During one night drinking at the old Saketini Asian Diner & Lounge in the city of Napa Rick met Charles. His introduction to Charles was totally random, helped by a bottle of Robert Mondavi wine. Helena and worked in the wine industry for a number of years on the wine making side of the operations (10 years at Robert Mondavi). Enjoying additional meals in the valley he noticed wine was an integral component with food. He was curious why many of the customers were already drinking wine at 1130am. Taking a break from football he headed up valley to eat – at Bistro Don Giovanni’s. It was during the pre-season training camp in 1998 during his first stint with the Oakland Raiders that he was introduced to wine. The Oakland Raiders have been coming to the Napa Valley for their annual pre-season training camp (at Napa Valley College) for many years. He began his NFL Career with the Oakland Raiders, spent a number of years with the Green Bay Packers (where he won a Super Bowl) and currently is back with the Oakland Raiders Charles was born in Ohio, went to the University of Michigan for college and took home a Heisman Award trophy in 1997, beating another now prominent NFL player – Peyton Manning. In 2015 co-owner Charles Woodson remarkably entered his 18th year in the National Football League – having played for his college team (University of Michigan) and two professional teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Oakland Raiders.Ĭharles Woodson enjoyed a storied career in the NFL (now retired) and certainly a long one where according to the NFL Players Association the average career length is only 3.3 years. Most wine labels or tasting rooms are started by sports figures after they have retired. Sometimes when the Raiders were in town for training camp (when they played in Oakland), the tasting room would close at random times, presumably for private parties with current and retired players. As a result, unlike most other tasting rooms who invite those to see inside from the outside – the tasting room here is about exclusivity and privacy. For bar seating the tasting room is also very handicap friendly a separate bar-top sits right next to the main bar for those in wheelchairs.Īnd one can only see through the tasting room windows in one direction – that is from the inside looking out. This is not a typical straight lined bar where you face the pourer but rather is in the shape of an H so guests always have eye contact with each other. The tasting room is laid out very nicely – co owner and Director of Operations Rick Ruiz designed the bar seating and layout with communication in mind not only for the person pouring the drinks but also for customers. Twenty Four Wines is named after Charles’s jersey number he wore for the longest time in his career – as an Oakland Raider (now Las Vegas Raiders).īut if you are not a sports fan, this specific seating won’t really matter. ![]() ![]() And this wine lounge and tasting room is sectioned off into these three areas – presumably to accommodate fans of each of those teams. These sections represent the jersey numbers worn by owner Charles Woodson for each of the teams he played for. Non sports spans may be befuddled by this question but once you dig a little deeper into their history this question makes perfect sense. ![]() Would you prefer to sit in Section 2, Section 21 or Section 24? This might be the question posed to you when you enter Tasting Room 24 in the “Crusher District” south of downtown.
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