People

The Inspiration

Mention Paris to most people and you’ll get a rude waiter story; Aaron’s is that he was ten, and the sneering Monsieur brought him wine instead of the milk he had ordered, because milk ‘ees for babies.’

The France Years

Aaron found himself yearning for a French wine adventure. He asked Michel if he could find him a job somewhere. Heeding his master’s call (his mind filled with romantic expectations of pulling hoses around a cellar) he dutifully showed up at the appointed Chateau… only to be taken on as winemaker. So began 6 years of living and working in France, first as Winemaker at Château Troplong Mondot and later director of Château La Tour Figeac.

Back in Napa

Ready to come home in 1998, Aaron phased himself back to California with a stint as Beringer’s “flying winemaker” making wine in France, Italy and Chile. Here’s when he met and wooed his wife, Claire, with his “impossibly romantic” lifestyle, and found another great friend and mentor, Jean-Louis Mandreau (winemaker at Château Latour from 1970 to 1983) who wasn’t so impressed with the lifestyle, but thought Aaron had a lot of potential. Ready to stay in one place for a while, Aaron took over as winemaker for St. Clement in 2001, then in 2004 he moved to Quintessa as winemaker and general manager.

The Rise of Pott

In 2004, we purchased a 76 acre (.2 acres planted) property on Mt. Veeder and began to develop our dream of owning our own vineyards. In 2007 we launched Pott Wine and released our first vintage of Incubo, as well as our first collection of single-vineyard wines in 2009. The 2015 vintage marks the next big milestone for us; when our new vineyard was ready to make wines good enough to carry the purple seal of approval! The 2015 Viognier was released in 2016. The 2015 vintage estate reds, Incubo and Space and Time will be released end of Winter 2018.

I met Aaron and came to Napa from my home country, the UK, in 1999. I was a working in media when we met, but I had worked in wine bars and restaurants throughout my high school and college years and always loved wine. My mother, and her parents, were born and raised in pubs in a small town north of London. We’re not sure how much further back the livelihood goes, but the family name, Spencer, derives from the Medieval/Latin Despenser, the servant whose role was pharmacist and sommelier for the “Lord of the Manor”.

My mum is delighted that we are carrying on the family trade.  For us, wine isn’t just a beautifully expressive living treasure, it’s a keystone of social harmony and human happiness. We honor that every time we toast a bride, or wet the baby’s head, or just have one of those wonderful, evening-long rambling conversations that bring you closer. It makes me proud and happy to think that our wine can contribute to – or cause – those special moments.

Aaron helped them plant their vineyard on Mt. Veeder, came to their parties and house-sat their pets.  All that was a long time ago, but we’ve remained friends and grew closer still when we moved to their Veeder neighborhood in 2004.  Our vineyards are an ATV-ride-down-a-fire-road distant from theirs, a trip we’ve done hundreds of times for pizza nights, ping pong rallies and to help each other with wine, vineyard and forestry management issues (usually with various dogs and children riding along).  In 2022 Steve and Carol decided to retire from active winemaking and offered us the opportunity to take over their vineyards.  A great win-win deal, and an exciting new chapter for us all.  It even made the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle….

Napa’s latest vineyard deal comes with a shocking price tag: $0