An Interview With Michael Kelly’s Journey with Wine Writing and Wine
Background on Michael Kelly for Wine Interview.
Just after publishing my 1,300th website stories on wineries, winemaking, wines and the wine industry on the website https://californiawinesandwineries.com , I was interviewed by A. McKallew to answer a few questions on how and why I developed a passion for wine. She sought me out as I eclipsed writing in excess of 1 million words on my website. When I post a story, depending on the topic and geography, it goes out to an additional 80+ blog sites and social media where I am a guest poster. That number totals a staggering 80 million words in print floating about in the world wide web. Additionally, some 2,500 stories were published on my blog site and personal page totally some unknown count.
Some of the questions below were outside the scope of wine and the industry, which were more questions regarding my early introduction to wine, college, career development and personal life information. That portion will be available on request for friends. Below are a selection of questions related to wine and my response.
Working Career and Wine Education Development
Q: Can you remember your first real encounter with wine?
After college I returned to the Bay Area. Got married and we took a trip to Napa Valley in the spring of 1978. Having little to no knowledge of wine, stopped at Mondavi Winery and sampled some delicious wines like I had never tasted before! It was like the cartoon with the light coming on over my head. We ended up buying a case of Mondavi 1974 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve served to us by Robert Mondavi. He carried the wooden case to our car and when we left their parking lot, my wife asked how would we pay the American Express bill for the wine? We managed to pay the bill when it came and that was the beginning of the wine journey. Nor did we know who Robert Mondavi was or how he would shape and influence Napa Valley and the wine world.
Q: How much were you involved with wine during your business career?
While focused on a career in the electronics/semiconductor business, a glass of wine at lunch once a week was a given. I had progressed to General Manager of distributorship and used Fridays to award the top inside salesperson performance or a key contributor to lunch at a nice restaurant. J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines was the standard glass ordered at the two frequent restaurants. As I progressed with various semiconductor companies, wine became a bit developed with customer meetings/dinners and golf outings over several days. When working as a strategic account manager for a $3.5B company, I often arranged dinner meetings with key executives in the Bay Area with my company’s executive team. I would examine the wine list in advance and would seek suggestions from the restaurant staff. Knowledge of wine grew and then I would seek those wineries out when I had a chance to visit Sonoma or Napa Valleys. It seemed like wine was a never-ending quest, as the more you knew, the less you knew! During the early years of marriage and raising children, wine was typically a Friday night treat with the wife stopping by Trader Joe’s selecting a bottle of wine to go with dinner. Or if dining out at one of our favorite restaurants, the owners were always ready to recommend a selection or two. Occasionally with dinner parties and close neighbors we enjoyed different wines, and we began to frame our taste preferences. One close neighbor had found two unknown wine regions for us to join for various events. One was Amador County wine region, and the other was Livermore Valley. Both areas, while rich in history, were just beginning their winemaking prowess known in the early 1990’s but went back to the gold rush days in California. There again, one was able to discern, what “tasted good” and stuck with those selections going forward. Simplistic metrics but we all start somewhere. Years passed and then we began, for example, tasting Cabernet Sauvignon from Livermore Valley versus Amador Valley versus Napa or Sonoma Valleys. We kept asking why did Cabernet Sauvignon taste so delicious in one region and so poorly or different in another. The next level of discernment came from understanding the soil, weather, etc., or terroir of each region. So, when visiting an area, we asked to taste wine that made sense for that environment. That helped immensely in ferreting out the better wines. The next level was then to follow key winemakers in each region who displayed quality wines and had the Midas touch in award winning wines. Again, this was now the late 1990’s and early 2000’s and sought out and followed them from one winery to another. That process served us well, for example in following Celia Welch from Keever Vineyards to Kelly Fleming. Ditto for others like Phillippe Melka, Andy Erickson, Aaron Pott and Heidi Barnett all in Napa Valley. Many winemakers, after cutting their teeth, formed their own winery or brand and once we found them, joined their wine clubs. Pam Starr (Crocker & Starr), Rudy Zuidema (Shadybrook Estate), Jacky and Scott Young (YoungInglewood), Viader (Delia and Alan Viader), Betty & Paul Wools (O’Shaughnessy, Progeny, Capiaux), Ledson Winery (Steve Ledson), Thomas Rivers Brown (Revana & Outpost), Tom Garrett (Detert, Dakota Shy) and the list goes on. At one point we were members of 20+ wine clubs in Sonoma & Napa Valley. Soon we were inundated with wine, and it was time to add a standalone wine cabinet that controlled both temperature and humidity. That was easily filled up quickly and another and another and another and another and another and another and now wine cabinets were filling up the house! I also branched out to foreign wines as I was doing a lot of international travel and would spend a weekend checking out regional wineries in France, Italy, etc. Some additional vacation travel took us to Spain, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, China, India, just about every state in America, etc., and always found a winery or two to visit.
Q: Why so many wines?
Typically, the higher end wines could be stored and aged for up to 25 years. We generally drank those at 10-15 years. We did have some “everyday wines” that were consumed in the 2–5-year range. At the same time, we were still visiting areas all around California buying and enjoying new varietals not found in the “regular wine districts”. Additionally, the quality of wine production increased exponentially in Livermore Valley, Lodi, the Sierra foothill regions, Monterey, etc. So many of their wines made it into the wine cabinets. Then add the business travel and hearing about “new wineries, new wines, etc.” and they found their way into the cellar. Soon the log sheet turned into a computerized system for tracking wines being collected and when to drink them by.
Q: When you retired, what were you going to do with all that wine?
Great question and in 2012 when I retired, I got advice from a friend in North Carolina, Carol Stratton, a published author, who suggested I begin to write about something I knew having some in-depth knowledge or I had a keen interest in. That provided three subjects: Executive business & sales management, golf and wine. Wine seemed like a great and fun choice with side benefits! She also suggested that writing is like a muscle that needs to be exercised daily to build up. The next step was to create a blog site, a website, etc. While having a rudimentary knowledge of computers, our youngest daughter Courtney assisted immensely in formulating what you see today website, blog, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Like Forrest Gump’s great line in the movie, was “run Forrest run” so he began to run across the USA and back again. Thus, I began to write and write. I attended classes, seminars, listened to podcasts, read books, talked incessantly with winemakers, winery owners and just about everyone who knew more about wine than I did! Which was everyone except my dog, who knew less than me!
Q: Who in the industry provided some of the better conversations?
Far too many to highlight them all, but Rhonda Wood from Wood Family Vineyards, Steven Mirassou from Steven Kent Wineries, Jerry Padilla from Ledson Winery, Pam Starr from Crocker & Starr, Susan Tipton at Acquiesce Winery, Rudy Zuidema (Shadybrook, Red Cap, Zuidema Wines) and so many others provided some great insight into making wines and the wine business. The Wine Media Conference seminars provided great guest speakers, enriching my education, writing skills and networking. A special note of thanks to Jim Denham of the Wine Steward wine shop in Pleasanton, California who provided a vast amount of information on international wines at various events. Also, I sought to attend any and all presentations, speeches, lectures, classroom sessions, on wines and the wine industry all over northern California.
Q: Today you live in the Sierra foothills, how does that fit into the wine world?
In 2016 we left the congestion of the Bay Area and made a move to an unincorporated area called Copperopolis. We purchased a lot and built a custom home all on one level with a walk in wine cellar on the same floor. Since the house was custom built, we ran the ducting for the condenser that is in the garage over the ceiling and into the cellar. Today we have a capacity of 1500 bottles. Living in the foothills provides a pastural setting in which to write, cook and continue to read about wine. We are in Calaveras County with many wineries, 45 minutes from Lodi, 1 ½ hrs from Livermore Valley and 2 hours from Napa. Sonoma and Paso Robles area require overnight stays and have done so many times.
Q: What other activities are you doing with wine living in the Sierra’s?
As it turns out, Calaveras County hosts the Annual Sierra Foothills Wine Competition (41st year in 2025). Through networking I was invited to be a wine judge some five years ago and met some pillars of wine judging like Tom Bender, Mike Dunne, Dan Berger and many others. I have also judged for the last four years at the Foothill Wine Judging event in Folsom, California. Together these two events gather 500-600 wines in total yearly.
Q: What is the Annual International Cabernet Franc Wine Competition and what is your involvement?
I established the event over six years ago focused only on the Cabernet Franc varietal. The event has grown to 100 wines being entered from 14 states and 3 countries in 2025. It is a blind competition based on a modified Danish system. We have two sets of judges, one of Professional Judges (two tables) and one of People’s Choice Judges (two tables). This provides a dynamic that most wineries enjoy. They not only have two chances in winning an award, but they can also appeal to the Professional Judges on the varietal key characteristics and/or the People Choice Judges enticing consumers to seek out their wines appealing to the everyday shopper. We break down the regions as Cabernet Franc is unique with its tasting profile very different in an upstate NY Finger Lake district versus the mid-west versus the Northwest. We have 6 regional groups (Eastern, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest, International and California). California is further broken down by six price point categories. We also have a Specialty Division for Cab Franc wines being 75% minimum that are Blanc, Sparking, Ice wine, Appassimento, rose, etc. The last category is the Blend Category (all wines being a minimum of 50% Cabernet Franc). The Grand Sweepstakes winners from both sets of judges get a feature article written about them (at least one and generally two). Except for this year, we have tied together a Cabernet Franc Wine Stroll and a Cabernet Franc Gourmet Dinner featuring past winners. Next year we plan on resuming these sessions.
Q: Do I dare ask if you have other activities with wine?
It doesn’t leave too much “free time” between writing, traveling, meeting with winemakers, etc., but I have parsed out some time to consult with exporting wines to Japan for their Michelin Star restaurants, writing for a couple of wineries for their tasting notes, still working on collecting wines, writing a monthly column for a newsletter, consulting with regional winegrower organizations, etc. One exciting aspect is that several of my stories have been picked up and re-published nationally. I try to attend as many in person and Zoom meetings with winemakers, wineries, etc., as I possibly can. This is what I call retirement!
Q: What are the key takeaways from your time with wine, winemakers and the wine industry?
It is very simple: I have met so many talented, kind and knowledgeable people over the years. My knowledge base has exploded a thousand times from my humble beginnings. The great aspect is that the wine barrel of knowledge is never ending and always provides new twists and turns with new technologies, new machinery, deeper education (specifically UC Davis), cultural challenges (box, can, demographics and non-alcoholic wines), etc. Wine is a bonding agent as much as it is a drink. As I often joke, writing has provided a great outlet and keeps me off the streets!! Wine incorporates friendships, great foods and a social life full of laughter and meaningful relationships.
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly