Kirk Venge, one of the country’s most promising young winemakers and the 33-year-old son of one of the Napa Valley’s elite winemakers, has been named winemaker for Tudal Winery, one of California’s most enduring properties.Venge, who will continue to make wine for his family’s Venge Vineyards of Calistoga, as well as a number of small but prominent Napa Valley brands, began his relationship with Tudal with the 2009 vintage, Tudal Winery’s 30th harvest that was begun by founder Arnold Tudal. Venge is the scion of Nils Venge, considered to be one of the Napa Valley’s best winemakers.
Tudal Winery welcomes to its ranks Arnold and Alma's grandson, Matt Tudal Fidge. Matt joined us in late 2007, and will be managing the Wine Club, onsite sales, as well as some winery operations.
Tudal Winery is happy to welcome on board Doug Eisele as our new Consumer Relations Manager.Doug grew up in the Napa Valley, and is deeply involved in local wine and civic issues.He has already made a huge impact in our tasting room, and has many ideas on how to better serve our customers.
Alma and the entire Tudal Family would like to express their heartfelt thanks and appreciation for the flowers, cards, calls and condolences received regarding Arnold's passing. The outpouring of love is a true testament to Arnold's life and the impact he had on all who met him. The Family would also like to personally thank you for your donations to the Alzheimer's Association and the Ronald McDonald Fund.
Tudal Winery was founded in 1974 when Arnold and Alma Tudal retired to northern Napa Valley from Alameda. After 27 years as a vegetable farmer, Arnold purchased ten acres within the shadow of the Mayacamas Mountains with the Napa River running alongside the property.
On the advice of Louis P. Martini, Arnold planted Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and by 1977 he was producing his own "home-made" wines from those vines.
With the 1978 crop there were enough grapes to bottle and sell on a small scale. "We didn't even intend to go into the wine business" explains Arnold's son John, who took over the vineyard and winery in 2001 when his parent's retired.
Arnold Tudal is one of the Napa Valley's congenial "old-timers," known as one of the few vintners that baseball great Joe DiMaggio would make a pilgrimage to visit. Also known as the type of "country" vintner who would insist you take home the wine you wanted and send the check later.
The family tells the tale of an elderly French relative who had spent her career as a professional wine taster in Bordeaux. At a family reunion in France, she tasted the 1978 Tudal Cabernet Sauvignon, blind, and swore it was a Bordeaux. In fact, wine industry experts over the years have talked about qualities in the Tudal Cabernets which resemble the qualities in first growth Bordeauxs, including notes of violets, blackberries, blueberries and currants.
Although the name Tudal is Norwegian, the family left Norway for France many generations ago with one family eventually settling in Massachusetts. During World War II, while serving in the Navy, Arnold met the "farmer's daughter", Alma Cerruti. When the war was over, they married and Arnold went into the family's vegetable farming business on Bay Farm Island in Alameda, California. Arnold always like to say that he was a "male war bride."
