracy and stubborn will that enabled him
to rail against AxR-1, even when it affected his reputation and livelihood. And
it was his rebellious side in hand with his commitment to quality that inspired
him to skirt the law, when following that law meant settling for less. Although
it seems to be the lot of those who prefer the field to the cellar to be
overshadowed by winemakers and proprietors, their contribution to the greatness
of wines and wine regions is just as essential. This is especially true of Dick
Steltzner who, at more than one critical juncture in Napa’s history, broadened
the valley with his breadth. <img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1484173948813-Allison+and+Dick+Steltzner+at+their+release+party.jpg"> Allison and Dick Steltzner, celebrating a vintage release You Might Also EnjoyMultimedia:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/multimedia/grower-spotlight-a-conversation-with-dick-steltzner-jan-2017">A Conversation with Dick Steltzner,</a> Kelli White, January 2017<a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/products/vinousmaps">Vinous Napa Valley Vineyard Maps</a><a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/meet-the-mahers-two-premier-grape-growers-in-one-household-jun-2016">Meet the Mahers: Two Premier Grape Growers in One Household</a>, Kelli White, June 2016<a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/old-vines-deep-roots-calistoga-s-frediani-family-mar-2016">Old Vines, Deep Roots: Calistoga's Frediani Family, </a>Kelli White, March 2016<a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/dry-times-in-napa-valley-sep-2015">Dry Times in Napa Valley, </a>Kelli White, September 2015

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