To say I have spent a certain amount of my time in the wilderness would be a good bet. I know the smell of something not quite right or overripe. I bike in the Angwin and Pope Valley area and know the smell of road kill which is what a good day in Katmandu smells like as I am sitting in a city taxicab stuck in traffic. I tell you this because about a year ago I was taking an afternoon break in our backyard hot tub and I found myself in the eye of “that smell.” My first thought was a skunk. The next thought was to get out, put on boots and long pants — could be a snake — and find what died under my deck.

I found a feral cat lying under the eaves of the deck with an abscessed cheek that looked serious. It was around 3 p.m. Saturday on a holiday weekend and I had no idea what to do. Like all good husbands, I called on my wife, the Sleeping Beauty of our two acres, who sings to the finches at the feeder in the morning. She called David Gold, who came to the cat’s rescue and met her at his office. The cat recovered and David found the cat a home with someone who could take great care of her and needed a “mouser.”

Several weeks later, our own house cat Avignon died. David’s loving treatment was a big comfort and his sensitive manner was something you don’t expect from a guy who is 6-plus feet tall and looks like a linebacker for the 49ers.

I noticed recently David posted one of those TTB signs in an office across the street from Cindy’s Go Fish, saying there was a proposed liquor license going in. I know David is a master beer maker and I have enjoyed a few great glasses of his home brew, so I was naturally inquisitive about what kind of side adventure he was thinking of for the property. He has an old barn from the 1880s in back and a hand dug well, so maybe we’re going to see the St. Helena Brew pub come to life. Not so … the license was for the recordkeeping office of Reckless Winery. Now I really want to know the story from a guy who is very comfortable to be with but is anything but reckless. What gives?

I sat with David for about an hour and listened to the tale of a man who is dedicated to his family and takes pride in his past. Wellesley Reckless Fitzpatrick , who is the namesake of his wine label, was David’s grandfather. It took me a while but Mr. Fitzpatrick (or the common name, Reckless) was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and took a Brit for a wife named Marta. I guess for a South Afrikaner to take a British wife was enough to get him excommunicated from his very loyal Johannesburg family.

The marriage took a lot of grit and determination, and David admires his grandparents’ efforts to make it work, so he decided to make a label out of the story. Reckless is featured in military uniform having fought in one of Britain’s Boer Wars … something about gold mine territories. If this ever comes up in conversation with David, pour yourself a large glass of his wine because the explanation is going to take the better part of your brain to understand, depending on how good your knowledge of South African history is.

A short story about David: He trained in college not to be a vet but to be a CPA. He holds an MBA degree in accounting as well as a CMA. He found out along the way that he really did not want to be an accountant, but really enjoyed working with animals instead. He went back to school at UC Davis and got his degree as a vet and spent a lot of hands-on time with Glen Baker working with everything from cats to livestock. He bought the Main Street Property in 1998 with its 3.5 acres of mixed grapes and walnuts. At one point, David tried to open a fruit stand but that really didn’t work out.

As David tells the story, Jim Regusci helped him make a decision to become a vintner. David agreed and planted three acres of cabernet sauvignon vines around the year 2000. Originally the grapes were sold or negotiated to the Regusci brand for the planting cost but in 2004 David decided to make his own wine.

Charles Hendricks is the consulting winemaker and the Reckless brand is done at the Regusci winery. I tasted the 2004 cabernet, which has just been released. The 2005 and 2006 vintages are all aging in bottles. There are 300 cases per vintage which Davis is selling directly to local stores and restaurants, including Acme Wines and Sunshine Market. Press and Market carry the wine on their lists. The price is somewhere around $42 on the shelf.

Finally, someone has come up with a wine that can take some age as opposed to the wines that you can open and drink.

I remember the old Dunn and Myacamus wines and the 2004 Reckless is a lot like them. Most wines are blended with other varietals but Reckless is 100 percent cabernet, all estate grown on the property just south of Whitings Nursery.

This is not much of a stand-around wine. It needs food as there is a lot of structure to this wine. After leaving the wine open for half a day, with the bottle three-quarters full from our tasting in the morning, the 2004 stood up nicely to our medallions of beef wrapped in prosciutto that night. Strong current on the nose, not overbearing alcohol, still young and tight, even the ‘04. I don’t know the barrel aging but I could taste American oak which lends a little bourbon to the dense cabernet flavors. This is not your everyday wine, I like this one for the cellar, personally. The price was a lot more reasonable than what you expect in this hand-crafted wine.  This wine will not disappoint.

I like writing about locals who are doing local things. This is what I believe sustainable is all about. Here is a man who lives “service above self,” or maybe “service out of control,” especially when I think of our feral cat story. David’s answer to why he is a vintner is because he has four children and they all don’t want to be vets. Maybe the wine business will appeal to one of them. He is already thinking of the next generation.

For saving my cat, for saving our community’s livestock large or small, someone should recommend this guy as Citizen of the Year. He works tirelessly and cares for every one of his patients as family.

Go get a bottle of Reckless and join me in lifting a glass to a man who answers the 9-1-1 emergency call day or night for pets in a town and has no emergency care facility for them. I know that’s part of the job for David Gold, but still his efforts should not go unappreciated.

(Phil Toohey is a food and wine purveyor who lives in the Napa Valley. He has been an industry insider and a vintner for the past 25 years.)

 He enjoys finding and reporting on new food and wine experiences throughout the Napa Valley.)

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