Once upon a time, in a far away land called Beverly Hills, I worked for People magazine.

Yeah, it was star wars, except I covered lifestyle, not movie stars. I hung out at Giorgio a lot.

Through a somewhat complex process, I was assigned to cover a dinner party at a winery in Sonoma County—it was known among us as “The $50,000 Dinner” because in those days (30 years ago), that was a lot of money to spend for a dinner party.

To put this in perspective, there were two dinners on two different nights and each one included 64 people, so it’s getting more reasonable all the time. And you must remember this, back in the day, there were few first-class wineries and few chefs in the area and/or food services people. Most of the money was spent flying in the ingredients and the kitchen staff.

The story was about a restaurant guy named Michael McCarty (who essentially created the notion of American terroir) and the vintners Tom and Sally Jordan, who were the hosts of the party at the Jordan Vineyards and Winery.

Explore Napa with Suzy:

• Suzy’s First Bottle Blog
• Bottle Blogs, Pt. 2
• Bottle Blogs, Pt. 3: Sonoma County

Tom Jordan bought this land in 1970 when it was truly the middle of nowhere. He opened his chateau in 1976 and threw open the doors to introduce people to the wine. I wrote my story in 1980 when they were already well-established and famous.

It’s easy to see now, in hindsight, how the Jordans were the first the use hospitality as a marketing tool and how they began the food and wine pairing trend that has taken over the valleys.

The wine Jordan makes is complex and sophisticated; it’s French in feel and is created specifically to go with food. Things are simplified by the fact that they only make one white (Chardonnay) and one red (Cabernet) and put everything they’ve got into those two wines—there’s no holding back or specialty cases or tricks in the blend. Typically, wines sell for about $40 a bottle.

While a variety of taste trends have come and gone over the past few decades (bigger wines; powerful in the mouth punch), Jordan has always been about simplicity, elegance and quality.

You know the place is different from other vineyards just as you turn into the driveway. The entry is unpretentious (like the family itself) yet stunning … you drive on endless pavement before you get to the chateau. It’s your chance to admire the vistas and get lost in Neverland.

The chateau is in the French style yet vine-covered, which turn red in the fall. The grounds are immaculate; you are transported to another world before you even step into the welcome center.

I returned here to find out what has changed and to meet with John Jordan, who was 7 years old when I met him last, and who now runs the business. He alone is an amazing man—JD/MBA degree, pilot, fluent in Russian and German (but not French) and a host trained by his mother to understand the value of the personal experience as a way of selling wine.

Explore more with Vineyards of Sonoma County, a photo gallery by Andy Katz

He claims to be a frustrated hotelier, which accounts for the three deluxe suites in the chateau and the fact that members of the Jordan Rewards program (this like frequent-flier miles) can actually come to a private dinner and sleep over.

There are two different kinds of event open by appointment: a tour and tasting for $30 per person and a library tasting at $20 per person. The experiences are different in that the more simple tasting goes into the library (behind moving bookcases) which is in the French 18th-century style and the whole shebang event takes in the wine making process and gives you the barrel room, etc.

Sometimes there are social events in the chateau, especially events for the Jordan pet charities. Yet there are also trade and family events, such as the private party I attended—a Casablanca-themed costume party with guests decked out in 1940’s style glamour and more than a few men wearing a white dinner jacket and a wine-colored fez.

The most dramatic thing about this party was that it was warm and homey, neither ostentatious nor lavish enough to be wrong for the times we live in. The chateau was done up as Rick’s Café Americain, and Jordan wines were poured as belly-dancers did their thing and yes, the piano man played it again.

There was a “casino” in one room; the movie Casablanca was playing in the Barrel Room, there was dancing on the patio and a fire pit out in the lawn with cushions and divans for guests to smoke cigars or visit with each other. A 1930s-era Jordan convertible car stood in the driveway, alongside a petit red carpet that as the night danced on would probably learn to fly.

As I left the party, I got the sense that this was just the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

French Moroccan Kisses,
SuzyKG

By Suzy Gershman for PeterGreenberg.com. Visit Suzy on the Web at www.suzygershman.com, and check out more of her “Bottle Blogs” at www.borntoshoplady.blogspot.com.

• Suzy’s Bottle Blog Part One
• Suzy’s Bottle Blog Part Two
• Suzy’s Postcard from San Francisco, California
• Suzy’s Postcard from Hanoi, Vietnam
• Suzy’s Postcard from Santa Barbara, California
• Suzy’s Roadtrip from San Antonio to San Francisco
• Suzy’s Postcard from Shanghai, China
• Suzy’s Postcard from El Paso, Texas
• Suzy’s Postcard from Paris, France
• Suzy’s Adventures in Las Vegas