Sean Thackrey

Sean Thackrey is an American winemaker based in Marin County, California in the town of Bolinas. From a background as director of an art gallery, Thackrey has been described as an unconventional winemaker who has done pioneering work in promoting California Syrah.

Thackrey studied art history at Reed College in Portland, OR, and the University of Vienna, but without graduating. He moved to Bolinas in 1964 and for a while worked as a book editor for the Sierra Club. In 1970, Thackrey, with Susan Thackrey and Cynthia Pritzker, opened the art gallery in San Francisco that became Thackrey & Robertson, by then in partnership with watercolorist Sally Robertson; the gallery remained operational until closed in 1995. Thackrey's particular expertise was in early photography, in exhibiting which the gallery was an internationally renowned pioneer.

After several years in Berkeley and San Francisco, Thackrey moved back to Bolinas in 1977. Following initial winemaking experiments with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes purchased from Fay Vineyard in Napa Valley, Thackrey became a bonded winemaker in 1981, as the Thackrey & Co. winery. Some early problems with lactobacillus led Thackrey to take extension courses at UC Davis, although he states he has little use for the scientific approach to winemaking.

Thackrey sources fruit from grape growers in Napa Valley, Marin County and Mendocino, and is prone to employ the unconventional technique of letting grapes 'rest' at least 24 hours outside, fermenting under the stars. Thackrey contends the idea can be traced to the texts of the Greek poet Hesiod, Works and Days (circa 700 B.C.). Not employed by anyone else at present, Thackrey claims this method was commonplace in wine literature until the middle of the 19th century.

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