A: It\u2019s the total package \u2013 the people, the guests, the seasons, the vineyards, and not to mention, the wines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: If you\u2019re not drinking wine, what is your beverage of choice?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: A gin and tonic. Hendricks is my house gin and Monkey 47 for special occasions. Also, enjoy margaritas and sipping tequila.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: What is a good memory you have at Frank Family?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: Sipping a cold beer after a long harvest day<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: Other than winemaking, what do you enjoy doing?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: I\u2019m pretty simply \u2013 travel, golf, and fly fishing. In fact, I just returned from a pre-harvest fishing trip in Idaho.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: What was your first memorable bottle of wine?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: 1985 Chateau Figeac from Saint-\u00c9milion, France and Champagne Louis Roederer Cristal<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: Aside from Napa Valley, do you have a favorite wine region(s)?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: Saint-\u00c9milion, the Mosel River, Champagne, and the Douro Valley. I\u2019ve been lucky enough to work in three of the four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: How would you describe your winemaking style?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: It\u2019s always been to stay true to the grape and the region. We want our Chardonnays to taste like Chardonnays and our Cabernets to taste like Cabernets. I respect the fruit in its purest form and try not to interfere too much in the cellar. My main goal is to achieve balance and flavor, making delicious wines that you enjoy sip after sip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring winemakers?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: You have to have passion for it. Many people assume that being a winemaker is a glamourous job but it\u2019s important not to get swept up in the \u201cglamour\u201d of it. When you\u2019re cleaning out fermentation tanks or working in the vineyards first thing in the morning, it\u2019s your commitment and love for winemaking that will sustain you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: What is the most challenging aspect of being a winemaker? How about most rewarding?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: I honestly think we have the best job in the world. I\u2019m sure the typical answer is that mother nature is the most challenging thing about being a winemaker, but I\u2019ve been around a long time, so I\u2019ve learned to be flexible and work with what you have. I think that working with people is the best part. I love our team here at Frank Family and we have a great crew of grape growers we\u2019ve been partnered with for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: What is it like working with Rich and Leslie Frank?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: We all have a great relationship. They fully trust my palate and look to me when it comes to winemaking. It\u2019s a very trusting relationship built on many years of history. I honestly love working with the Franks and look forward to working with them for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: What do you think has been your biggest impact at Frank Family Vineyards in the past 20 years?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: My commitment. When I came on board in the early 2000s, Frank Family wasn\u2019t the same winery it is today. It needed some love and purpose, and I have spent the past 20 years giving it my all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: I’m not going anywhere; I’ll be in Napa for life, but who knows, 10 years from now, I can see myself being an emeritus winemaker who just comes in for blending trials and tastings and then leaves for lunch at the Rutherford Grill or to go fly fishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: Your kids essentially grew up at Frank Family Vineyards over the years. Did any of them follow your footsteps in wine business now?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: My kids are in the business of drinking wine but no not making it. It was cool though having them grow up here, spending days doing homework in the office or joining the cellar crew for pizza dinners after school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: What are you most excited about for the future growth of Frank Family Vineyards?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: I\u2019m looking forward to expanding our partner vineyards. We\u2019re currently developing a new vineyard in Carneros just for Frank Family Chardonnay and it\u2019s the continued access to high quality fruit that gets me most excited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This 2022 harvest season marks Winemaker Todd Graff’s 20th vintage at Frank Family Vineyards. Much as changed at the winery since he came on board in the early aughts, but his passion and commitment to making the best wine possible has remain all but unchanged. We’ve interviewed our Petaluma-born and globally trained winemaker in celebration […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[18,138,179,14,186,101,97,94],"class_list":["post-2082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behind-the-scenes","tag-napa-valley","tag-napa-winery","tag-qa","tag-wine","tag-wine-101","tag-winemaker","tag-winemaking","tag-winery"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1500X1000-1.png?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/parYsd-xA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1500X1000-2.png?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/FFV_Team.jpg?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n