Today we share the remarkable story of Beth Weber Novak. Novak has been Spottswoode President and CEO now for many years, and has managed a key role in establishing Spottswoode as one of the world’s most highly regarded winegrowing sites, and as one of Napa Valley’s most iconic and respected wineries. The wines are truly some of the most beautiful in the valley, as she shares her experiences being the first woman president of the Napa Valley Vintners as well as how certified organic translates into world-class wines. I think you will really enjoy my exclusive interview with Napa Valley icon, Beth Weber Novak.
OB: How important has it been for Spottswoode to be farmed certified organic since 1992?
BN: Having our organic certification for the past 32 years has been incredibly important (we have actually farmed organically since 1985). In many ways, our longstanding commitment to organic farming established the foundation for how we envision and approach our relationship with the environment, and our overall belief in the idea of stewardship. At heart, making wine is an agricultural-based endeavor, and if we want to ensure our success and vitality as an industry for generations to come, we need to be making meaningful changes now. For Spottswoode, farming organically was an absolutely pivotal early step, but there have been many more since.
OB: Can you talk about your experience being the youngest member ever to be president of Napa Valley Vintners back in 1998? How did your experience help impact Napa Valley tourism?
BN: It was both exciting, and an honor, to be the youngest ever president of the NVV. I was also the first woman president. I very much enjoyed working alongside Linda Reiff, NVV’s Executive Director. I feel we made an impact, and we both learned a lot from one another. This experience did not, in my view, impact Napa Valley tourism in any way.
OB: You produce what I consider to be two benchmark wines, your Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. By farming your estate organically, how does this help translate to top notch fruit quality and world-class wine in the bottle?
BN: I am excited by the fact that if you look around the world, you find that many of the greatest wine estates now farm organically, biodynamically, regenerative organically, or all three (we are certified in all). Often these are multigenerational family-run estates who understand that their vineyards are their most precious resource, so they farm with a very long view of quality, and of the health of their land. As more and more of the world’s greatest wineries adopt, or return to, these practices it is showing the world that embracing a more holistic, environmentally aware approach results in extraordinary wines. We see this in our own Estate Vineyard—it is a healthy and thriving organism that is full of microbial life, which in turn makes it more resilient to the effects of climate change and more capable of producing wines with a profound and distinctive sense of place.
OB: Wine ecotourism has become more and more prominent worldwide. What can the Napa Valley do to promote these practices and what are some basic changes that can be done by wineries to make them more environmentally friendly or sustainable?
BN: Ultimately, I would like to see Napa Valley become one of the world’s most environmentally forward-thinking wine regions. For a region of our quality and stature, I think it is incumbent upon us to be leaders, and to think long-term about the preservation of the environment and climate that has been the wellspring of our success. This requires working collectively whenever possible, which is why I helped to found the Napa Valley Vintners’ Environmental Stewardship Committee, and why we at Spottswoode work with our grower partners to help them transition to organic farming. In terms of basic changes wineries can make, especially for those just starting to embrace a more environmentally sound approach, there is almost always a lot of low hanging fruit. Start small.
Begin with the easy changes and then once you’ve started to develop a culture of stewardship that values the environment, scale up and think bigger. Another key to success is to quantify everything—how much water are you using, how much energy? Once you establish baselines it will help to guide the changes you need to make. Napa Green Vineyard is a great place to start. They have the resources to help with this.
OB: I have long admired Spottswoode Estate Cabernet as a wine that ages so gracefully for decades. I fondly recall enjoying a bottle of the 1991 with friends a few years back. Do you have any favorite vintages that you have been enjoying? How have some of the more challenging years like 1998 and 2000 been showing?
BN: It is nearly impossible for me to select favorite vintages – each has meaning to me, unique memories, and defining characteristics, whether it be through the weather we experienced in those years, the birth of a child, the death of one’s mother, so many milestones over many decades. As to the 1988, 1998, 2000, 2011 and 2017, all considered challenging vintages for different reasons, to be honest, each is showing beautifully right now.
