PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL TROUTMAN
“My label would not exist without Ron Siletto,” says winegrower, knife collector and ornithologist Nat Wong of Blade & Talon. The slender young man with exquisite tattoos of feathers, grapevines and an intricately carved knife handle adorning his right arm, lives on the historic Wheeler Ranch in Tres Pinos. It’s one of three CCOFcertified organic vineyards that are part of Siletto Family Vineyards in the wilds of San Benito County.
If not for Wong, Siletto Family Vineyards—the prized candy store for eclectic grape varieties like cabernet pfeffer, corvina, falanghina and trousseau—would likely not exist in its present form, either. This is a symbiotic relationship, driven by love of the land, misfit grapes and birds of prey.
Trained as an ornithologist, Wong is a fifth generation Californian of Chinese descent, who graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Nature and Culture and once worked with penguins and sea birds at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. In a twist of fate, his family originally emigrated in the 1850s from a village north of Guangzhou, China, settling in Point Alones, now part of Monterey. This was the largest Chinese fishing village in California and was destroyed by a suspicious fire in 1906, displacing all the Chinese residents, including his great grandparents, who moved to San Francisco. It later became the site of Hopkins Marine Station and Monterey Bay Aquarium.
But feathered friends did not fill this young man’s cup. Wong fell in love with wine on a trip to the Loire Valley in early 2018. “When I tried a cabernet franc in the Bourgueil, man alive, it was a great experience! I felt emotions and recalled memories I did not think I ever would. I felt an incredible energy and connection to history.”
Talking to French vineyard workers about organic and biodynamic farming, and the key role the government played in wine policy, made him long to be part of this natural and cultural cycle. “To weave myself into that fabric was very tempting.”
By year’s end, he was working harvest at Folktale Winery in Carmel Valley. Further seduced by the lure of winemaking, he was convinced to start his own label. “I was looking for someone to sell me grapes,” says Wong. “All I wanted was a half a ton…please? But nobody would give me the time of day.”
“I felt an incredible energy and connection to history.”
Luckily, Wong knew Bryan Harrington, a well-connected San Franciscobased winemaker and importer. “I brought a bottle of carbonic sangiovese I’d made at Folktale to Brian, and he said, ‘Oh, Ron loves carbonic! You need to talk to Ron Siletto.’”
The two instantly hit it off. “Ron treated me like I was buying 30 tons!” says Wong. “We walked all the rows and hung out for hours and hours in his living room, listening to him wax poetic. He poured a rosé of Barbera, which was an acid bomb, and asked what I would do with this grape. I laid out my plan. Just like that, I was signed up for half a ton of Barbera and half a ton of négrette.”
That first 2020 Blade & Talon Rosé of Barbera was awarded 90 points by Matt Kettmann of Wine Enthusiast, and the 2020 Blade & Talon Négrette, 91 points: a righteous debut.
Sadly, Ron Siletto, former president of Almaden Vineyards, once one of America’s largest wine companies, didn’t live to taste them. He passed away before harvest in 2020. Thereafter, Wong stepped in as general manager to oversee grape growing and sales for three vineyards in Tres Pinos: Calleri (planted 1994), Wheeler (1974) and Siletto (1995).
All 80 acres and 25 varieties are now farmed organically, a decision driven by winemakers like Deux Punx, Tessier and Ryme. “Berkeley types want organic!” says Wong. They pay a premium for it. As an ecologist, he was enthusiastically behind the conversion, which involves matching each variety with the right cover crop to provide habitat for specific beneficial insects. It’s precision agriculture tuned to preserve these rarities that were favorites of Siletto.
Local vintners Ian Brand and Ryan Stirm are longtime purchasers of Wong’s Mourvèdre grapes, while Denis Hoey, Miguel Lepe, Megan Bell and James Jelks all come to him for rarities like aligoté, sangiovese, Barbera and cabernet pfeffer. Wong himself makes Ruché, falanghina, Greco di Tufo, Frappato and intriguing red blends.
What is not planted with grapes is dedicated to cattle, grazing over three dramatically deep and beautiful ravines. Wong says that San Benito has the largest percentage of organic rangeland in California and is prime habitat for the San Joaquin kit fox. “One of our neighbors runs about 15 to 25 head of Angus cattle here on Wheeler Ranch,” says Wong. “But his own ranch is like in The Lion King: everything the light touches.”
Blade & Talon brings together three things Wong loves. On the label there’s a Cooper’s hawk whose wings are Thiers knife blades from Fontenille Pataud, a small company run by a couple who enjoy falconry. Inside the bottle, there’s wine. A circle ties them all together.
“Falconry requires the use of human influence to make it work, while agriculture needs a cultivator and you can’t use a knife unless you are holding it,” says Wong.
The knife culture in France, of which Thiers is the capital, is different from anywhere in the world. “French knives are high-class and elegant,” says Wong. “They are made by hand with an unnecessary level of detail. It’s like their wine culture.”
His first knife was a Swiss pocketknife given to him by his grandfather who was in the Army at Fort Ord. “Grandma would visit and they would go dancing at Stilwell Hall. He always had a knife and showed me how to throw. With a strong military history, you learn how to take guns apart and clean them, same with knives. I still use a cleaver from my great grandfather’s butcher shop in Oakland.”
Building anything sustainable—a vineyard, a knife or a tradition like falconry— requires commitment and tenacity. “I’ve been privileged to work with a lot of birds. Harris hawks are like fighter jets, great horned owls are assholes and constantly hissing. They will absolutely try to kill you.” He’s currently working with a male juvenile red-tailed hawk. “I love red-tails. They are my favorite to work with. As a hunter, they are super powerful, like a Ferrari F1 car. They drop like a brick out of the sky.” The females, which are 30% larger than males, can easily take out a large jackrabbit, which are plentiful in this vast expanse of wildness.
“It means a lot to live and work here,” says Wong. “I would not be able to do this without my relationship with the Siletto family.” Thanks, Ron.
About the author
Laura Ness
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Laura Ness is a longtime wine journalist, columnist and judge who contributes regularly to Edible Monterey Bay, Spirited, WineOh.Tv, Los Gatos Magazine and Wine Industry Network, and a variety of consumer publications. Her passion is telling stories about the intriguing characters who inhabit the fascinating world of wine and food.
