By Craig W. Anderson

Bob Cabral was named Winemaker of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine in what was an international competition for the title.

Cabral, director of winemaking and general manager of Williams Selyem winery near Healdsburg in the Russian River Valley, emerged as the top choice over other Winemaker of the Year nominees Philippe Cambie of southern France; Alvaro Espinoza of Chile; Gerard Kracher of Weinlaubenhof Kracher in Austria; and Zelma Long of California/South Africa.

 “It’s almost overwhelming to receive this honor,” Cabral said. “I was astonished even to be nominated and it’s extremely humbling to be among this outstanding group of winemakers.”

Wine Enthusiast Magazine will present the prestigious Winemaker of the Year award to Cabral and other awards to wine industry luminaries at a black-tie gala in New York City on Jan. 30.

He joins other Winemaker of the Year honorees Genevieve Janssens of Robert Mondavi Winery (2010), Scott McLeod of Rubicon Estate & Francis Ford Coppola (2009), Margo Van Staaveren of Chateau St. Jean (2008), Carlo Ferrini of Italy (2007) and Olivier Humbrecht of Domain Zind-Humbrecht, France (2006).

The editors of Wine Enthusiast Magazine annually honor outstanding achievement in the wine world via categories such as Wine Person of the Year; Lifetime Achievement Award; American, European and New World Winery of the Year; Winemaker of the Year; and Wine Region of the Year, the winners to be announced in the Dec. 15 issue of Wine Enthusiast Magazine.


Cabral’s rise through industry
Cabral reached this point in his career the old fashioned way: he earned it by moving through the industry, putting his education to use, and learning the trade; he’s been Williams Selyem’s winemaker for 14 years and has 32 years of experience as a winemaker having worked 11 vintages as an associate winemaker, custom crush winemaker and winemaker at two wineries.

Then in 1998 Burt Williams, Williams Selyem’s winemaker at the time, recommended to John Dyson, the new owner of the winery, that Cabral take over as winemaker.

Dyson and Cabral discovered they shared the philosophy that the most important aspect of winemaking is in the vineyard; Cabral became the Williams Selyem winemaker on July 29, 1998.


Mom is pleased
Cabral’s mom, Jean Cabral, said, “I’m very proud of him. Bob’s well deserving of the honor … and it only took 32 years of winemaking to receive it! Winning this award is a goal most winemakers want to achieve.”

Cabral said he has only one regret: “I wish my dad was here to see this because he’s responsible for who I am today and whatever success I’ve had is a reflection on our relationship. He and mom always supported me.”

He also said it is “awesome” having the San Joaquin County Ag Center named after his father.


Interest began early
An Escalon native, Cabral attended Escalon High School, was active in 4-H and FFA, and spent his off hours and summers working on his family farm pruning grapes, irrigating vineyards and driving truckloads of grapes into wineries.

“I grew up on 70 acres of farmland and dad had a farm management company so I was always working in agriculture,” Cabral said. “And I helped my grandfather make wine in his barn, so I was always interested in winemaking.”

He said he found the winemaking process to be “very interesting. While the trucks were being unloaded I’d wander around the facility and it seemed to be an exciting time in an exciting place and knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

Jean said, “Bob hoed weeds, changed irrigation pipes and drove tractors. We knew this wasn’t what he wanted to do: Bob always wanted to go to Fresno State to become a winemaker.”

She also said he was “good with science” and moms usually know what they’re talking about because Cabral graduated from Fresno State with a bachelor’s degree in winemaking and a minor in biochemistry.


Cabral connects
Being able to connect with people via his product that people can smell, touch and taste gives him great satisfaction. “I enjoy seeing people’s reaction to my wines whether they like it or not. I’ve done my job from soil to glass and that’s rewarding.”


Cabral’s expertise shows
His best springs from his meticulous and patient approach that yields wines of the highest rating – his 2007 Litton Estate vineyard Pinot Noir (now Williams Selyem Estate Vineyard) was the first domestic Pinot Noir to earn a perfect score from a major wine publication.

Cabral has crafted wines from more than 25 vintages in Sonoma County, including from world class vineyards such as Rochioli Vineyard, Hirsch Vineyard, Allen Ranch, Olivet Lane and Precious Mountain.


Charity, satisfaction, challenges
He has put his expertise to work for charity for underprivileged children by producing charity auction-only wine such as Revelation Pinot Noir with his close friends Jonathan Cain (keyboardist, singer, songwriter for the group Journey) and Michael Browne of Kosta Browne Winery.

What makes this career winemaker happy and satisfied? “Definitely the lifestyle, meeting and knowing people who really like your product, traveling the world for wine with my family,” he said. And Sonoma County is still the most beautiful place in the world and there is still a lot of agriculture going on around here.”

Challenges abound in the wine industry with the most troublesome being pests, disease and government regulations because all three stifle business.

“The pests and diseases keep coming and we have to deal with and adapt to them,” said Cabral. “But government regulations interfering with agriculture represent the biggest challenge the industry faces.”

The time and money spent complying with and comprehending the complex government regulations and restrictions “are enough to make me beat my head against a cement wall,” Cabral commented.


Educating public, government
Also, the public doesn’t understand they’re getting “more and safer food than ever before” and thus don’t know the importance of agriculture to not only their quality of life but their survival, he said.

“Agriculture is a noble profession and society’s always based around a strong agricultural community,” Cabral said. “We must convince our legislators at every level that we cannot live without ag produced here, that we must not become a net ag importer.”

“Education is power,” he said. “The more information about agriculture people can get, the better. Unfortunately, environmental groups who seriously influence legislators and government agencies act on emotion, not facts and science.”


The future
About the future of California wines, he said, “California still has a great reputation for wine at all levels and successful wines will continue to find their niche and will move into the international market.” He also said the industry must continue to “get China – Hong Kong and Macao – to see the value of California wines.”


Philosophy
Cabral has developed a winemaking philosophy over the years, the key being, he said, “respecting the vineyard and to value to fruit … once the fruit is taken care of then we try to intervene as little as possible. While there is no shortage of hard work in the cellar you must still pay careful attention to detail, as great wines are really made in the vineyard. My job is to just guide it along and allow the individual vineyard to be expressed in every bottle.”

He lives with his wife Heather and daughter Paige in the Russian River Valley.