Winegrowers in North Carolina – Interview with Ron Garlaudo
Wine grower Ron Garlaudo, of Biltmore, NC, interview conducted by Lee Baldinger ofisson Mills, on Wednesday, May 19, 2008.
1. Please tell our readers something about yourself. Where are you from, what is your profession, where do you live now?
I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1947. My mother, sister and brother were born in Milford, Delaware, so I grew up surrounded by relatives. Pennsylvania, Delaware, and England, etc., were the order of the day growing up. It was easy to fall in love with the area and the hospitality of the people.
My family is from Pennsylvania, Delaware, and England. My father was a teacher; my mother was a stay-at-home mom. We owned a grocery store and a tavern. We also owned a movie theater and a traveling theater. In England we owned a vineyard, which is still in operation.
I graduated from college in 1973 and I decided right then that I should get a gourmet cooking education. That year I traveled to France to study culinary arts. After France I spent a year on a cruise ship. I also went to Italy to study fine dining.
I arrived in Paris late in September and stayed at an old friend’s place on Raspail. I was 26 years old when I arrived. I was a senior at the time and had a lot to celebrate. It was a great city to hang out. By the end of the summer my friends had rented out a cabin on the hill above the city so that we could drink wine and avoid the worst of Paris heat.
My senior year, 1974, was the year I made the decision to finish school, get a job, and buy my own place. That year I realized that my old apartment building was too small to accommodate all of my new Relais & Chateaux chateaux, and I moved up to the center of town, squeezed in next to a currently deserted building, the Alley Theater, and purchased the building.
My building principal was somebody who sold wine and food out of the back of a car through the mail. I learned how to direct customers to the building, and made a leap of faith in the direction of the customer. To this day I still have that same kind of faith.
patrons received a glass of white wine from the silver-service deli in the ground floor of the theater. Here you could eat and drink until late at night. As for directions, there were none. Directions were either approximate or in French.
To customers who preferred Paris to London, I recommend the Napa Valley. To visitors, the Valley is the best place to visit Paris. To locals, it is the best place to visit the Napa Valley. The Valley is just a couple hours’ drive north of San Francisco, at the foot of the Santa Ynez Mountains.
The Napa Valley is world famous for its wine, and comprises dozens of individual towns and districts, minor in numbers but each with its own distinct character and distinct cuisine. Some of the towns reach back centuries.
The romantic inn at Syrah No. 1 may have been the home of thousands of farewells by Shakespeare, and the birthplace of some of the most famous children’s nursery rhymes ever written.
The wine country is justly famous for being the home of the original “vino della casa,” (the local wine vineyard).This is so tiny that it’s no wonder there are no roads here. The best way is to go by train, or just by car.
The Napa Valley is so small that it is easy to be surrounded by silence, lushness and an ever-present sense of wine. It’s also easy to forget that there are dozens of wine-making regions and cellars below the valley, and that some of them produce wine of world-class quality.
This Valley is also easy to get to. It’s a 4-5 hour drive from San Francisco. Factor in the scenic beauty of the mountains, and the interactive fun (shiitng) of wine tour companies, and you’re looking at a total of 2.5 hours.
It’s a great place to learn to make wine, and a great place to sample a few wines before tasting select wines (say about 6 select wines) in a casual surrounding.
Here are a few of our favorite tours. For each tour, you’llbe provided with a detailed written commentary and all necessary equipment.
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