“Dad, we're doing one of the first Devil Proof tastings,” says winemaker Jesse Katz, holding a bottle of Malbec. “Would you like to try it?”
His father, famous photographer Andy Katz, bursts into laughter. “That's one of the dumbest questions you've ever asked me,” he says, taking a seat on the tasting table behind an empty glass.
Anyone who knows anything about wine knows how essential terroir is, the French word for earth. The concept goes beyond the soil itself and includes all of the environmental aspects that influence the event of the grapes and the taste of the wine. This includes the sun, the wind, the weather – every thing.
When the young winemaker was searching for a spot to place down roots with Aperture Cellars, he didn't select the legendary hills of Napa. Instead, Jesse selected picturesque Healdsburg.
Climate change was a significant factor – the growing season in Napa is getting warmer, drier and shorter, while breezes from the Pacific are keeping temperatures cooler in Healdsburg. Sonoma County also has an important number of soils, greater than in all of France, including cool, moist loam that is right for the Bordeaux varieties he promotes.
But just as terroir shapes the taste, aroma and quality of wine, the concept also serves as a robust metaphor for this father and son, whose shared experiences and influences have shaped their lives, deepened their appreciation for complexity and cultivated a passion for the craft of winemaking.
It's a journey that began with the winemaker's father, whose profession as a rock and roll photographer took him everywhere in the world to shoot album covers and capture moments for the Doobie Brothers, Dan Fogelberg and other artists. Andy then turned his lens to the sprawling vineyards of scenic locations like Tuscany and Bordeaux, immortalizing a number of the world's most respected wineries. Jesse, then a young teenager, was along for the ride.
However, these trips laid the inspiration for Jesse and provided him with an education he couldn’t have found anywhere else. Amidst the fantastic thing about these vineyard landscapes, Jesse developed a deep respect for wine culture and a curiosity for the intricate art and science of winemaking.
“That was a real aha moment for me,” he says.
Decades later, the climax of this journey is Blind cellar, where Jesse crafts the wine with the utmost care while Andy's charming photographs adorn each the labels and the partitions of the tasting room gallery. Currently, Andy is showcasing work from his pandemic project, “A Walk in the Park,” a photographic journey of greater than 60,000 miles in an RV to capture the stunning fantastic thing about every U.S. national park.
“I've traveled all over the world, but embarrassingly not much in the United States,” he said. “But it turns out that all this majesty was right here. It was incredibly fulfilling to explore this country.”
Almost every aspect of Aperture reflects this deep father-son bond and their intertwined past. This includes the acclaimed Devil Proof label, which was inspired by the family's adventures in Cuba, after they became fascinated by a neighborhood saying: “If you live well and drink well, the devil can't get you.”
The first winemaker to be named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, a Wine Enthusiast 40 Under 40 Tastemaker and one among Wine Spectator's Rising Stars, Jesse has built a fame for producing award-winning wines which can be enjoyed by wine lovers in all places, including skilled skater Tony Hawk in addition to Justin Timberlake, who asked Jesse to create a custom mix for his wedding to Jessica Biel. Jesse also made headlines when a bottle of his Cabernet Sauvignon sold for a record-breaking $1 million, the most costly bottle of wine ever sold.
But he stays a manual winemaker, examining each row of vineyards with a critical eye. He rigorously chews the grape skins, examines the seeds and studies the composition of the soil to estimate exactly when to emphasize the vines and when the optimal harvest time is approaching. He also pays attention to the symphony of the vineyard, listening rigorously to the whisper of yeast fermentation and searching for insights into the wine's evolution.
“That's the art,” says Jesse. “That's why I believe every bottle here tells a story. And if people can take that home with them, then that's why we're here.”
Details: Aperture Cellars offers wine tastings by reservation only ($50-$75 per person) Thursday through Monday at 12291 Old Redwood Highway in Healdsburg. Make a reservation and learn more at http://aperture-cellars.com.
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