Loading Events

« All Events

  • This event has passed.

Robert Biale Wine Dinner

September 11, 2019 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

$150
This fall we are honored and thrilled to offer a series of wine dinners featuring some of California’s historic and iconic wineries. Manys were pioneers in the California wine scene even before there was one, making estate bottled, high quality wines way before it was de rigueur.

Our series kicks off with Dave Pramuk, co-founder of Robert Biale Vineyards on September 11th. We will continue with Carissa Mondavi, the latest generation of the famed Mondavi clan to make their mark in Napa, on September 18th with RAEN and Continuum wineries – details coming soon! In October we’ll have Talley, Hanzell, and Stony Hill, plus a few more surprises in the works so stay tuned!

Robert Biale Vineyards Co-Founder Dave Pramuk

Biale is one of the top producers of old vine Zinfandels. It traces its roots back to the 1940’s with bootleg wines code named “black chickens”, delivered personally by Aldo Biale in a blue 1940 Studebaker. The Biales were Italian immigrants who arrived in the 1930’s, in the thick of the Great Depression and end of Prohibition. Not exactly auspicious times for winemaking! The story starts when Napa’s booming wine business collapsed, wiping out vineyards and the demand for grapes, but Pietro Biale nevertheless decided to plant Zinfandel vines along with all of the other crops he farmed on his Napa Valley ranch.

Unfortunately, while working a second job at a quarry to supplement the farm’s income, Pietro was killed. His wife and young son Aldo continued to work the farm, but like his father he found he needed some outside income. Like many other Napa growers, the Biales sold grapes to the local cooperative, much of that wine ending up in countless gallons of Gallo Hearty Burgundy.

But Aldo also developed a small side business after he learned to make wine from his Uncle Angelo. He quietly (and illegally) began selling his homemade Zinfandel to friends and neighbors, delivering it along with produce from the farm. To keep prying eyes and ears from catching on to his illicit wine business he came up with the code name “Black Chickens” for his wines so his clients could order discreetly over the party-line phones of the day.

In 1991, third generation Napa native Robert Biale founded Robert Biale Vineyards with his father Aldo, Dave Pramuk, and Al Perry, who was their winemaker for 20 years. They kept the focus on old vine Zins and Petite Sirah, sourcing grapes from their own vines and some of Napa’s oldest and best sites. We are pleased to have original founder Dave Pramuk with us as our special guest to guide us through his wines, each perfectly paired with a beautiful menu created by Executive Chef Kevin LaFemina. We hope to see you here!

$150 per person plus tax and gratuity

Details

Date:
September 11, 2019
Time:
7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Cost:
$150
Event Category: