Before Michael Havens found himself out of cash and bankrupt, I worked at his winery as a cellar rat. He later sold the winery, along with the name – his own, for Pete’s sake – to an out-of-state company and moved on to other endeavors.
Recently, Haven (the brand, without Michael at the helm) has started showing up again. Despite my dislike of any more brand label than the winery, this is a worthwhile purchase.
The wine is primarily Cabernet Franc sourced from the Carneros region of Napa Valley. Nice blackberry flavors with floral and pencil shaving notes narrow down to sweet cherry and cedar in the mid-palate. This is gaining complexity as it ages, which is great to see. Medium-bodied.
This doesn’t help me relive the golden days of my California adventure. It does remind me why I hated my Napa nickname: At Havens, I was known as Sherm. So very uncool.
Well, Sherm. I don’t know when you worked at the winery but you got the information all wrong. Michael and his partner sold the winery in 2006 to Billington Wine Imports. They ran out of cash and lost the winery several years later. Michael did stay on after the sale and worked for Billington until he left after an employment dispute. This was before Billington was forced into bankruptcy.
Thanks for the clarification. I was at the winery in the early oughts, long before the sale. I knew that the bankruptcy happened after the sale, but I was under the impression Mike still had an ownership stake after the sale. If that wasn’t the case, then you are correct and I got the lead wrong.