His early exposure to wine in Ohio, and then international travel provided him the wisdom and intelligence to make his next move: Tom the Vintner. In 1970 he and a friend were visiting Napa Valley and stopped at Beaulieu Winery. They happened to arrive just after a shareholder lunch, when library Cabernets from the ?30s, ?40s, ?50s and ?60s were available to taste. It was a seminal event in the young pilot?s life. In Tom?s words, he ?heard the wolves baying in the woods? when he tasted these outstanding wines: the Napa Valley was calling for him.