SO, WHO ARE THESE GUYS AND WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE WHAT THEY’RE SAYING?

Part 1. Who are These Guys?

As we learned more about wine, we got to know the people who produced the wine, and friendships were forged. Our friends would invite us to taste wines before release—sometimes during fermentation, sometimes while still in the barrel.

We are Miles Grant and Tony Beck, the principals of Secret Napa Wines. Our friendship started thirty years ago, when we randomly sat next to each other in our first class on the first day of law school. We had many similar interests, including food, which formed the basis of a long lasting friendship. Our time together, while in school, was spent studying law, and, more often than not, talking about food.

As poor first-year law students, we talked about eating extravagantly more often than we could actually partake. Nonetheless, we were authorities on the local pizza and burger joints.

After graduation in 1979 we went on to our own law practices—Miles in San Diego and T.B. in Los Angeles. We could afford to eat at better places. Wine seemed to naturally come along with better cuisine.

In the eighties our eyes were really opened to great wines as we took trips to America’s premier location for great grapes—the Napa Valley. Initially, there were the obvious choices: Chardonnay and Cabernet. As we took more trips, we tried to understand as many varietals as possible.

We started attending local fund-raising wine auctions, and got to know the winery owners, winemakers and vineyard managers. We started learning the intricacies of producing wine, from planting the vineyards, to uncorking the finished product.

As the decades passed, our knowledge grew, and so did our passion and search for the best wines, and the best food pairings. We sat down with winery owners, wine makers, vineyard managers, as well as wine distributors, retailers and restaurant owners. All of them fueled our interest in viticulture.

We had become serious about collecting wine. Whenever we got together, we would taste and review the latest purchase. Or, maybe drink a treasure that had been set aside some years before. Our focus was typically on wines produced in the Napa Valley, or surrounding areas.

When we weren’t together, often one of our phones would ring with the other saying, “I’ve got this deal on a case of a great this or that. Are you in?” The other half of the conversation would be usually be something like, “I’m, in…can you get even more…have you read the latest review?”

As we learned more about wine, we developed personal relationships with the people involved in the industry, and friendships were forged. Our friends would invite us to taste wines before release— sometimes during fermentation, sometimes while still in the barrel, and sometimes right after the wines were bottled.

We also had the chance to meet the owners and taste new wines from up and coming winemakers. A friend in Napa might say, “You ought to meet so and so who has a new wine coming out that will truly knock your socks off.”

Little by little, both of us began to understand the business of winemaking, and the personalities that influenced every bottle of wine we tasted.

It also became our credo to share our discoveries with friends. Some friends would ask which wine went best with a certain food. Others wanted recommendations for wineries to visit in the Napa Valley. We never hesitated recommending a newly-discovered winery or wine.

It was a natural step to do the same with other people. We wanted to share what we had learned.

Now, it’s our business to put our members in touch with wines and wineries you might not know about. We’ll introduce you to wineries that produce an excellent product that’s high in quality and value— and nearly unknown.

So, that’s who “these guys” are. We’re the guys who’ve turned thirty years of dinners, trips to Napa, and a growing passion for wine into Secret Napa Wines. And, we’re the guys who want to share with you what we have learned.

Part 2. Why Should I Listen to These Guys?

We personally visit the wineries and meet with the winery owners, winemakers and vineyard managers. We taste a wine many times, over different days, with and without food. We become intimate with the wine.

Thanks to decades of visiting the Napa Valley, we understand the business of wine making.

We often discover wines that aren’t available to the public, and wines that aren’t made in sufficient quantity to reach wines stores and restaurants. We make them available to you.

We also discover wines before the mailing list becomes full or before the entire vintage is sold out.

We taste many wines that are only released by word of mouth.

We might meet with a winemaker or winery owner, barrel taste the wine, and ask the winemaker how she thinks the wine will taste in two years when it is released.

Because we specialize

We’re experts on Napa and Sonoma wines. We personally visit the wineries and meet with the winery owners, winemakers and vineyard managers.

We don’t just taste a wine once over a few minutes or an hour. We taste a wine many times, over different days, with and without food. We become intimate with the wine. We know the wine and we feel comfortable that when you read our review and then try the wine, you will feel the same way.

Because we’ll review the best for you

How many times are you aggravated that new release wines cost over $100 a bottle, and you just don’t want to risk that kind of money to drink a wine that you might not love, or even like?

At Secret Napa Wines, our wine reviews will save you time and money. Every wine we feature is excellent to exceptional (rated 91 points or higher), reasonably priced and available for you to purchase directly from the winery, at a discount. You won’t experience the trial and error of searching out wines on your own.

But why should you believe two wine geeks when you can read the reviews by Parker, Laube or Tanzer? Because we don’t review thousands of wines, not even hundreds. And, we limit our reviews to Napa and Sonoma wines—our specialty.

The well-known wine reviewers frequently review 20 or more wines in a single sitting. They taste wines blind a couple of times, without food, sometimes in a short time frame.

Before we feature or review a wine, we taste it many times on many different occasions, with and without food. We write about how the wine tastes on opening, and how it changes and develops over time, once it has opened.

We only review wines rated 91 points or higher, so we’re not spending our time tasting a lot of wines that we don’t drink or buy. For years, we’ve tasted excellent to exceptional Napa and Sonoma wines. We’ve gained expertise in differentiating between one quality wine and another. We feel we can confidently assign one wine a 92-point rating, another a 93-point rating, and you will agree that the 93-point rated wine is better.

Because we have your back

All of the wines we feature and review are high quality, reasonably priced, and are available for you to purchase directly from the wineries at a discount.

We have and will continue to search for terrific wines in vintages that may have been panned by the critics. How many of you decided not to purchase 1998 Napa Cabernets because of the bad press?

Well, there were some terrific wines that are drinking fabulously right now.

These are wines that have flown right under the radar and are the type of wines we will find and feature on Secret Napa Wines.

The best way to describe the wines we feature is Quality, Value and Availability. These are the watchwords of our mission.

We bring you wines that represent the best. That’s why you can believe the things that we say. It’s as simple as that.

T.B and MILES