Nineteen ninety-eight was a great year for Tom and Linda Pratt, as it was the year they moved to their beautiful home on Bellerive Way in Red Tail. It was also a great year for California Cabs, which the two of them enjoy immensely.

As part of their home design and building process, Tom and Linda designed their own custom wine cellar. Tom says they were inspired by the wine cellar they saw when dining at Michaelangelo’s Italian Restaurant in Little Italy.

“What we didn’t like about most wine cellars is that they place the bottles on end and you cannot see the bottle without pulling it out from its bin,” said Tom.  “We wanted our bottles placed side by side, so we could immediately analyze what we have and make a selection.”

Tom and Linda installed the cellar’s racking themselves on New Year’s Eve of 2015 and then celebrated by staying up until 3 a.m., drinking wine, and admiring their handiwork.  

While their wine cellar does not have a climate control system, the cellar is situated on an outside wall, which keeps the temperature at a consistent 62 degrees year-round.  

The design style of their cellar is contemporary and makes an artful statement as they or their guests enter their basement.  It is comprised entirely of glass, which provides a great view of their wines.  “We want it to be seen for what it is – a collection of wines we enjoy,” said Tom.  What they and others don’t see is that they also have two other wine fridges, which hold their most collectible wines and their whites.

The Pratts’ wine cellar itself houses 216 bottles.  Tom says they enjoy both Reds and Whites as well as ‘Pinks’ too – they do not discriminate.  Some of their favorite vintages are 2018 and 2019, which were very good years in Napa for Reds.  “We have Far Niente flighted from 2002 through 2018,” said Tom.  “We are big fans of Kamen, Nickel & Nickel, which is part of Far Niente, O’Shaughnessy, Jordan, Domaine Seren Cour Blanc, Wren Hop, Gary Farrel, Hawley – the list goes on and on,” he said, “We have experienced so many good wines over the years, and we like the fact that our palettes keep changing as we experience more and more.”

Tom and Linda enjoy traveling out to California. This past April, they spent some time in Healdsburg, which is where the movie ‘Bottle Shock’ starring Chris Pine and Alan Rickman was filmed. They met two of their neighbor’s sons, who are investment bankers in San Francisco, in Sonoma for a tasting at Kamen.  While they were there, Michael Kamen, the owner and former film writer, came in and sat down with them and pontificated about Sonoma for an hour.   They all bonded over wine, resulting in an invitation to Michael Kamen’s home.  

This goes to show that the wine and friendship adage, “Friendship is the Wine of Life,” is so true.