We recently took our own advice and opened a wine that we had considered too special to open. We know. That’s why we invented Open That Bottle Night in 1999. Even though it’s officially celebrated globally on the last Saturday in February, we advised you to open those bottles as frequently as possible because no one is promised tomorrow.
A couple weeks ago, John announced that he’d made reservations at one of our favorite BYOB places and that he had chosen the wine to take, the 2014 Tribute, a Zinfandel from Dickerson Vineyard in Napa’s Rutherford AVA. This wine was dear to us because the old-vine vineyard was owned by Bill Dickerson, who we had become friendly with and who had died along with his wife, Jane Hagen Dickerson, in the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Two months before that, he’d sent us a picture of his grandchildren on Halloween.
When we wrote Tastings, our column in the Wall Street Journal, we often told readers that when looking for a good Zinfandel, they couldn’t go wrong if they remembered the Rs: Ridge, Rosenblum, Ravenswood, Rafanelli, Renwood and Rancho Zabaco. In 1999, when we wrote that the best Zinfandel we’d had in a decade was a 1992 Ravenswood “Dickerson,” Bill Dickerson wrote to us saying in effect, “If you like what Ravenswood does with my grapes, you should taste my own wine.” So we did and it was a stunner. The next year, we invited Dr. Dickerson, a prominent psychiatrist, to our “Vintners’ Open That Bottle Night” in St. Helena and he brought two amazing Zinfandels: a 1916 from Italian Swiss Colony and a 1947 given to him by Louis Martini. The local newspaper ran a picture the next day of Dr. Dickerson uncorking the 1916 wine with Dottie’s help.
The Ravenswood “Dickerson” was made by the legendary Joel Peterson, founder of Ravenswood Winery in Sonoma. Ravenswood is now owned by Gallo and Peterson consults. Dickerson, a long-time family friend of Peterson’s, sold his grapes to Peterson for his Ravenswood wines and Peterson later bought them for his newer winery, Once & Future. After we wrote about Peterson and Ravenswood in 2020, Drew Hagen wrote to us. Jane Hagen Dickerson, a travel writer who had a doctorate in clinical psychology, was his mother and Bill his step-father. Hagen sent us two bottles of Tribute, the 2014 and the 2017.
How could we open those? Well, we finally opened the 2014! Our first smile was that the cork said “Ravenswood.” Peterson has made the Tribute wines for more than 20 years and it felt like an old friend. It was fresh and elegant, with soulful raspberry fruit, a dash of black pepper and just a hint of age. The wine grew a bit as the night went on and smelled like dried rose petals and tobacco. After opening the 2014, we reached out to Hagen to talk about the wines and the famous vineyard in St. Helena. The conversation below has been edited for space.
Grape Collective: We have read that Dickerson Vineyard is the last “old-vine Zinfandel” vineyard on Zinfandel Lane. Is that right?
Hagen: Dickerson Vineyards is the ONLY Zinfandel grown on Zinfandel Lane. Cabernet is king in the Napa Valley and land prices and vineyard management prices make it cost prohibitive to grow anything but Cabernet in the highly sought after Rutherford Bench AVA. Several of our Zinfandel acres date back to over 100 years old.
Could you briefly walk us through what happened with Dickerson Vineyard grape contracts after Ravenswood was sold?
Eventually, we signed contracts directly with Joel at Once & Future, Bob Biale at Biale Winery and with Tegan Passalacqua at Turley, who each made a Dickerson Designated Zinfandel. Then the downturn in the wine industry happened and Biale and Turley along with the rest of the Valley wanted to take a pause with some of their higher-end vineyard designations, Dickerson being one of them, and they asked if we could find another home for Dickerson. Bill Dickerson had a great relationship with Chuck Wagner, so I reached out to him and the timing could not have been better. Jenny Wagner was embarking on a new Zinfandel Designation program and was looking for some amazing Napa Zinfandel, so we started a new partnership with them to join their Caymus Designation program. We could not be happier.
Who owns the 21-acre Dickerson Vineyard now?
I manage the whole vineyard that is owned by myself and the founder of Pinterest, Tim Kendall. Wonderful family and they understand and respect the heritage of the Dickerson Zinfandel vineyard. Interestingly enough, they are looking to sell their part of the vineyard (and their spectacular house). They were not spending as much time as they thought they would in the Valley. It is farmed as one vineyard and the split is close to 30% / 70%. I have the 30%. (Bill’s daughters, who sold their share to Kendall, and my brother are no longer involved with the vineyard.)
Is the Dickerson Vineyard designation secure?
As long as I manage and own it, YES. My family would like to keep the vineyard moving forward and now that we have our first grandchild, Brayden, we have another generation to look forward to bringing into the Dickerson wine biz.
Let’s hope any buyer of the 70% is committed to maintaining Dickerson Vineyard as it is, Zinfandel. Do you still manage the vineyard with the long-time manager?
Yes. Wight Vineyard Management, with Doug Wight and Erik Dodd, has taken very good care of the whole vineyard for over 40 years.
Who made the Tribute wines? Is it still being made? How much of it is produced? Can it be purchased?
Tribute Zinfandel has been made for the past 20-plus years with amazing care by Joel Peterson. Joel, Bob Biale, and Turley made Dickerson Zinfandel in 2023 and it is available mostly at their wineries and on-line. Tribute Zinfandel is not available for sale. That is for our close friends and very special occasions.
Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher conceived and wrote The Wall Street Journal’s wine column, “Tastings,” from 1998 to 2010. Dorothy and John have been tasting and studying wine since 1973. In 2020, the University of California at Davis added their papers to the Warren Winiarski Wine Writers Collection in its library, which also includes the work of Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson. Dottie has had a distinguished career in journalism as a reporter, editor, columnist and editorial writer at The Miami Herald, The New York Times, and at The Journal. John was Page One Editor of The Journal, City Editor of The Miami Herald and a senior editor at Bloomberg News. They are well-known from their books and many television appearances, especially on Martha Stewart’s show, and as the creators of the annual, international “Open That Bottle Night” celebration of wine and friendship. The first bottle they shared was André Cold Duck. They have two daughters.
