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24 WINES: BLENDING THE NFL AND NAPA W WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE LEGENDARY Napa Valley and a future NFL Hall-of-Famer come together? A little over a decade ago, Oakland Raider Charles Woodson set out to discover just that. The result is Twenty-Four Wines, a celebrated boutique winery with the heart of a champion.  Drafted in 1998 by the Oakland Raiders, Woodson discovered Napa while the team was in town for spring training. Around here, wine is everywhere: from business lunches to cozy dinner dates to brunches, and everything in between. During his first experiences in Napa, Woodson was fascinated by the local culture. As his appreciation for wine and the culture from which it comes grew, Woodson embarked on a journey to create a wine of his own.  Through Woodson’s friendship with Rick Ruiz (who at the time worked for Robert Mondavi Winery), he began to learn the aspects of the winemaking process. On one of his trips, as Ruiz showed him around the Mondavi cellar, Woodson decided it was time to become a part of the industry that surrounded him. Using fruit from an exclusive vineyard in Calistoga, Woodson worked alongside Ruiz and another friend (international winemaker Gustavo Gonzalez) to create the first vintage of Twenty-Four Wines (which is Woodson’s NFL jersey number.)  The first barrel of wine that Woodson, Ruiz, and Gonzalez produced was a 2001 Merlot, with the proceeds benefiting various charities 34 www.nAPAVA L L E Y L I F E magaz ine. c o m that Woodson is involved with. Woodson fell in love with it, but made sure that he produced enough in his second vintage to share some with his family and friends. Each vintage continued to sell out, so each vintage has grown. Today the trio still produces a small batch of wine compared to most wineries in Napa (just over a thousand cases per year of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Sauvignon Blanc.  Like Woodson, Twenty-Four Wines evolved slowly over time, from something humble and unassuming into something impressive and noteworthy. The winery believes that “Twenty-Four embodies the abundant blessings that surround us,” and hopes that fans and wine-lovers alike will share in their spirit of pleasure and gratitude. In the spirit of both giving back and paying forward, $10 from every bottle sold still benefits CS Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voightlander Women’s Hospital.  What’s next for Twenty-Four Wines? A Charles Woodson Cognac is in the finishing stages of production and a new as-yetunnamed wine is in the works as well. For more information, or to sign up for the winery’s newsletter, go to www.twentyfourwines.com. IMAGES © LEE KIPER BY STACY SCALES


NVLife_Feb_2014
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