Janet Trefethen

The September air is cool and rich with the intoxicating scent of fermenting grapes, and I can’t help but pick one, the juice dark on the finger, tart and sweet on the tongue. Ah, a ’98 Pinot Noir, I muse.

I am surrounded by row upon row of grapevines in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley, Calif., embraced by the soft, rolling hills of the Vacas Range to the east and the Mayacamas Mountains to the west. It is a veritable paradise, an Eden of sunlight, grape leaves, lavender and quaint cottages.

I’ve come to the Trefethen Family Vineyards to meet the owner, vintner and non-pro cutting horse rider Janet Trefethen. Yet even as I move among the labyrinth of vines, I wonder at the unusual pairing of cutting horses and winemaking.

Planting roots
One could be misled to think that Janet Trefethen were but a frail sparrow, a petite mademoiselle who decorates the affairs of the winery. In a tapered white blouse, a flouncy blue skirt and low-heeled shoes, she is impeccably trim, light on her feet and possesses the physical grace of a ballet dancer.

However, this Grande Dame of Napa Valley will immediately dissuade any thoughts that she is some sort of debutante. She is an intelligent, business-savvy woman who has developed her confidence and tough-mindedness working within the old men’s club of winemaking. Though kind and gracious, she is certainly a woman who doesn’t put up with much nonsense.

“I was the only salesperson for the winery when we began,” Janet said. “I would go back East, like to New York, to sell our wine, and number one, I was a woman, which was a big black mark then. I also looked very young. That didn’t help. And if the wine wasn’t from France, it wasn’t any good. And that was the attitude.”

Janet had been prepared for such obstacles by her early life. She grew up Janet Spooner in the Sacramento Valley on a rice ranch, and her father, Chester, would take her hunting, where she learned to rely on herself.

“We grew rice, and I still own part of our ranch,” Janet said. “I have three sisters spread out by 17 years. My dad used to take my two older sisters and myself (my little sister came along 10 years after me) and the three of us would go buck hunting. And we’d just take our horses and a couple of mules and pack into the Yolo Bole Wilderness area. Those trips were amazing and had an impact on me for independence and how to rely on yourself. We might see two people in two weeks.”

Growing up on a ranch, Janet had always ridden and shown horses. She went to her first Quarter Horse show when she was 5 years old. Yet, she said she rode around in circles for way too long. She always wanted a cow horse, but her folks didn’t think it was a very good idea. She happened upon the sport of cutting at a county fair, and she just happened to see some legends.

“When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to go to the Monterey County Fair and Don Dodge was there, and he showed Fizzabar in the cutting,” Janet said. “And I will never forget that. I just thought, ‘Wow, that’s what I really want to do.’ ”

Janet’s mother, Elizabeth, was also an early influence, and the two hauled to horse shows together. Interestingly enough, the two came across the great Doc Bar and got involved with cutting in a roundabout way.

“My mom loved horses,” Janet said. “My mom and I were at the state fair one time, and we went over and looked at Doc Bar. He was still alive. I don’t know when or how it happened, but Mom met Tommy Lyons. Nobody in the family was cutting. I still don’t know how this happened. Tommy had Doc’s Oak, at the time, and convinced Mom that she should breed Clem [Cassels Frosty], my sister’s pleasure horse, to Doc’s Oak. She became the number one cutting broodmare in the nation for a while. Both Phil Rapp and Julie Roddy each had one of her colts and did exceptionally well with them in the non-pro. I wasn’t cutting yet.”

Janet’s parents had friends in Salinas, Calif., who convinced them that Janet should run for sweetheart of the California rodeo. This is something they were more interested in than she was, but they had supported and helped Janet through her formative years, so she consented.

Turns out, Janet actually enjoyed the experience, and had fun meeting all the other gals, and she actually ended up winning the sweetheart contest, which included a $500 scholarship to the college of her choice. It was a big deal at that time, and her parents were thrilled. This led to her becoming Miss Rodeo California and then the National Paint Horse Queen.

“My mom had a great time at the National Paint Horse contest in Kansas City, Mo. Mom and my trainer, Duane Pettibone, got so carried away one evening that they were dancing on the table, and we almost missed the contest the next morning!” Janet said. “As the National Paint Horse Queen, I got to go to Houston, Texas, and ride in the Astrodome when it was almost new. Through all those experiences, I met a lot of wonderful people that helped me realize I wanted horses to be a part of my life forever.”

Janet went on to receive a journalism degree from the University of Nevada at Reno, where she was active in student politics and raced on the women’s ski team. Meanwhile, John Trefethen was in the Stanford Graduate School of Business developing a business plan for a fictitious family-owned winery. He was also making small batches of wine in the basement of his parents’ Napa home.

First crush
More than 35 years ago, Janet and her husband, John, embarked on their winemaking venture on land John’s parents had purchased. John’s father, Gene Trefethen, was CEO of Kaiser Industries. He and his wife, Catherine, loved wine and agriculture and bought the run-down Eschol property and several surrounding farms in Napa in 1968, creating a 600-acre wine estate.

The Trefethen family

“When I graduated, I ended up working in St. Helena in 1972 for the Wine Growers Foundation,” Janet said. “John Trefethen came in around January 1973 to learn what we did. After a three-hour conversation, he followed me into the restroom and asked me out."

After a quick romance, John and Janet were married in 1973, planning their wedding around harvest. They started renovating the old winery that hadn’t been used in 40 years and made their first wines.

“John and I did everything from start to finish. Everybody thought we were nuts because there was no wine industry. Why would we want to make wine if no one was drinking it? However, slowly, people became more and more interested in the product. It has been a fantastic ride. I have seen the wine industry grow from nothing to a real viable business.”

After Napa’s move to revitalization during the ’60s and ’70s, an entirely different and romantic culture of the Valley has emerged, one of vine-ripe fruit, fresh cut lavender and cool evenings spent leisurely sipping wine in bougainvillea-filled gardens watching the sun set behind violet-colored hills. It is now the most famous wine region in the United States with around 300 wineries. Though well-touristed, well-promoted and replete with celebrity chef-run restaurants, the Provence of America still has a magical effect on visitors.

Though the early years were difficult, and American wines didn’t make a blip on the wine world’s radar screen, in 1979, the Trefethen 1976 Chardonnay was ranked the best in the world at the World Wine Olympics in Paris, France. More than 53 countries had entered hundreds of bottles of wine for the competition.

“The French were furious,” Janet said laughing. “They had a rematch, and about six months later, our Chardonnay won again!”

Ironically, it had been a quirky Frenchman who had clandestinely turned over the wine tables. He had worked at the Trefethen winery that summer and took some bottles back to France with him. Unbeknownst to the Trefethens, he entered their wine in the competition. The win put Trefethen, and Napa, on the wine map.

“We were in Time magazine, and the wine proved that the home brew was pretty darn good. It helped Americans not only drink more wine but to have confidence in California-produced wines. It was a huge shot in the arm,” Janet said.

Trefethen Family Vineyards is the only winery in the United States that has used only its own estate-produced grapes exclusively in its production for 40 years. The family’s passion for wine and for the estate has garnered them some well-deserved awards. In 2001, the 1997 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was named “Best Red Wine in America” at the Atlanta International Wine Challenge. The highly regarded British wine magazine Decanter hailed Trefethen’s 2002 Reserve Cabernet as the “Best Bordeaux Blend in North America.” Halo – named for Janet and John’s two children, daughter Hailey and son Loren – was ranked one of the top 10 wines of the year in 2009. Most recently, the Trefethen Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was ranked No. 1 Wine of the Year by the Wine Enthusiast.

Loren and Hailey have graduated college and joined the family business. Both grew up in the middle of the vineyards and have traveled to numerous leading wine regions in the world.

Loren graduated from Stanford University and joined the winery in 2007. He has been immersed in viticultural operations and participated in a harvest at Chateau Petrus in Bordeaux, France. Loren focuses on promoting direct and export sales of Trefethen wines.

Hailey graduated from Santa Clara University in 2008 with a degree in biological anthropology. She is involved in a number of activities for the Trefethen business, such as marketing manager, and she’s even the beekeeper of the estate’s three hives.

The family’s commitment to excellence is reflected in its motto, which is the first thing one sees upon entering the apricot-colored winery:

One family. One estate. One passion.

The passion for horses
We take a drive over to the Hillspring Vineyards, a section of Trefethen grapevines in the western foothills of the Valley that yields some of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon in the region. It is here among the terraced hillsides that I meet Gimme High Fives (Im Full Of Pep x Leola Nuance x Nu Bar).

A big hot sun is out in a cloudless sky, and Janet appears from the shade of the oak trees on a sorrel gelding she bred and raised, Stylish Houdini. Aboard an athletic, half-ton cutting horse, Janet’s previous soft countenance has been transformed to one of a serious horsewoman who looks prepared to work the open range. Her light brown hair has disappeared into a ponytail under a cowboy hat, and she is fully decked out in gloves and chaps.

Janet Trefethen and Ellie Mae Merada

Hailey, too, has undergone a transformation. Atop Gimme High Fives, her once wholesome portrait, as one might find in a heart-shaped locket, has burst alive with the ebullience of a wild spirit.

“Originally, Hailey didn’t want to cut. But when she was around 10, Loren told her to give it a try. ” Janet said. “Gavin Jordan [then assistant trainer to Stan Fonsen] happened to be playing the right music when we came over to his place, and then she was ready. She got her fair share of scholarship money.”

From the crest of the hillside, there is a magnificent view of the vineyards, a striped sea of green and the gently sloping mountains. John and Loren, dressed in black jackets and gloves, are speeding around the dirt trails on motorcycles, appearing then disappearing behind the trees and leafy rows of the vineyard.

The contrast between the pairs conjures a somewhat mythological image, of spring goddesses horseback and men on motorized machines, as they race up the pastoral hillside.

While Janet enjoys competing on cutting horses, John spends his leisure time road racing with his Porsche. He was the GT3 Porsche Cup Champion for North America a few years ago.

“John needed a balance in work, and he’s spending more time at the track,” Janet said. “It’s a 30-minute drive to the track. He has a shop there and a simulator. He can program racetracks and simulate driving them. But he’s actually ridden a cutting horse. My father, who was born in 1910, got on a cutting horse. And neither fell off. We have that mutual respect and support for what we do. He’ll talk about his mechanic, and I’ll talk about my trainer.”

Loren enjoys racing cars with his father, though he drives BMWs, but when he was younger, he was an exceptional youth cutting horse rider.

“In 1996, Loren was number two in the Junior Youth in Ogden [Utah] at the Western Regional Finals when he was 13,” Janet said proudly.

In those days, the NCHA would select the top youth and invite them to participate in the Multiple Sclerosis Celebrity Cutting at the NCHA Futurity. Loren drew up with Buster Welch and Tanya Tucker.

“Two hours before the cutting, Loren still didn’t have a horse to ride, so we borrowed a horse from a friend who had her there to go through the performance sale. Loren rode her 15 minutes before the class and had never been on her before. There was a big crowd, and wouldn’t you know, he drew up first. He marked a 217, the highest youth score, and the team won it.

“Loren and I went down the road pretty hard. It was a lot of fun. We were weekending it, road warriors. It was a special time with my son,” Janet said.

Janet had a hard time getting aboard a horse during the early years of the winery. There was plenty of work to be done. But the children became the excuse she needed to start riding again.

“When John and I started the winery, I had a horse here, but every time I was out riding my horse, I felt pretty guilty I wasn’t at work,” Janet said. “And when I was at work, I felt guilty that I wasn’t on my horse. There was no happy medium. And so I finally sold the horse. Ten years later, we had Loren, our son, and when he was 5, he kind of gave me the excuse to get back into the horses. I wanted to share that wonderful experience I had growing up with him.”

Loren started out at horse shows – walk, jog and the whole showing business. Janet had him in training at Stan Fonsen’s, and Fonsen was making the transition from bridle horses to cutting horses.

“So I’d be over there and I would watch him cut while Loren was supposedly taking a pleasure horse lesson,” Janet said. “One day, I get this call from Stan, and he said, ‘Janet, I have found the perfect horse for you.’ And I said, ‘What are you talking about? You’re supposed to be looking for a pleasure horse for Loren,’ and he said, ‘No, I have found a great cutting horse for you.’ And I was a little bit baffled. But I had been taking a few lessons from him. He convinced me to buy the mare that he had found, Osage Playmate.

“So later, for grins, we put Loren on a cutting horse, and I think he was 10 years old then. Gavin Jordan was Stan’s assistant trainer then. Gavin gave Loren a lesson on the flag. And that was it. Loren said, ‘Mom I don’t ever want to go in circles again.’ He wanted to ride cutting horses. And that was the beginning.”

Balancing act
Osage Playmate was Janet’s first cutting horse. They won the first cutting in which they competed, and Janet said she was spoiled as well as hooked. It’s amusing to listen to her talk about cutting. Her head tilts back, the eyes lost in dreamy reflection of a faraway and pleasant place, as she relates the memories of her horses. It’s obvious she has a deep love for them.

It seems everyone can remember his first ride, the feeling of that first magical hard break and that bolt that shudders down the spine from the electric suddenness of the horse’s moves. But they can also recall those special runs, those quiet, harmonious ones, in which horse and rider move as a single unit with the fluidity of water.

Over the years, Janet has had a number of runs such as these, and has had success on a number of horses, such as Tillys Jewel Bar, who took Janet to her first NCHA aged event in the Will Rogers Coliseum. Janet and the mare made the finals in the Amateur and the Non-Pro at the 1996 NCHA Super Stakes.

“Tilly and I had great fun,” Janet said. “I bought her at the end of her 3-year-old year, and she was my first aged-event horse.”

Trefethen Family Vineyards

“We marked the highest score in the second go-round of the NCHA Futurity,” Janet said. “Wholly Cats was the greatest horse I ever had. It was quite an experience. I got really spoiled.”

Janet eventually sold Wholly Cats, who is now a broodmare. This year, Janet has a nice Cats Merada mare. A 4-year-old, Ellie Mae Merada (out of Smart Oakie Chic by Cats Merada) and Janet have done well at the Ardmore Mountain Futurity and at the Breeder’s Invitational. They also finished seventh in the Derby Non-Pro at the Brazos Bash. Currently, Janet has $310,941 in Equi-Stat earnings.

Now, Janet looks to add to her winnings and has her sights set on the NCHA Futurity in Fort Worth, Texas. She recently purchased a mare, Cyndi Cat, whom she is taking to this year’s major cutting event.

“I found the mare during the Brazos Bash,” Janet said. “We had been looking all year, but with no luck. Her name is Cyndi Cat. We call her C.C. for short. She is a WR This Cats Smart out of a Little Peppy mare that I know and like. The dam is a producer. C.C. is athletic, has a good disposition and seems mentally mature. I could have dropped my hand and gone to work on her the day I tried her. I love the fact that I bought her from my dear friends, the Blacks, who owned Valley Oak Ranch. Funny I had to go to Texas to buy a California horse,” Janet said laughing.

Janet is quite familiar with Fort Worth, having had success selling the Trefethen brand to area businesses, but the shrewd salesperson has an additional incentive to sell well in Fort Worth – to spend some quality horse time in Weatherford, training with Phil Hanson.

“I peddle our wines across the country,” she said. “I’m in Fort Worth more than any place else. More than New York. More than Chicago. I want to be out there at Weatherford at the [Sherry Chamberlain’s] Lazy H Ranch. I am thrilled to say Fort Worth has reciprocated in that Trefethen sells a good amount of wine in the D/FW market. I’ve developed a lot of really good friendships.”

Janet no longer feels guilty when she goes to ride anymore because she incorporates a sales trip into her horse showing, which she says helps her maintain a balance in her life.

“Cutting is such a mental game,” Janet said. “I really try to find a balance between work and the horses, and therefore, when I am on the road, I also try and sell some wine. It helps me justify why I can be in Tulsa or Fort Worth. I’ve got a business I have to run in Napa to pay my cutting bills.

“I try to get a lot of work done at the shows, calling on accounts, working on the Internet, writing newsletters. I find if I’m thinking too much about work, I don’t cut very well. Finding that mental balance and being really tuned in and 100 percent there on my horse focused on what I need to do, that is the mental challenge, that is the hard part.

“Cutting is not an easy sport. When you look at the number of entries in a class and how many get a check, it’s slim pickings. But I absolutely love it. If I didn’t have the cutting, I’d just work all the time. I love it when you have a great run on a great horse and you feel all that power under you, and controlling that cow and feeling one with the horse. Is there anything better?”

“I just need to win the Futurity now!”

It appears Janet has found that balance, as she is experiencing excellence in both winemaking and cutting. Though winemaking has changed over the years, with large companies challenging the smaller, family-run wineries, Janet believes that her family’s commitment to each other and to the estate will only bring them more success.

“It’s getting harder and harder for family-owned businesses to survive today,” Janet said. “The conglomerates, the larger companies, have figured out wine is a viable business, and they play hard ball. There are companies that challenge us. But the kids have come into the business, which means so much to John and me. We are one family, and the future looks bright.”