At Bacchus, we embrace high-octane, hearty drams and shy, elegant quaffers alike. Take a glance around the shop, and you'll notice our penchant for BOLD REDS. Next to our Napa Cab wall, you'll find an entire rack dedicated to Orin Swift and Department 66 red blends by Dave Phinney.
Dave is a niche figure in the wine world. Either you know his whole story, or you've never heard of him. He grew up in West LA during the 80s, just as the DIY street art movement gained traction in the mainstream. (He reprints his wine labels on skateboard decks—a pastime you wouldn't expect from a guy often photographed rocking tucked-in polo shirts unbuttoned to the sternum.) While studying political science at Arizona State, Dave spent a semester in Florence, Italy, where he developed a passion for wine. After graduation, he showed up to a job interview for a graveyard punch-down shift at Robert Mondavi wearing a suit and tie. Amused, they hired him on the spot, which led to an apprenticeship with Whitehall Lane, where he developed the now ubiquitous, wildly successful Prisoner label.
If Old World Wine is Beethoven and New World Wine is Sammy Hagar, then Dave Phinney is The Descendants. He's all about blending far-reaching, disparate lots—an approach unpopular with the low-intervention, terroir-minded set, and he's totally fine with that.
dHe puts just as much effort into his label design—equal parts reverence and edgy—as the juice inside the bottle. His parents were professors who played an integral role in balancing his skate-punk aesthetic with fine art and world travel.
Inside the bottle, you could describe his wines as promiscuous—fruit-forward, opulent, and high ABV. These wines are unapologetic, in-your-face flavor bombs. In France's Maury, Rousillon, where he owns 30 acres of 80 - 100 year old-vine grenache, Dave baffles locals by dropping fruit to boost concentration further. He delays harvest well past his neighbors—a technique common in the "Cult-California" wine market. And the majority of his wines cost under $60 when he could easily charge $80 or more.
If you're a Bay Area resident, Dave's anonymity is soon to be short-lived. His fledgling, cash-rich distillery, Savage and Cooke, is integral to a team of investors, developers, and real-estate heavies performing their best Howard Hughes impression on Mare Island.