René di Rosa

1919–2010
Winery Lake Vineyard, Los Carneros

A New Englander, René di Rosa came to San Francisco to work for the San Francisco Chronicle after living in Paris. He’d gone to Paris after graduating from Yale and serving in the US Navy. When city life and a news beat began to pall, René sought a life in the country. In 1960 he bought 460 acres in Los Carneros and settled in to live among cows, oats and barley, a small pond, and no neighbors. When René found the remains of Talcoa Winery vineyards, planted before the one—two punch of Phylloxera and Prohibition brought death and dismemberment to most of the region’s grapevines, he researched the region, consulted with his good friend André Tchelistcheff, and took viticulture classes at UC Davis. René planted new vineyard, amending the blocks with what came out of the pond he turned into a lake, and named his property, “Winery Lake.” Once the lake was established, André used to fish there regularly.

René planted Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a few other special varieties and soon had competitive buyers for his fruit. In 1986 he sold the vineyard half of his property to Joseph E. Seagram & Sons for its Sterling Winery, which continues to offer a Winery Lake Chardonnay (one of the first vineyarddesignated wines in Napa Valley). René then turned his considerable energies into developing an “art preserve.” He had begun collecting art in the 1950’s and gotten to know several leading Bay Area artists while taking classes at UC Davis. After expanding both the galleries and gardens of his preserve as he acquired regional works of art, his di Rosa Preserve opened to the general public in 1997.

Although Dick had intended to film René using video, he also shot some stills while they talked at length in the galleries. “The result was René for sure,” says Dick, “but when he saw [the video], he would have none of it. Thus, I destroyed it, while my still photos survived. Glad they did.”