MRM Talking With: Ambassador and NYT Bestselling Author Kathryn Hall

Napa Valley Vintners Craig and Kathryn Hall of  HALL & WALT Wines detailed their 20-year journey chronicling their experience in the wine industry in the best seller, “A Perfect Score.” The book shares insight into the art, business and soul of creating a 21st century winery. In Modern Restaurant Management magazine’s “Talking With,” Kathryn Hall tells us about writing the book, wine tourism and the future and history of wine.  Hall has been involved in the California wine industry since her family first purchased a vineyard in the 1970’s. She has had a distinguished career as a businesswoman, attorney, community activist, and as the United States Ambassador to Austria. The couple kicked off a nationwide book tour that includes wine dinners, book signing events, and lecture series that each share insight into the book’s core messages. For more information, click here.  

Why did you want to write this book and what was the process?

I love this world of wine, working and living in it and sharing stories about this world is a great joy for me. The book gave my husband Craig and me a platform to tell the story more broadly.

This world of wine is a joy and it is good for the soul.

We undertook the project because we knew we would enjoy it and simply hoped that there would be a receptive audience. I must add however that writing a book with your spouse is not without challenges. Craig would say that too.

What do you hope readers take away from the book?

I hope we have told a story about describing in an interesting way all the hard and detailed work that goes into making a great wine. I also hope it will enhance our readers’ enjoyment of the great wines they drink, including ours

Did you ever imagine you would be on the best seller list?

I hoped we would, just as I hoped 20 years ago we would eventually make wines that had wide acclaim.

What challenges do you see facing the restaurant and wine industries?

Drinking wines and dining are experiences.  What we do is far more then prepare fine food or make great wines. We want to create memorable experiences that bring our public back to us over and over again. We need to respond to this. Otherwise we are a commodity and that is neither profitable nor satisfying. 

What attracted you to wine and what still fascinates you?

This is a world of business and art. It is manufacturing and technology and marketing.  It is a world where you are repeatedly taught humility by Mother Nature. This world of wine is a joy and it is good for the soul.

What makes a good wine to you? 

It’s taste, color, smell, and the people I am I enjoying it with.

How is a 21st century winery differ from previous centuries?

The 21st century wineries that will flourish make wines using techniques that combine the best of tradition (for example gravity flow processes)  with the precision new technology offers. 21st-century wineries also must be able to market using social media. How we communicate is rapidly changing and our industry must respond.

How is technology affecting and influencing the wine industry?

With precision we can make better wines today than ever. And at the same time we can respond to the nuances of terroir.

How has the business changed over the time in the industry?

We talk about this in at length in the book. When my father grew grapes he sold to a winery who made the wine then sold the bottles to a distributor who sold the bottles in turn  to restaurants and liquor stores who then presented the product to their own customers. Today we can tell our own stories and I think that makes the product and the communication about it more authentic.

How does a vineyard balance the wine business with being a tourist destination?

With wineries recognizing the need to communicate directly with their public and the growing interest by consumers in having great experiences around the enjoyment of great wine it has become important for wineries to open their doors to tourists.

With precision we can make better wines today than ever.

This has created a burden on the infrastructure for example in Napa Valley. Our roads were not set up to accommodate as many tourists as now visit our valley. At the same time we all want our valley to retain its beautiful natural quality. The best answer I have to offer to this important question is that we need to understand balance and keep in mind that we are only temporary caretakers for the land we own and work.

Why do you feel art and wine are intertwined? 

Art is a part of winemaking from start to finish so it makes sense to have art around our work spaces. Critical decisions such as when to pick the grapes or when to change the temperature of a tank during fermentation are made using tools that give calibrated data but the decision is always a human one based in part on this data but also on intuition and talent. Since art is part of our lives we want it to be a part of the experience of those who visit us.

How has the business changed over the time in the industry?

We talk about this in at length in the book. When my father grew grapes he sold to a winery who made the wine then sold the bottles to a distributor who sold the bottles in turn  to restaurants and liquor stores who then presented the product to their own customers. Today we can tell our own stories and I think that makes the product and the communication about it more authentic.

Video courtesy of Flynn Kelleher.