Last month a dear friend of mine passed away. George J. Vierra died peacefully at his home on December 20, 2024, with his wife Bobbie and his brother-in-law Josh by his side. He had been diagnosed with a terminal illness just 11 days earlier. He was 79 years old.
George was born in Santa Clara, California in 1945. He was a three-season athlete in high school and was involved in student government, recognized as the outstanding student his senior year. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from San Jose State University with high honors. In 1968 he moved to Corvallis, Oregon to start his Ph.D. program in Chemical Engineering and married fellow SJSU alum Barbara “Bobbie” D. Bagby. Bobbie and George were married for 56 years.
Successfully completing his Ph.D. found George and Bobbie touring Europe for three months. They then moved to the Napa Valley in 1971.
At the young age of 25, George started working as production manager and head winemaker at Charles Krug Winery. From there he became General Manager at Robert Mondavi Enterprises. As a champion of good wine at a fair price, George was proud to establish Robert Mondavi Woodbridge for the company. He also participated in the Opus One negotiations in France.
Forging his own path in 1980, George began two boutique wineries, Vichon and Merlion. George was a great researcher, and he brought many innovations to winemaking in California, including sur-lie aging of wine and extended maceration of red wines. With his background in engineering, he also brought technology to the production and sensory environment. This period had George founding wineries, building business, forming the winemaking group behind Meritage wines in California and even designing a professional tasting glass, the “Merlion” glass.
In the early 1990’s George began consulting in the wine industry. He worked on production, vineyard and sales projects which led him to Europe and Asia. He was an early entrant in the China wine industry. He also was the Executive Director of the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association. For 20 years George was an adjunct professor at Napa Valley College, leading the sensory analysis class for many years.
In the early aughts I met George. He was a wonderful mentor for a young 30-something starting her own wine recruiting company. George and I would discuss various projects we were working on, brainstorm, and share war stories. Getting together with George was always a treat. He was a curious man with a lot of knowledge. He loved to learn what others were thinking, and what drove them to buy wine, what they studied, where they were planning to travel to, and what great food they were cooking. My recipe book is chock full of his recipes, with many on constant repeat in my home.
When we could get together, we often met for lunch. He’d have great suggestions for new places to try, dishes that we had to order, and always had a nice bottle of wine to share. My first Kabinett Riesling was one he proffered at Rutherford Grill. George knew everything about winemaking and the world of wine—and succinctly distilled that knowledge down to explain what we were drinking, how it paired with our food, and how it was made. It was delicious and paired well with the food, and luckily was light in alcohol for a lunchtime meal. George was a huge fan of food friendly, crisp acidity, low alcohol wines.
I will always remember a meal we had in mid-spring 2007. He was the first wine industry friend I told that I was expecting my daughter. He was ecstatic—making sure I ate the best part of our trout at lunch (the cheeks) and only a touch of wine. He loved friends and family, and from that point forward I have always thought of him as my daughter’s godfather. At the 2008 Unified Symposium my husband and I were thrilled to join George and another good friend for lunch, with my month-old daughter in her baby carrier nestled under the table at Esquire Grill.
With his knowledge of winemaking, access to local grapes and large circle of friends he put on harvest parties every year. I brought my brood to help pick the grapes, crush the grapes and start the fermentation, followed by subsequent trips to press, rack and bottle. Harvesting grapes and pressing them is hard work. Our efforts were rewarded with a great harvest picnic in George and Bobbie’s backyard. We shared dishes everyone brought and always enjoyed George’s great homemade pizzas. Wine from the past harvest were shared, stories were told and new friendships forged.
Several years ago, George and Bobbie chose to return to Corvallis, Oregon. My family road-tripped up to visit the couple. George and Bobbie enjoyed the college town. George was an active member of the Corvallis Academy of Lifelong Learning where he did research and brought various lecturers to present their research to the group. For 20 years he was a member of the Friday night bocce ball group at Crane Park in St. Helena, and when he moved to Corvallis he was asked to teach bocce ball by the parks department.
While George was living up in Oregon, he always felt very close. He would send out his media reviews on things he found interesting. From ancient history to current events in media including films, TV series and books, covering both fiction and nonfiction, his reviews were a welcome message to see in my inbox. They always made me smile—even if I didn’t agree with his opinion. I think he enjoyed it even more when I disagreed with him on a good review. We both enjoyed debating the merits of the work he had reviewed.
I received my last book review this autumn. On December 20th Bobbie told me George was at home under hospice care. That day he passed away. I am so sorry that this man who loved learning, food, wine and the community is no longer with us. He will be greatly missed.
