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Vermeil Wines
Napa Valley AVA
A highend, small-production wine label in the heart of Napa Valley.
Dick Vermeil, former Head Coach of the Super Bowl winning St. Louis Rams, was born in the small town of Calistoga where his family has had ties to the Napa Valley wine business since the beginning. His great grandfather on his mother’s side, Garibaldi Laccheri, had owned a large Calistoga vineyard and his paternal great grandfather, Jean Louis Vermeil, had used the grapes to make wine at home for the family. Today, along with winemaker Paul Smith and the Frediani family, Dick Vermeil sources fruit from that same vineyard and manages a highend, small-production wine label in the heart of Napa Valley.
Dick Vermeil grew up with two great loves: football and wine. He initially focused on the first, becoming a legendary football coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs. He holds the distinction of being named Coach of the Year in high school, junior college, Division I college, and NFL Coach of the Year twice. He also worked for CBS and ABC as a sports broadcaster between his hugely successful coaching jobs. Beginning in 1999, Dick took up the hobby of home winemaking, using the grapes grown on the land that his great-grandfather once owned (which was passed on to the Frediani family).
In 2008, Dick retired from football and decided to turn his winemaking hobby into a business. He teamed up with the Frediani family (vineyard owners) and winemaker Paul Smith and went from making 150 cases to between 3,500 and 5,000 cases each year. Their focus was, and still is, on Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons, but they have also introduced a couple higher-end Bordeaux-style blends, a Cabernet Franc, and a single-vineyard Zinfandel to the lineup. Most of the grapes are sourced from the Frediani family’s 170-acre vineyard in Calistoga, with smaller amounts taken from select other vineyards in the Calistoga area.
Now in its fifth year of operation, Vermeil Winery is building a solid reputation with many of the wines earning 90+ scores and medals in local competitions. It seems Dick Vermeil’s accomplishments in the wine world are now nearly as impressive as what he did in football, and he is thrilled to make a second career out of his other great love in life.. His great grandfather on his mother’s side, Garibaldi Laccheri, had owned a large Calistoga vineyard and his paternal great grandfather, Jean Louis Vermeil, had used the grapes to make wine at home for the family. Today, along with winemaker Paul Smith and the Frediani family, Dick Vermeil sources fruit from that same vineyard and manages a highend, small-production wine label in the heart of Napa Valley.
Dick Vermeil grew up with two great loves: football and wine. He initially focused on the first, becoming a legendary football coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs. He holds the distinction of being named Coach of the Year in high school, junior college, Division I college, and NFL Coach of the Year twice. He also worked for CBS and ABC as a sports broadcaster between his hugely successful coaching jobs. Beginning in 1999, Dick took up the hobby of home winemaking, using the grapes grown on the land that his great-grandfather once owned (which was passed on to the Frediani family).
In 2008, Dick retired from football and decided to turn his winemaking hobby into a business. He teamed up with the Frediani family (vineyard owners) and winemaker Paul Smith and went from making 150 cases to between 3,500 and 5,000 cases each year. Their focus was, and still is, on Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons, but they have also introduced a couple higher-end Bordeaux-style blends, a Cabernet Franc, and a single-vineyard Zinfandel to the lineup. Most of the grapes are sourced from the Frediani family’s 170-acre vineyard in Calistoga, with smaller amounts taken from select other vineyards in the Calistoga area.
Now in its fifth year of operation, Vermeil Winery is building a solid reputation with many of the wines earning 90+ scores and medals in local competitions. It seems Dick Vermeil’s accomplishments in the wine world are now nearly as impressive as what he did in football, and he is thrilled to make a second career out of his other great love in life.
