The end of an Era

In case you missed it, tomorrow's tasting wines are:

Gotta be Gobbler Ready

 The end of an Era

The last ever of Sean Thackrey's Pleiades Red is now here,

but will soon be gone

(see further below for info) 

The top picture is from 2016 when my family visited Sean Thackrey at his Bolinas home & winery with other pics from that visit below.

It was a gift from Sean (as he rarely did anything like this) and a wonderful afternoon!

Many of you have heard of Sean Thackrey but most probably haven't. Unfortunately Sean passed away in 2022 at age 79 which was far too early and we were glad to have had the chance to spend a brief 2+ hours with him after a fun lunch in Stinson Beach.

My daughter's favorite wine ever since then has been Thackrey's Sirius which we ran out of years ago (although I saved four or five for her birthday's).

Sean had to have been one of the most gifted, curious and, trailblazing winemakers California has seen. He also spoke five languages and had a wide range of interests from photography (he owned a gallery in SF prior to turning his attention to wine) to ancient literature.

He made wines according to his own beliefs and eccentricities without worrying about what others would think of them. His goal was always to provide pleasure for himself and those others who drank his wines.

We think he consistently achieved that goal and have been proud to carry his wines non-stop for 18 years.

We've been lucky to be able to suggest it to customers for many occassions with the last of them being for this Thanksgiving.

Although some of his wines were a bit pricier, we think that his

Pleiades Red California Red Wine XXXII

epitomized his goal of providing pleasure - and at a price that was always accessible.

Unfortunately the last of that wine (recently made by his assistant of eight years from the same sources as always) is here now.

We found out on Wednesday that there were only 100 cases left and grabbed 20 of those which are now on our floor for you.

When we met him Sean he made it clear, without pontificating, that he thought of making wine as a wholistic, natural process - albeit one with ties to artistic expression and culinary influence. Early on he used classical wine making references and texts to help guide his process, going so far as to let his grapes sit in the shade on his Bolinas property before starting the winemaking process. Many of his practices are echoed by the natural winemakers of today. He collected winemaking texts (his collection sold for over $2 million in early 2022) and was featured on Alice Waters second menu at Chez Panisse - a spot his wines kept for decades!

We were sad to hear of his passing and also sad to know that we won't be able to carry his "signature" wine going forward.

Today we received the last 20 cases of Pleiades Red that we'll ever get and know many of you will want a bottle or two.

Stop by the shop soon or

reply to this email

if you would like any of it.

I'm taking one of those cases home so 19 cases are left up for grabs.

It has been on the shelf for $22 for many years ($24-26 elsewhere)

but now is only

$20/bottle

Goodbye again Sean

you were much appreciated by many