People:
Don Magorian

“My reputation for honesty is mine and my family's livelihood and that I will not compromise.”

We are continuing in our look at people that make Wine Country a place of intrigue, interest and just plain fun. I am venturing off the beaten path a bit to introduce you to a guy that has expanded the wine community, made it environmentally friendly and added an element of intrigue.

Meet Mr. Don Magorian President of Magorian Mine Services who has been boring, digging, tunneling (whatever you want to call it) wine caves in Wine Country for over 12 years. After talking to him he almost pulled me into having a love affair with building very sophisticated caves for our wines. I still don’t understand fully how he knows where to make a precise turn in the tunneling process but he has been threading needles underground in Napa and Sonoma Counties for some of the most prestigious wineries.

By background and education Don is a graduate of University of Nevada-Reno with a degree as a Mining Engineer. He probably is also a mining innovator, if there is such a thing, because he has brought technology innovations into the wine cave business. Don and his wife started the business and have grown it to 25 employees and now have 30 wine caves under his belt. But he started mining 30 years ago.

As a general rule I gravitate to real down to earth people who are genuinely honest, hard working and take a great deal of pride in giving more than expected. Don commented, "I have built a lot of caves for people on nothing more than a handshake."

"My reputation for honesty is mine and my family's livelihood and that I will not compromise," he continued. You know something, I believe him. "Call Farrari-Carano or David Raffanelli or Vineyard 29 if you doubt my honesty and quality," Don said. "I have built caves for them and a lot of others."

What I have learned is that caves are big business and the market for digging caves is going to last at least another 25 years. The sophistication of the cave today is much more advanced than 12 years ago. Today they are water proof, you can use your cell phone in the newer caves, automated temperature and humidity controls are built into the new caves. Some are more than just barrel storage; they are works of art.

The advantage of caves for the wine industry are: Less energy is required to maintain temperature, (generally at 60 degrees) and humidity; the footprint of the cave relative to above ground facility is much smaller and therefore more environmentally friendly; and, the 'spoils' from digging the cave offer advantages such as file that enhancing the flood plain and even using the rock spoils for road beds.

In Napa and Sonoma caves for winery barrel storage is the least expensive construction versus building above ground. Today it costs about $200 per square foot to dig a tunnel that is designed to last 100 years. Twelve years ago you could dig a cave for $100 per square foot. I am told that there are plans underway now to build whole wineries underground.

Bottom-line, without people like Don Magorian we would not be offering Cave Dinners to our clients.