Founder of RARECAT Wines offers seminars educating executives
Napa Valley, California, February 2018 — Sharon Kazan Harris is a Napa Valley winemaker and entrepreneur who combines her wine connoisseurship and business savvy in seminars educating business professionals. Kazan Harris— who has educated thousands of executives at seminars and tastings over the last seven years— is taking her seminars on the road this spring. Kazan Harris has conducted wine education seminars (with topics such as “Take Back The Wine List”) for clients including Bain, Stanford University School of Medicine, Squire Boggs, Orrick, Aetna, Nawbo, KL Gates, Merrill Lynch and Greystone, among others. She also has a special affinity for women’s leadership initiatives, diversity and empowering women.
The tour will also be the ‘traveling launch’ of the 2017 RARECAT Rosé, a distinctive and delicious blend of 90% Grenache Rouge and 10% Viognier, with a California appellation, which sells for $36.
“I enjoy using wine to connect people with purpose since wine is a powerful business tool,” she explains. She will be conducting seminars as team building for corporations as well as hosting winemaker lunches and other appearances, highlighting RARECAT’s current releases.
Road trip:
Sharon will leave her home base in Napa Valley and travel to 23 cities across the U.S. this spring:
- April 3 – 4: Denver
- April 6-7: Kansas City
- April 8-9: St. Louis
- April 10-15: Chicago
- April 17-18: Detroit
- April 19-20: Cleveland
- April 23-25: Boston
- April 27: Hartford
- April 28 – May 2: NYC
- May 4-6: Washington DC
- May 7-9: Charlotte
- May 10-11: Raleigh
- May 11: Charlotte
- May 12-15: Atlanta
- May 16: Chattanooga
- May 17-19: Nashville
- May 21-23: New Orleans
- May 24-28: Austin
- May 29 – June 1: Dallas/Ft. Worth
- June 4-5: Houston
Harris explains the trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhcYNrbn1lk
Sharon will be showcasing her current release wines during the trip.
- NV Crémant de Bordeaux, 100% Semillon, brut, method traditionelle ($36)
- 2009 RARECAT Champagne, a vintage brut Blanc de Blancs, sourced from a single estate vineyard in the Cote de Sezanne in the Champagne AOC ($79)
- 2017 RARECAT Rosé, a blend of 90% Grenache Rouge and 10% Viognier, with a California appellation ($36)
- 2014 RARECAT St. Emilion, a single vineyard bottling from the prestigious Secteur Villemaurine, a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc ($55)
- 2013 RARECAT Old Toll Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from vineyards in Calistoga, Spring Mountain and Howell Mountain, 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot ($110)
More detail on the wines:
Biographical background:
Sharon’s love of wine started when she went to the Université de Bordeaux for her junior year of college. That led her to her first wine experience at Haut Brion and the moment that changed her life and sealed her interest in wine and the Bordeaux region itself. After graduating from college Sharon returned to Bordeaux and lived with the most famous cheese mongers in France, while she worked at The St. James, a Michelin two-star restaurant, under Chef and owner Jean-Marie Amat. Some years later, after a career in publishing and technology, with a young family in tow, Sharon applied and was accepted to the prestigious DUAD program (the Diplome Universitaire d’Aptitude a la Degustation des Vins) offered through the Université de Bordeaux’s Oenology department.
The DUAD is an intensive yearlong program that takes four years of oenology and condenses it into one compacted year: it is a technical oenology degree program taught in French. Several years later Sharon returned to the States and moved to Napa Valley. Today Sharon is one of only two women working as vintners in the Napa Valley who hold the DUAD degree. Sharon keeps her links to Bordeaux very present, maintaining a second home in Bordeaux today.
As she works on the RARECAT wines, her passion extends to empowering business professionals through wine and supporting women in industry. Sharon’s personal experiences have shown how businesses benefit from diversity and how wine can empower diversity. “I am lucky; I am living my passion – wine puts me in contact with amazing people and brings me endless laughter,” Sharon says. Sharon Kazan Harris on her vision for RARECAT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMZFeP7Lc0Y
Coordinates:
P.O.B. 801, Rutherford CA 94573
Phone: 707-968-5031, 650-464-9408
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RarecatWines
Website: http://www.rarecatwines.com/
E-mail: info@rarecatwines.com
Tastings available only by appointment at the office in St. Helena
Visits to RARECAT Villa in St. Emilion, France, https://www.rarecatwines.com/Places/RARECAT-St-Emilion
Winemaker: Sharon Kazan Harris, Director of Winemaking
Founded: With the release of the 2009 RARECAT Lionheart Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
RARECAT:
Sharon explains the name: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kt8KHHZFGk
A “RARECAT” is a woman of such beauty that she is a rarity, a rare beauty. Sharon Kazan Harris’s wines express this philosophy with wines which are complex, elegant and balanced. The design motif comes from a Carthaginian coin from 320 – 300 BC. One side of the coin shows a picture of Tanit, Goddess of Carthage, wearing an oriental tiara, while the other side reveals a majestic lion in front of a palm tree. Tanit is possibly one of the first “RARECATS,” a woman of such beauty and charm that she launched a new nation. Although there are no lions in the Napa Valley, the Old Toll property and surrounding open spaces are home to occasional majestic mountain lions. “I have always loved wax seals and collect antique 18th century English fobs. A seal represented a family’s word, its honor, its heritage. I intend that every bottle of RARECAT carries our promise of quality and this handsome unusual seal is that symbol,” Sharon explains. “I first saw an image of the coin and its noble lion in a book of antique symbols. “I knew instantly this elegant, regal and powerful animal expressed everything I wanted RARECAT Wines to represent,” she adds.
Philosophy:
Proprietor Sharon Kazan Harris explains: “Creating wine is so much more than cultivating and bottling great fruit. It really is a passion, a passion that drives us to create something rare and exquisite, something elusive, but something that once discovered remains with you forever. This was the genesis for RARECAT. The true importance of wine is not only the beauty one finds in the glass but the conversations and friendships one develops while sharing something special.”
Villa in St. Emilion:
RARECAT Villa is owned by Sharon Kazan Harris. Arriving in Bordeaux in 1983, Sharon has lived in St. Emilion off and on in these recent years. Sharon loves to share her passion for this beautiful region and offers this villa as a home base for visitors. St. Emilion is UNESCO’s first world heritage site and one of France’s most bucolic villages. Surrounded by hillside vineyards and world-class wine chateaux, the village of St. Emilion is filled with restaurants, shops and historic buildings and shops. RARECAT Villa is the only luxury villa for rent in the village of St. Emilion. Located just outside the village’s Roman wall, this 4 bedroom villa is strolling distance to all of the local landmarks. The villa combines old world charm with modern amenities. More at https://www.rarecatwines.com/Places/RARECAT-St-Emilion.
