Joel Gott Palisades Red California 2017

Joel’s story is a modest one– it’s the familiar American dream story, a hustler who was a nice, well liked guy in the food and wine industry, and finished first — making countless friends and connections along the way.

Joel’s story starts in the early 1990’s when he and his brother Duncan, both fifth generation Californians in the wine business, saved up enough money to buy Palisades Market in Calistoga. Eventually the two put enough blood and sweat equity into the project to grow it into a must-stop shop in the Napa area, known as THE purveyor of gourmet food and fine wine.

The biggest takeaway Joel learned from his time in the retail wine industry was this: $15 is the magic price. If you had good wines available for $15-20, people were willing to take a chance on the wine, even if they hadn’t tried it before. Nothing sold like a good under $20 wine that pairs well with food.

And so Joel and his wife set out to start “Joel Gott Wines”, a brand of multiple varietals all priced under $20, all food friendly. Twenty years and countless connections later, Joel Gott represents some of the best bargain wines in California, Oregon and Washington. They snuck into the Wine Spectator top 20 last year in their annual Top 100 Wines of the Year list, and they continue to make wines that are priced fairly and over deliver.