BOB CABRAL - DIRECTOR OF WINEMAKING, THREE STICKS WINES & FOUNDER/WINEMAKER, BOB CABRAL WINES
ABOUT THREE STICKS WINES:
Three Sticks Wines is a boutique, family-owned winery founded by Bill Price (William S. Price III). Founded in 2002, the winery is named for Bill’s surfing nickname, “Billy Three Sticks,” which was assigned to him in his youth as a reference to the three Roman numerals that follow his name. As a long-time fan and collector of wines from the Durell Vineyard, Price purchased the property from Ed Durell in 1998, and launched Three Sticks a few years later.
In 2015, Bob Cabral, former winemaker for Williams Selyem, and Ryan Prichard, former assistant winemaker for Medlock Ames, joined the Three Sticks Team. Don Van Staaveren, who had been with Three Sticks since 2004, remains as Winemaker Emeritus. Cabral and Prichard will be focusing on the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay production, while Van Staaveren will continue to focus on the Cabernets.
The winery is housed in an industrial area near downtown Sonoma, among a cluster of other artisan wine producers known as the Eighth Street Wineries. In keeping with the winery’s “no crush” policy, every lot of grapes to come in is treated with utmost care and minimal handling. The winemaking team insists on keeping every vineyard block separate from the others from the moment they are picked on through fermentation, barrel aging and final blending.
In 2014, Three Sticks opened a tasting salon in downtown Sonoma: The Adobe (a.k.a. the VallejoCasteñada Adobe, #theadobe). Built circa 1842 and located just off the plaza in downtown Sonoma, the Vallejo-Casteñada Adobe was one of Sonoma’s oldest and longest occupied residences and remains one of the last standing buildings from California’s Mexican Period. It’s transformation into the Three Sticks tasting salon was directed by noted San Francisco designer Ken Fulk.
ABOUT BOB
There is very good reason Bob Cabral’s name is synonymous with great Pinot Noir. With decades of experience in Sonoma County, Bob’s passion, experience and following for his work with the varietal is second to none. From May 1998 thru December 2014 Bob was winemaker & general manager for Williams Selyem Winery in Healdsburg. There, he led the winery into a new era, overseeing an expansion of new vineyard sources and bottlings for the brand, along with the construction of a new state-of the art winery in 2009.
Bob’s interest in wine and farming began in childhood helping his grandfather make wine in a barn. Growing up pruning grapes, irrigating vineyards and harvesting grapes became routine on his family’s 70-acre ranch near Escalon, CA. A fourth generation farmer and grape grower from the great San Joaquin Valley, he took all he learned at the family farm and applied it to his degrees at Fresno State University. While in college, his passion for Pinot Noir became evident as he spent every spare dime, and a good chunk of his student loans, on buying wines from all over the world—mostly Burgundy and Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs.
After graduating in 1984, Bob knew that Sonoma County was where he could best hone his skills and make wines to rival the best in the world. He spent 18 vintages in various winemaking positions—associate winemaker at DeLoach Vineyards, custom crush winemaker at Kunde Family Estate, winemaker at Alderbrook Vineyards and winemaker at Hartford Court Winery—before taking his seminal position at Williams Selyem. Bob’s winemaking philosophy has remained constant throughout his career—to source and farm the best fruit possible, with minimal intervention in the cellar. He was awarded the 2011 Wine Star Award from the Wine Enthusiast as “Winemaker of the Year,” 2 years after being awarded the first perfect 100 point Pinot Noir in North America. He joined Three Sticks in 2015, with fervent enthusiasm.
BARBARA BALIK FROM THE CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION - A CULINARY EVENING WITH THE CALIFORNIA WINEMASTERS
A CULINARY EVENING WITH THE CALIFORNIA WINEMASTERS
The California Winemasters is a perennial Wine Spectator Top 10 Charity Wine Auction set for May 19, 2018 at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank. This extraordinary event showcases 50 international chefs and 75 of California’s Finest Wineries. “Winemasters” has raised more than $30 million in support of the mission of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
The CF Foundation is a nonprofit donor-supported organization dedicated to attacking cystic fibrosis from every angle. Its focus is to support the development of new drugs to fight the disease, improve the quality of life for those with CF and ultimately, to find a cure.
The Foundation’s drug development success has been recognized by Harvard Business School and by publications such as Forbes, Discover Magazine and The Wall Street Journal.
Make your reservations NOW for this wine tasting extraordinaire and spectacular hors d’oeuvres dinner!
ABOUT THE CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is the world’s leader in the search for a cure for cystic fibrosis. We fund more CF research than any other organization, and nearly every CF drug available today was made possible because of Foundation support. We are a nonprofit donor-supported organization dedicated to attacking cystic fibrosis from every angle. Our focus is to support the development of new drugs to fight the disease, improve the quality of life for those with CF, and ultimately to find a cure. The Foundation's drug development success has been recognized by Harvard Business School and by publications such as Forbes, Discover magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. Based in Bethesda, Md., the Foundation funds and accredits a national care center network that has been recognized by the National Institutes of Health as a model of care for a chronic disease.
