Nicolaysen Family Vineyards is truly the realization of a life-long family passion that started over 50 years ago while my Dad was in Veterinary School at the University of California at Davis. While there, he worked at the enology lab, under the legendary enology professor Maynard Amerine, and would refuse to throw out the wine samples at the end of the day, but rather, would bring them home. It was there, along with “further wine analysis” combined with my Mom’s phenomenal culinary talents, that a love of food and wine was born. My parents even made a few barrels of wine each year with friends from the UC Westside Field Station when I was a small child, using experimental wine grapes. Consequently, it was only natural that I would study Economics and Business Administration at UC Berkeley (Go Bears!), and graduate with no concept of what to do. After graduation, while cooking dinner and drinking wine with my parents one summer night, my Dad innocently said, “Why don’t you go work a harvest in Napa Valley; it will probably be the only time in your life you’ll have the opportunity, and it will buy you six months to figure out what you want to do”. Well, that was 16 years ago, and I guess you could say I liked it. After working a harvest in the cellar at Joseph Phelps Vineyards, I decided to stay on and work in the sales and marketing side of things. Over the following nine years, I worked at Joseph Phelps Vineyards, S. Anderson, Acacia, and spent the last five years as the Controller of Turley Wine Cellars. While most of my jobs were on the financial side of things, I never lost my interest in winemaking, did some cellar work at Grace Family Vineyards on the side, took three trips to France and Italy, and made a few gallons of my own wine. In 2000, when the “dot.coms” were going crazy and housing prices in Napa Valley went ballistic, I decided to move to the Central Coast. And I am not exactly sure how it all happened, but we decided to throw all caution to the wind, and Nicolaysen Family Vineyards was born and took on a life of its own.
A philosophy that we came up with when starting the winery was, “Perpetuating Old World Values and Traditions through Wine”, a mission statement involving our ambitions, goals, and passions that has not wavered. The butterfly on the label and cork symbolizes my Mom who, while not with us physically, is very much with us in spirit, and I know she would love this; truly a family dream come true!
One of the best parts about wine is that it adds so much enjoyment to so many aspects of life. There have been so many special times and experiences for me of which wine has played such an enjoyable part, and it is certainly one of my goals that these wines might add something special to some of the experiences of those who drink them. We seem to currently live in a time when many people think a lot about what they can get from life, and not about what they can give to it. I have always felt that nothing could be more meaningful than to add enjoyment to another’s life in some way. There are so many ways to do this, and if these wines can add anything to those with whom they come into contact, that would be very fulfilling for me!
Perpetuating Old World Values and Traditions through Wine
Bob Nicolaysen