tHE GOOD LIFE Atlanta-born wine maven Vanessa Hoelsher rides her success at Playboy to new heights. The first time Vanessa Hoelsher visited her father at work, she was heartbroken. Although as a little girl in Atlanta, Ga. she didn’t know a thing about wine, Vanessa knew Chateau Ste. Michelle. Her father, Paul Hoelsher, was a Georgia marketing executive at the then-upstart Washington state winery, so the words were on her towels, t-shirts, writing paper, pool raft and a hundred other things. Indeed at her home in Atlanta’s East Cobb County, a large, handsome picture of the winery hung conspicuously on the dining room wall. She just knew her father worked in that building and made all of those wonderful things she found around the house. However, on that day Vanessa first went to work with her father, she saw he did not go to that chic building from the picture and did not make fun t-shirts and rafts emblazoned with the words “Chateau Ste. Michelle.” She was horribly crushed. “It’s a funny story now, but at the time I was so disappointed,” Vanessa laughs. Little girls grow up of course, and ultimately Vanessa came to appreciate her father’s standing in the wine world. Paul Hoelsher founded a brokerage that dealt the wines of Caymus, Bonny Doon, Clos Du Val and Raymond. “I don’t know if we were the largest (wine brokerage) in the country, but we were certainly one of them,” says the elder Hoelsher. He also worked for Coca-Cola’s wine division when it had one and as a regional manager for Beaulieu Vineyards. In general, wine’s importance in the Hoelsher household is something Vanessa eventually recognized and avidly embraced.
for Playboy magazine got Vanessa in front of the right people and suddenly she was Miss September 2005. “Playboy opened doors for me,” Vanessa says, “and it was an incredible experience.” By all accounts, her family, including her father, was extremely supportive. In a situation that seems to please them both, father and daughter work together now importing and representing an international portfolio of wines. Vanessa also is developing the VH series, a group of $20-$30 wines aimed at fine dining restaurants and upscale retail outlets. One label, Bellisima, represents a group of Italian wines and is available now in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Georgia. Two more labels will be out early in 2007; Moxie, a Shiraz and sparkling Shiraz from Australia and Jolie, a white blend and a Cabernet Sauvignon made by Dry Creek Vineyards. Smart, beautiful and passionate about wine, Vanessa Hoelsher seems to have the world at tips of her manicured fingers. However, her proud father thinks her determination may be what sets her apart. “Vanessa is a very focused young lady. If she sets her mind to something, she will get it.”
The
Unknown
Umbrian
Making outrageously good wine with a mostly unknown Italian grape, Marco Caprai hit the American wine market running
Vanessa Hoelsher
imports more than one wine label that boasts an intriguing winemaker but none with the rags-to-riches panache of Marco Caprai.
Caprai may not be as practiced as Hoelsher at turning heads, but he’s getting there. Since the esteemed Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate gave a 97-point score to Caprai’s DOCG wine—the 2000 Sagrantino di Montefalco, 25 Anni— business has picked up. All the attention is not a natural thing for a guy from the Umbrian region of Italy which rests Southeast of Tuscany. Those rich neighbors have outshone Umbria’s winemakers for years, but all that may be changing thanks to Caprai’s family business, the Arnaldo Caprai winery. Visiting Wine Report’s Atlanta office, Caprai led the editorial staff through a tasting of several of his wines including a Sagrantino di Montefalco which boasted savory cinnamon, clove and ginger flavors. As infectious as his wines’ flavor is his enthusiasm for them. With a wry and tired smile, he pleasantly scolds an editor who misspoke the name of one of his labels. “You must say, ‘di Montefalco’ with Sagrantino. That is the way you must say it. It is not the grape alone but also Montefalco.” In the end, trust us. With wines this good, Caprai can afford to be a little particular.
“I love this business,” she says. “The people are so colorful and interesting. If you go to a wine trade show, it’s so different than going to a trade show for Home Depot or for golf. Or even radio. They’re fun.”
“Playboy opened doors for me and it was an incredible experience.” — Vanessa Hoelsher All text by Steve Stevens
{ 28 } wine report // february : : march 2007
Vanessa Hoelsher photograph by Chris Rank
Courtesy of Cantina Arnaldo Caprai
In fact radio is where Vanessa got her modeling start, appearing on more than 40 billboards for an Atlanta station’s morning show. Then a friend’s husband who already shot pictures