Alder’s note about Gemello was a madeleine cake to me.
I remember trying to sell their 68. The problem was that the winery wasn’t cool and the wine was a bit rustic, perhaps built for the long run. The owners had built a bowling alley in front of the winery.
That they used French Nevers oak was not surprising. First, there was a company in Mountain View –probably ten blocks way–that repped a French cooperage, Marchive. Back then there was just Limousin and Nevers. Limousin was used for chardonnay. Marchive went bankrupt in 1981. I wish I could remember the name of the company that sold their barrels here.It was relic from the time Paul Masson and Almaden were based nearby and the Napa/Sonoma wineries were just emerging.
Sandy Gemello Obester and her husband Paul started an eponymously named winery in Half Moon Bay. It is now called La Nebbia.