Longtable Wine

Among the earliest guests at their Mt. Veeder “long-table” dinners were Charles Thomas, one of Napa’s winemaking stars – whose provenance includes Mondavi, Lokoya, Cardinale, Rudd and Quintessa — and Charles’ wife, Lili Hsi-Thomas – herself a wine-business veteran, notably with Robert Mondavi, and Jackson-Family wines. The Strausses and Thomases became friends who shared not only a passion for wine, food and family but also for this small vineyard –where, from 1975-1978, Charles had made some of his earliest wines. Here the partnership was born – over great meals filled with laughter and stories and wine — both families’ wine-making histories would spring from this secluded, undulating hillside of the Napa Valley.