I really enjoyed reconnecting with Helen Bacigalupi again after all of these years. I first met her 9 years ago to interview her for my Call of the Vine book when she was 87, and now she is 96! She is still filled with intelligence, grit, drive, and a fun sense of humor. This story below was first published on Forbes.com, with permission to republish here. Go Helen!
There is a well-known story in Sonoma County, California that the majority of the grapes that went into the famous bottle of 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that won the 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting were from Sonoma County and not Napa Valley. This is a true story, documented by George Taber in his book Judgment of Paris (page 143), showing that more than 80% of the grapes were grown in Sonoma County vineyards.
What is less well known is the story of Helen Bacigalupi, who sold 14 tons of her Sonoma chardonnay grapes to winemaker, Mike Grgich, who used them to craft part of the legendary wine. After harvesting the grapes, it took her five trips to drive them over the Mayacamas Mountains from Sonoma to Napa in an old Volkswagen truck. Today, at age 96, Helen Bacigalupi stills spends time in her famous chardonnay vineyard, renamed the ‘Paris Block.’ And she remembers the events that led up to the day that a California chardonnay beat out wines from Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault Charmes in Burgundy.
“Yes,” reports Helen, in a recent interview, “I drove those grapes over the mountain myself. The VW engine couldn’t really handle the weight of the grapes, so I would get to the bottom of the hill and just gun it and pray to God no one would get in my way before I reached the top! I made about 5 trips like that.”
Today, the famous Paris Block of chardonnay still exists, with the grapes going into wine produced by Bacigalupi Winery. Located in the Russian River AVA of Sonoma County, the famous four-acre Paris Block of chardonnay vines was planted in 1964 to the Wente clone. The vines stand an amazing 7-feet tall on a modified California sprawl trellis system. Though nearly 50% have died of old age, the Bacigalupi family is slowly replanting with new vines made from the bud wood of the original mother vines.
A Visit from Chateau Montelena Winemaker Mike Grgich Makes History
Helen recalls the day that Mike Grgich came to visit her vineyard in August of 1973. At the time, Grgich was head winemaker for Chateau Montelena in Napa Valley (he now owns his own winery, Grgich Hills ), and he was searching for exceptional chardonnay grapes. “He walked around and looked at several different blocks, tasting grapes,” Helen stated. “But when he got to the Paris Block….he said, ‘Boy, these are the most beautiful grapes,…the flavors! There are so many flavors!” So Mike purchased the Bacigalupi grapes along with chardonnay from several other Sonoma County vineyards, and Helen completed the five wild drives across the mountains to deliver her grapes to Napa Valley.
From there, the rest is history. Steven Spurrier, an English wine merchant, selected the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay as one of a dozen California wines he took to Paris. The wines were part of a blind tasting of French and California wines that Spurrier organized with experienced French judges in 1976. The judges were shocked when they realized they had awarded first prize in the white wine category to the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay. Equally astonishing, they awarded first prize in the red category to another California wine, the 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley.
“When the news came out,” recalls Helen, “it was the 4th of July weekend and I was baking a pie to celebrate our nation’s birthday. I got a call from Mike Grgich and he told me the news. I said well isn’t that wonderful!”
The impact of the Judgment of Paris tasting, as it came to be called, was monumental for the California wine industry. For the first time, wine lovers from around the world sat up and took notice of the high quality wines coming from that state. It caused the number of California wineries to grow from just over 300 in 1976 to 4807 today. In 2021, California wine revenues achieved a staggering $45.6 billion in U.S. wine sales.
“We as a family,” states Helen, “are proud to have been a part of such a monumental part of California wine history, and we are doing our best to keep that vineyard block thriving.”
The New Bacigalupi Generation and Words of Wisdom from Helen
In the past, the Bacigalupi’s sold all of their grapes to other wineries, but now the chardonnay grapes from the Paris Block are only used for their own wines. Katey Bacigalupi, General Manager for Bacigalupi Vineyards & Winery, and Helen’s grand-daughter, explains their business strategy.
“We farm 150 acres of estate Russian River AVA vineyards and still sell a majority of the grapes to other wineries. However, we now keep some for our own winery, producing around 3,000 cases of wine per year. The grapes from the Paris Block are dedicated to my grandmother, Helen. We have created a special allocated wine from them called Renouveau Paris Tasting Chardonnay. Only around 120 cases are produced each year. The wine retails at $85 per bottle and is only sold to wine club members.”
Katey Bacigalupi is joined on the management team by her twin sister, Nicole Bacigalupi. Their parents, John and Pam Bacigalupi make up the rest of the board, along with matriarch Helen, who fondly remembers her husband, Charles Bacigalupi, who helped her plant the first vineyards in the 1950’s. When asked for her words of wisdom on the wine business, Helen provided the following:
“The one thing I’ve learned is it’s ok to do your own thing and walk your own path,” states Helen Bacigalupi. “When Charles and I first started out, even buying the ranch in 1956, people thought we were crazy. Even more so when we planted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, when no one had heard of those varieties. But we just kept plugging along and eventually we finally realized we made the right decision. Go with your gut!”
