Sean Thackrey

May 2022 saw the passing away of one of California’s wine-making legends, as eccentric, opinionated and delightful a “famous winemaker” (as his vest ironically proclaimed) as you could ever wish to meet.  If you're interested, you can read Rod Smith MW’s excellent obituary here.

In 1979, Sean Thackrey had turned his hand from antiquarian books to winemaking. He made his first wine in 1979 from Merlot and Cabernet grapes purchased from the Stag’s Leap District property of legendary grower Nathan Fay. Though smitten with the process of winemaking, he needed to explore different varieties. Cabernet and Merlot didn't move Thackrey, who said he hadn't bought a Bordeaux or a Napa Cabernet in twenty-five years. "They're just too damn polite for me," he said. "Why drink a wine that you wouldn't like if it were a person? It's like sitting next to someone and everything they say has to be so proper." So, Thackrey gravitated toward grapes that didn't seem so prim and well-mannered. For three years, starting in 1988, he made an Oakville Mourvèdre, called Taurus. From 1989 to 1992, he produced Sirius, a Petite Sirah from a dry-farmed Spring Mountain vineyard planted in the 1870s. He didn't stop producing those labels by choice. Thackrey didn’t own any vineyards, and buying grapes always caused him plenty of frustration. "I can't tell you how many times I've been screwed by growers," he said. "There are certain people with whom I've worked for years and trust. And the others I don't work with anymore."

All of the wines are named after constellations because Thackrey was fascinated by the human impulse to impose patterns. Yet there's one pattern he detested, somewhat controversially: the concept of terroir, the notion that the growing site determines the character of wines. "You hear so much dog shit about terroir. It's used as such an excuse to attribute quality to real estate. You wouldn't do that with a restaurant. Every chef wants the best produce, but someone still has to cook it," he insisted.
He was definitely not your usual winemaker. Living on the edge of the world down in the somewhat hippy territory of Bolinas, Marin county, where he had long made these wines in his outdoor winery beneath the eucalyptus trees, he was a man with a very decided style and decided opinions, producing wines of extraordinary character and individuality.
Happily, in recent years he had passed on the baton of wine-making to his assistant, Andreas Krieger, and so the Thackrey legacy continues even though he is much missed.