CALISTOGA, Calif. Nearly 82 years old now, Dick Vermeil still possesses that commanding Buzz Lightyear voice, ageless aura of vitality and … sheer need to work.
So walk into Vermeil Wines Calistoga Tasting Room during the harvest season, and chances are youll be greeted by its namesake. Because Dick Vermeil is Dick Vermeil, he isnt merely lending his name to some detached celebrity wine operation.
The now 10-year-old business is a direct reflection of the former Eagles, Rams and Chiefs coach, after all, so as ever he is compulsively obligated to focus on the details.
Part of that is being an amiable host, albeit one who jokes that hes a terrible businessman in one sense: You wouldnt believe how much wine I give away, he said, laughing.
Much of that generosity goes toward charity fundraisers, but some of it takes place on the premises. An instant after you enter, you might suddenly have in your hand a pour of, say, Jean Louis Vermeil Cabernet Sauvignon, named in honor of both his father and great-grandfather.
(Obliged to partake for crucial column research, it can be said with conviction but a perhaps unsophisticated palate that this and other samples were tremendous).
Vermeil first bottled the JLV Cab with On The Edge Winery in 1999, when wine-making still was a hobby as he was about to coach the Rams to a Super Bowl victory. The two distinct adventures in his rich life remain entwined here: The walls are adorned with memorabilia from his ancestry on these very streets and abroad and his coaching life.
At any given time, someone will wander in from places he coached, and sometimes hes asked, Youre not related to Coach Vermeil, are you?
On this day, as it happens, former Royals great George Brett is here with his childhood buddy Jim Obradovich, a former NFL player. Brett called just that morning to say he was in the area with his wife and friends. Never mind that the tasting room was closed that day, Vermeil said come on over … and then kept the door open for anyone else who approached, too.
After Vermeil showed Brett his Chiefs wall, he was back behind the counter playing sommelier as Brett went into endorsement mode as if filming a commercial: Dick, weve been to some really expensive vineyards, and your stuffs just as good as theirs at one-third the price! This is unbelievable!
Soon, a group enters and tells Vermeil its from Philly, where he is forever revered for taking the Eagles to the 1981 Super Bowl. Moments later, in comes another group including a man wearing a Chiefs cap. As Brett welcomes them with tomahawk chops before heading over to shake hands, Vermeil asks, Come on in. What would you like?
You could see a similar scene, reflecting Vermeils sphere of influence, a night later in the Napa Tasting Room filled with visitors from Philly, St. Louis and Kansas City.
Vermeils guests here include Geri Walsh, the widow of Vermeils friend and coaching great Bill Walsh whom Vermeil says would have entered this enterprise with him. Also on hand is former Chief and current wine concierge Eddie Kennison, who is here conducting R&D, as he put it on Twitter.
Like some other Chiefs of that era, Vermeil and his wife, Carol, stimulated his interest in wine at meals they hosted for players.
