Barbara and I arrived in San Francisco in May 1970, two years after what was then known as the summer of love. We were returning to the states from Korea, after I had spent 13 months as a guided missile officer assigned to a unit near the Demilitarized Zone.

Over the intervening years, I’ve tasted a lot of wine, some of them as good as that legendary 1959 Ch. Haut-Brion. One that I’m particularly keen on now is the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Neyers Ranch’, a wine made by our long-time winemaker Tadeo Borchardt.

“A well known French winemaker once told me that he thought all wines should be bottled in magnums. When we opened this bottle recently, I understood just what he meant.”

A year as an apprentice winemaker in Europe changed that, and I quickly gained an appreciation for fine wines that fit my budget. I was amazed at how many there were, and how much I liked them.