▻ Jesse and Andy Katz

Let's Talk With

6 Jul

Written By Sarah Kemp

▴ Andrew Caillard MW, at the heart of the Australian wine scene for over 40 years.

In conversation with Jesse and Andy Katz

Episode Summary:-

Father and son Andy and Jesse Katz have both had illustrious careers: Andy is a famous photographer whose images have appeared on over six million albums, many wine books, including those of Robert Parker and Hugh Johnson, and in countless magazines. Jesse is the winemaker of who Jancis Robinson wrote, “In the US, Jesse Katz of Aperture Cellars in Sonoma, is the go-to winemaker if you are famous and want your very own wine.” His first custom cuvée was for the 2012 wedding of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel. His own wines are among the most sought-after in the US, with his dry-farmed Malbec, Devil Proof Vineyard 2018, receiving 100 points from Robert Parker, the first time in 40 years a wine from Alexander Valley had received 100 points.

They talk to Jane Anson, our European editor, who worked with Andy Katz on the book “The Club of Nine,” about how the two men’s careers have influenced each other, and how a boy from Colorado with no wine background became one of the US’s hottest and youngest winemakers. Today, they work together at the winery they founded, Aperture Cellars, just outside Healdsburg in Sonoma.

““Both of us have a passion for what we do which is extremely strong, and that’s motivated by art and not by money.” ”

— Andy Katz

Running Order:-

0.00 – 20.45
“I had the wine bug but I didn’t think there was a career path for a kid from Colorado in the wine industry because in the old world it seemed it had to be in your bloodline to be a winemaker.” — Jesse Katz

Jane Anson talks to father and son Andy and Jesse Katz about their respective careers as a top photographer and cult winemaker. Andy Katz is an internationally-renowned photographer whose images have appeared on over 6 million record covers, in leading magazines, and wine books by Robert Parker and Hugh Johnson. His son Jesse was the youngest ever hired winemaker in the US, was named by Forbes Magazine as one of its “30 under 30” brightest stars on the food and beverage scene, and the Wine Enthusiast’s “40 under 40 Tastemakers.” He created the highest price wine sold at a charity auction (US$350,000), and made the wine for Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel’s wedding. Today, father and son own Aperture Cellars, a cult winery outside Healdsburg in Sonoma, California, and are receiving top accolades for all their wines.

Andy talks about how he became interested in wine when a restauranteur friend in Colorado took him to California, where he fell in love with Napa and Sonoma and decided to figure out a way of getting involved back there. While undertaking commercial work in the region, he spent time taking other photos and published “Portrait of Napa and Sonoma” with an introduction by Robert Mondavi.

“Jesse grew up with lots of adults in wine situations and became really interested in wine – he was very comfortable in the wine environment,” Andy recalls. Jesse remembers travelling with his father extensively, 80 countries together, and tells how a trip to Burgundy in his mid-teens fuelled his interest in wine. He describes how he was fascinated at how the wines changed from village to village; he had gotten the wine bug, but didn’t think there was a career path for a kid from Colorado in the wine industry because in the old world it seemed it had to be in your bloodline to be a winemaker.

Jesse describes how he left Colorado at 18 to go to business school in California and how he landed a summer job at the Fess Parker Winery, cleaning floors and eventually stepping up to working in the laboratory. It was here he discovered that a lot of professionals weren’t born into the wine industry. He decided to change courses and applied to Fresno and UC Davis. He was accepted by both, but chose Fresno, as it had a fully operational winery and he wanted to be hands-on. It was while he was there that he fell in love with red Bordeaux varieties.

Experience came from working two harvests a year, one in South America and one in California. Jesse talks about his time at Paul Hobbs Vina Cobos and with Hans Vinding Diers and Noemi Cinzano at Bodega Noemia. Jesse pays tribute to his friends Hans and Noemi for teaching him about hands-on winemaking and wine tasting “I had dinner with Hans and Noemi three to four times a week and they would blind taste me on the world’s wines. It was influential on my palate and my understanding as a winemaker.”

A job at Screaming Eagle led to him being hired by David Ramey, the consultant winemaker at Lancaster Estate in Alexander Valley. At 25, he was the youngest hired winemaker in the US.
20.46 – 31.00
“I don’t think the French are as good at bullshitting as the Americans are. They were actually enthusiastic about the wine.”– Andy Katz

Andy and Jesse talk about how they started Aperture on Andy’s land, 3.5 acres, producing just a couple of hundred cases (they are now bottling the 2009, their 10th anniversary vintage, which they both believe is their best yet). Jesse talks about how his experience taught him that extending the growing season led to more finesse, elegance and freshness. He was convinced that the Alexander Valley could make world-class Cabernet, “with its volcanic soils, wines have more richness and concentration.” Jesse explains, “It has the same daytime temperature as Oakville but nights are ten to fifteen degrees cooler.” He wanted to make a super-premium Malbec, and found a single vineyard site for what’s now the cult wine Devil Proof. He decided to dry-farm the previously irrigated vineyard, and the wine has received numerous accolades from the world’s top critics, including Robert Parker Jr who wrote,” This may be the finest Malbec I have tasted from California.”

He decided to leave his high-profile role at Lancaster Estate in 2015, when there was a new ownership and change of direction, to concentrate on Aperture Cellars and Devil Proof. He went to Bordeaux to work a vintage as a winemaker, and met the owners and directors of the First Growth wineries as Andy was pitching the idea of a book capturing “the Club of Nine.” Jesse and Andy presented both Aperture, Devil’s Proof and a wine he had made at Lancaster Cellars to the illustrious producers and were delighted when they were well received.
31.01 – 41.45
“I wanted to show what California could do with a luxury tier of Malbec and push the limit of viticulture.” — Jesse Katz

Andy discusses how they select the images for the labels, including the iconic photo taken in Cuba of the woman which appears on Devil Proof Vineyard Malbec. ”It was always one of Jesse’s favourite images,” Andy explains. The image had been very successful for Andy and had been exhibited in galleries in New York, Dallas and across the US. “She has this aura of power,” Jesse adds.

2011 was the first vintage Jesse dry-farmed the site, an ideal vintage as it was cool with some rain. He wanted to shrink the canopy and the berry size. The wine is now sold in customised cigar boxes in allocations of three or six bottles.
41.46 – 56.52
“Jesse absolutely had a dream and he carried through on it.” — Andy Katz

The new winery brought the creative forces of Andy and Jesse together. They interviewed several architects before hiring Juancarlos Fernandez. The winery design has been inspired by the aperture of a camera and has provided Andy with a gorgeous gallery to display his photos. The photos are not of wine but from his travels to remote parts of the world, such as India, Cuba, and Morocco, and all but one photo were taken with Jesse by his side.

The pandemic happened just as the winery was due to open up to visitors, but virtual tastings have kept the team busy; 80% of the wine is sold directly to consumers and the news that Devils Proof 2018 has just received 100 points from the Wine Advocate, the first Alexander Valley wine in 40 years to receive 100 points, has brought huge delight and a focus to the region.

Andy talks of his pride in his son: “The more time I spend with him the more I love it,” he says. Two great creatives working in harmony, first generation Californian winemakers both dedicated to producing the best work they can. As Andy says “Both of us have a passion for what we do which is extremely strong, and that’s motivated by art and not by money.”