Most people in the wine industry try to cut through the perception of pretense associated with this particular beverage. It’s curious to me that even with the onslaught of microbreweries and the increased importation of ales, pilsners, etc., this same perception of pretentiousness does not exist. A brew pub that may also offer a limited selection of wines has a completely different acceptance by the general public than a wine bar that also serves a limited selection of beers.
Well, that being said, I’m here to tell you that if anyone can ditch the snob factor that has been tagged on wine, it’s someone like Pat Doud. He has a unique perspective on both industries, since he played an integral part in the evolution of an Everett microbrewery and brewpub. And now he owns a quickly evolving winery that is carving out an unusual niche in the marketplace that focuses on the “cowboy” in all of us.
It always fascinates me how a particular winery comes to exist, because the stories are as diverse as the people behind the labels. This winery came about as a way of merging two passions, one for wine and the other for horses. Pat met his soul mate, Maggie Bannon, in the fall of 1988 at Santa Clara University in California where he was studying economics. While playing rugby and football, Pat also met, and had many collisions with, Mike Sangiacomo, whose family owns a very prestigious vineyard in the wine country of Northern California. Pat was a defensive end and Sangiacomo was a tight end so, you can imagine that there would be either a friendship forged on mutual respect or a potentially adversarial relationship. Fortuitously for Pat, it became the former rather than the latter, and wine became another common bond between them.
Pat and Maggie married in 1992 and moved to Los Angeles, where Pat studied agricultural business and wine marketing at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The wine bug that Pat got in college as a result of his relationship with Sangiacomo stayed with him when he and Maggie moved to her hometown, Everett, in 1996. “It was in my second year of grad school, around Christmas time, that we began discussions with Maggie’s parents as to the possibility of us moving to Everett and helping them pursue their dream of opening a brew pub called Scuttlebutt,” Pat said. “It sounded like an interesting and fun opportunity for us to be closer to Maggie’s family and to delve into an industry similar to what I’d been interested in.”
So, Pat and Maggie jumped into business with his in-laws, Scuttle and Phil Bannon, to open Scuttlebutt’s in July 1996. He worked in all facets of the business, from brewmaster to sales and marketing, but always had this dream of working in the wine industry. After surveying potential opportunities with large California wineries and a few smaller local wineries, Pat realized that his visions of brand managing didn’t quite gel with the philosophies of wineries such as Gallo, Kendall Jackson or Mondavi.
So Pat set out to put his own unique stamp on the world of wine. “There was a series of cosmic alignments that precipitated the creation of Silver Spur Wines,” he said. “At the Salinas Rodeo, my wife and I attended a reception for a group of equestrian enthusiasts called the Rancheros Visitadores, which my family had been involved with for many years, and I couldn’t help but notice the number of folks enjoying a glass or two of wine. Cowboy hats, boots, big buckles, the whole bit, not slugging down Coors, but enjoying fine wine. Poof! There it is, ‘cowboy wine.’ If I could capture the romance and allure of the cowboy and the American West and present it in a quality bottle of wine, who knows, it just might work.”
Enter cosmic alignment number two, Pat’s old football and rugby nemesis and good buddy, Sangiacomo, whose connections in the California wine industry brought what was needed to launch a new brand. So all Pat had to do was sell the juice. They enlisted former head winemaker of Matanzas Creek, Barbara Lindbolm, to craft an elegant and delicious chardonnay. Pat then met Greg Opitz, assistant winemaker at Carneros Creek Winery and also former brewmaster at Portland Brewing Co., and they became fast friends with a lot in common. Opitz was also making some pretty terrific pinot noir under his own private label, and Pat convinced him to make a pinot noir for him from grapes from the Casa Carneros Vineyard under his new Silver Spur label.
“Then all we had to do was add a bunch of money, some corks, bottles, labels and sleepless nights, and here we are.”
Pat and Maggie really are the personification of “salt of the earth,” and the slogan they have adopted for their Silver Spur Wine, “bold, unpretentious and gratifying,” suits them just fine. About the only thing that this old cowboy might add is “giddy-up” and go out and fetch a bottle.
Silver Spur Wines can be found at area specialty wine shops and select retailers. For more information or to order direct, call 800-611-7787 or e-mail them at patdoud@silverspurwines.com.
Jeff Wicklund can be reached at 425-737-2600, or wick@colbyhospitality.com.
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