by Fred McMillin for May 13, 1997 Roy's Niche in Time Prologue: The trade figures for the end of 1996 contained bad news and good news. The bad: U.S.A. wine consumption declined slightly. The good: At the same time, sales of expensive red wines in restaurants increased smartly. The Rest of the Story: Veteran California vintner Roy Cecchetti knows a niche when he sees it...so he's produced two, new high-quality reds in handsome all-black bottles for sale in restaurants. There's a Cab and a Pinot. Start with the Pinot, from Russian River Valley grapes, famous for bright berry-cherry flavors. Ace winemaker Bob Broman has been careful to support, not mask them, with French oak. There are only 14,000 bottles; if you want to beat the restaurants to a couple of them, phone Rusty Eddy at (707)935-1519. He'll be glad you called, and so will you when you sip the Pinot. 1994 Pinot Noir, Sonoma County (chiefly Russian River Valley) Quatro Winery Rutherford, CA Contact—Rusty Eddy, (707)935-1519 $17 Category: Recommended particularly with ham, pork, and lamb Postscript: Actually there are two owners of Quatro, Roy Cecchetti (cheh-ket-ee) and his brother-in-law, who also knows a bit about the industry. In fact, he's run a six-million-case winery. His name is Don Sebastiani! About the Writer Fred McMillin, a veteran wine writer, has taught wine history for 30 years on three continents. He currently teaches wine courses at San Francisco State and San Francisco City College and is Northern California Editor for American Wine on the Web. In 1995, the Academy of Wine Communications honored Fred with one of only 22 Certificates of Commendation awarded to American wine writers.

Read more articles by Fred McMillin in the eGGsf Welcome to WineDay, the electronic Gourmet Guide's daily update. Monday through Thursday, WineDay presents a wine profile. Then on Fridays we present the Winery of the Week to take you through the weekend Current WineDay January WineDays February WineDays March WineDays April WineDays 05/12/97 Meanwhile, Back at the Chateau 05/09/97 Winery of the week Gundlach-Bundschu Wine Company 05/08/97 A Pretty Pink for Mother's Day 05/07/97 Was the Wine a Success? 05/06/97 A 365-Acre Adventure 05/05/97 A Little Star 05/02/97 Winery of the week Scharffenberger Cellars 05/01/97 Pinot Noir's Kissin' Cousin

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