Dancing Crow Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2015

Dancing Crow Vineyards is the culmination of generations of wine experience and the collective energies of the Cartlidge-Forni clan.

Tony Cartlidge grew up in Hampstead, London England and is the offspring of an anarchist orphaned father and a German-Jewish refugee artist mother. His father, Derrick, abandoned on the steps of a London orphanage as a baby, was a suitably Dickensian figure of great warmth and wit, with a spectacular distain for authority. Barbara, his mother, was a leading jewelry designer and gallery owner in London.

During his early years, Tony attended a free expression school called Burgess Hill. After leaving school at 16 he worked in Paris, North Africa, and the Soviet Union before a brief sojourn at the Architectural Association in London. Turning west, more particularly northwest, he came to America with somewhat typical immigrant aspirations. He worked in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska driving logging trucks and cement mixers. A chance gift of a wine book led him 750 miles south in search of an opening in the alluring wine renaissance happening in Napa County.

After a flurry of cold calling, fate led him to Helen Niemi, who provided him with a hat-trick of lucky introductions leading to a job as a guide at Rutherford Hill winery, then to Glenn Browne who became his partner in the Cartlidge & Browne Winery, and thirdly to his wife Sarah, Helen’s daughter. All these events contributed to Tony setting down roots in the Napa Valley. Tony grew Cartlidge & Browne into a 120,000 case winery – sourcing fruit for a single vineyard Sauvignon Blanc from the Dancing Crow property – before selling the company in 2011. Fortuitously, the opportunity to buy the Dancing Crow vineyard presented itself and Tony could not pass up the opportunity to bring his family together in this new and exciting wine endeavor.

Dancing Crow Vineyards represents both a new direction and a return to deep family roots in the wine business for Adam Forni. Born and raised in Rutherford and St. Helena, he brings with him a rich tradition of four generations of Fornis involved in the wine industry. In addition, three generations of Niemis, on his mother Sarah’s side, have also left an indelible mark on Napa Valley architecture and wine culture.

Adam’s paternal great-grandfather, Charles Forni, was one of the early pioneers of the Napa Valley. A vineyard and winery owner (Napa Valley Cooperative Winery & Sunny St. Helena), Charles was also one of the four original founding members of the Napa Valley Vintners Association. Charles worked with his sons Carlo (Adam’s grandfather) and Alfred, accumulating over 500 acres of Napa Valley vineyards before selling to Christian Bros. in 1956. Adam’s father, Michael, continued the family tradition becoming both partner and winemaker at Cassayre-Forni Cellars in Rutherford, where Adam spent his formative years pitchforking grapes and helping out on the bottling line. Adam’s education led him down another path, as he graduated from Sonoma State University with a degree in psychology and then continued on to obtain a Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from John F. Kennedy University in 2007. After five years as a Forensic Psychologist, Dancing Crow Vineyards became a tangible reality and Adam heeded the inevitable call of the dirt and vines, joining his stepfather, Tony Cartlidge, as part of the formidable Dancing Crow ownership and sales team, along with his brother Stefan.