Napa Valley Wines Enjoy Hawaiian Connections
By Cynthia Sweeney
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii — Mai tais, piña coladas, blue Hawaiians, sure. But wine? In Hawaii? From exclusive resorts to backyard barbecues, Napa Valley wines feature prominently throughout the Hawaiian Islands, with locals especially fond of their red wine.
“Here in Hawaii there is a lot of barbecuing going on,” said Alex Thropp, owner of Kona Westside Wines, “and people want wine to go with their steaks and ribeyes. … It might be kind of shocking that it’s hot here and they want a heavy red, but that’s the way it is.”
Kona Westside Wines
When Thropp started his multi-award-winning wine store 12 years ago, he stocked a lot of pinot noir. Then he found that customers didn’t want it.
“Ninety-nine percent of the time they are asking for Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon or the red blends,” he said.
His downtown store is stocked floor to ceiling with his personal selections. A former sommelier, he has worked all around the United States and abroad recommending wines. The first time I stepped inside the shop, I was amazed at the wide variety of wines, spirits and craft beer — and pleasantly surprised by the Jimi Hendrix music playing in the background.
Thropp regularly travels to Northern California, meeting with longtime friends and vineyard owners. In mid-May he was back in Napa and Sonoma on a wine-buying trip. Wine distributors in Hawaii are not required to bring in their whole portfolio, so Thropp goes in person in search of “the wines I want.”
In addition to running the store, he serves as an adviser to personal chefs, giving recommendations for which wines to serve with what foods. The many awards on the wall of the store give credence to his expertise. Customers are disappointed if he’s not there.
“I go to Napa Valley on purpose because I want to see the wines from the producers, the ones that don’t come to Hawaii,” he said. “I like to go to the winery and discover the new wines for my store. People come to my shop because I always have new, cool stuff. That’s what I want.”
Thropp has been going to Napa Valley and Sonoma County since 1975 and knows many of the winemakers and winery owners on a personal basis. He said he has been buying wine from Turnbull for 40 years and recently made a new discovery.
“I found out they make a white wine,” he said and then laughed. “And I used to represent them. The only way I would have known that is to go to the tasting room.”
He now focuses on the likes of Chimney Rock, Shafer Vineyards, Cakebread Cellars, Pine Ridge and Opus One. He also stocks spirits, including Caribbean rum, Japanese sake, single-malt scotches and dessert liqueurs, dozens of craft beers and artisan cheeses to accompany the beverages. His personal favorites, however, are made with ancient Roman grapes planted at the base of Mount Vesuvius and Fiano, a high-quality white-wine grape variety used widely in southern Italy, particularly in Campania.
Pono Wines
David Sedeno, owner of Pono Wines, said he was “blown away” on his first trip to Napa Valley.
“That first day was transformative,” he said. “It was like being struck by lightning. I knew then I wanted to be a part of the wine industry.”
Originally from Kalihi Valley on Oahu, Sedeno was a firefighter for 35 years, most of that time in Roseville, California. He first visited Napa Valley in the early 1990s. He retired nine years ago and started a new career as a wine broker, working with many world-renowned wineries and winemakers in Napa and Sonoma.
Eventually Sedeno founded his own Napa Valley label, Pono Wines, which is now coming up on its eighth vintage. The wines are made at a facility on Howell Mountain, and tastings are conducted onboard a craft on the Napa River. Wines include sparkling wine from Carneros, sauvignon blanc and a Bordeaux blend from Napa, pinot noir from Anderson Valley and Rutherford cabernet. All five Pono Wines have four-letter Hawaiian names, including Hapa, Ali’i, Hoku, Aina, Mana and Imua. Pono Wines has also recently achieved statewide distribution in Hawaii in stores and restaurants.
Sedeno said he has been back to the islands three times in the last three months.
“We get good support over there,” he said. “I can hardly keep up.”
Sedeno’s Hawaiian roots are deep. His great-great-great-grandmother was lady-in-waiting to Liliuokalani, the last Hawaiian queen. Directional coordinates on each bottle also give a nod to the Iolani Palace, where the Hawaiian monarchy reigned until their overthrow by the U.S. government.
Never forgetting his roots, Sedeno is donating a percentage of proceeds from the latest IMUA Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon to benefit University of Hawaii at Mānoa athletics. Pono’s Hapa Red Wine is also featured in the June issue of the Robb Report.
Tedeschi Family Winery
The Tedeschi Family Winery in Calistoga also has longtime ties to Hawaii. Emil Tedeschi was born and raised in Calistoga, the third generation of an Italian family. In the 1950s, his father purchased the land on which the winery is currently located. Over the years they planted vineyards, fruit trees and vegetables and built several family homes.
After high school Tedeschi embarked on an adventure traveling the world. In 1974, he landed in Maui. There he brought his winemaking knowledge to co-found Tedeschi Vineyards, a vineyard and winery on the lower hillside of the Haleakalā Volcano, where tourists flocked to taste wine made with grapes and sweet pineapples. Eventually he sold his share of the operation (now named Maui Wines) and returned to California to help run the family wine business.
Price Points and Wine Culture in Hawaii
While people expect to pay more for most items in Hawaii than on the mainland, wine prices are actually not that much different from those in Napa Valley. A glass of Napa wine at a restaurant in Hawaii typically goes for less than $20. At Walmart you can find a bottle of Joel Gott’s 2021 cabernet for around $16.
High-end resorts and restaurants, such as Hoku’s at Kahala on Oahu, offer a wide variety of Napa wines. Expect to pay anywhere from $99 for a bottle for a Freemark merlot to $1,289 for a 2012 Pauillac, First Growth, Château Mouton Rothschild.
Wine culture in Hawaii is diverse and varied, with a deep appreciation for Napa Valley wines. The connection between the islands and the vineyards from Napa highlights the dedication of wine enthusiasts like Thropp and Sedeno, who bring the best of both worlds to their customers.
Cynthia Sweeney is the former editor of The Weekly Calistogan.