Scott Tracy started his buying wine career at restaurant Café California when he was 26 years old. The restaurant was unique at the time for its exclusive commitment to California wine. Tracy introduced many of the first efforts of new wineries like Joseph Phelps, Trefethen, Shafer and Calera to his guests. From the beginning of his 30-year career in restaurants to the present day, Tracy has been charming the public to try something new.

Scott Tracy first met Ken Frank in 1996 on an airplane when they were both flown to Napa Valley to visit with Robert Mondavi.  The Mondavi winery had invited ten wine buyers, five from Los Angeles and five from San Francisco to Napa Valley to discuss the trends of fine wine sales in restaurants.

 

In 1997 Tracy, with two friends, opened a hole in the wall restaurant on Pico Blvd in Santa Monica with the tiny nut of $80,000. Tracy used a bit on Napa inspired hospitality to gain friends and influence people, he greeted every customer with a taste of wine from the restaurant list. Many Angelinos tried Grenache, Viogner, Roussanne and Syrah for the first time at 2424 Pico, and within the year the restaurant was making top ten restaurant lists and Tracy was highlighted in a major article in the Los Angeles Times on the five best Sommeliers in the city.When the opportunity to move to Napa Valley and open La Toque, Tracy jumped at the chance and has matched wine to chef Ken Frank’s cuisine for eleven years. In the August 23, 2002 Wall Street Journal, Dorothy Gaiter and Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher devoted their wine column to La Toque’s successful food and wine parings. The 2009 Michelin Guide and 2009 Zagut Guide, highlight Tracy’s skill in the review of the restaurant, a praise normally reserved for chefs exclusively. Earlier this year,  Scott was named top Napa Sommelier by the Tasting Panel in their Stars of 2009 awards.

Tracy produces Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon with his partners. The name of the winery is Poem Cellars. The wine was released December 2008 and 379 cases were produced.. In the Wine Spectator review, James Laube described the 2006 Poem Cellars Marriage Cabernet Sauvignon  “Bold, ripe and full bodied, with lively black and wild berry, plum and spice notes that are tightly focused, intense and concentrated, ending with a long full finish and a hint of earthiness. Best from 2010 through 2017. 206 cases made” The 2009 harvest is underway for Poem Cellars. 

What school, if any did you attend?

 

Restaurant University. I had been to college, but was an English Major after thinking about Psychology and Journalism. Once out of school, I was hired as an assistant manager in a high end restaurant and within a month I was the wine buyer, I was 26. As time passed and I realized that I was good at tasting wine, that I cared about it and my skills were progressing. The more I learned about wine, the more I enjoyed tasting it. That has been the singlemost lesson I would share with others. Wine returns our passion for it, exponentially.

 

Have you had first-hand experience with organic and/or biodynamic farming or blending?

 

Most of the grapes that we harvest for our label are from organic but not certified vineyards. Farming is one challenge and marketing is another when it comes to organic wines. Farmers may “know” that organic grapes are “better” but winemakers have difficulty “proving” that better wines are always made with organic fruit.

Sadly, the early organic efforts from California winemakers were so mediocre that the use of the word on the front of the label harkens memories of some wines that could not otherwise be sold unless the customer was buying organic.

Customers may want to know if the grapes are organic when they visit the winery, but when they are in most the wine shops, “how many points did this wine get?’ is going to be  a more common question than “is this organic”?  Things are changing slowly. The number of wineries that are going “green” is a great boon to the conversation.

 

What is your favorite wine website or blog?

 

I read less than ten blogs and recommend two of them, The Pour, Eric Asimov, New York Times, and The Cellarist, Jon Bonne, San Francisco Chronicle. As reporters, Asimov and Bonne ask interesting questions and get good answers. Too many bloggers just talk about themselves and wines they like and don’t like to drink. 

 

What appellation do you see as a front-runner for the 2010 vintage?

 

2010? . Best vintage ever. No Doubt. Especially if I are selling wine from the 2010 vintage. . If I am buying, well then I will have to taste the wines won’t I? I am hopeful about the successes that have come from the Sonoma Coast. Pinot Noir in particular.

 

What are your favorite wine tools?

 

The corkscrew and reading glasses.

Why can’t the perfect corkscrew be made? One component is always wrong. Usually the imperfection is the serrated blade that tears the capsule rather than cuts it cleanly. But it might be the helix is too short or the lever has a bottle opener on it.  Let the bartender open the $4.00 beer bottle, I need cleanly remove a cork from a $400 bottle of wine.

 

Please share your most useful and interesting tasting procedures.

 

Do you have any wine idols?

 

I am very fond of talent. There is a lot of talent in Napa. I am impressed with Ted Lemon.

 

What region do you most look forward to visiting? 

 

Burgundy. I have been to Bordeaux, Loire Valley and Champagne.

What could I have been thinking to not go to Burgundy.

  

Please share with us any wine label designs or wine label designers that you find outstanding or groundbreaking.

  

If I am free to toot a horn close to home, Pier Gustafson had never done a wine label before I asked him and I am fond of the result. http://www.piergustafson.com/