Nathalie Vache
A young Nathalie looked out the window of her dad’s old French car with eager anticipation. It was a chilly February morning in Bordeaux, France. The local vineyard crew had completed their winter pruning for the season and set out the pruned vines in bundles along the end of each row.
“This was an annual tradition in wine country, France. Each year, my dad and I, would join our neighbors and toss those bundles in my dad’s trailer. The community would use the branches for barbecue. We would start the fire with charcoal, then add the vines afterword. The vines would bring out SO much flavor to the meat! It was beautiful. I remember this often every time we come into the winter season.” She says with great fondness.
We sat in front of a local bakery on a cool Napa morning. Soon into our conversation we discovered we had both lost a parent nearly 2 years apart. Nathalie lost her father in early September, two years ago, and I have since lost my mother. “It’s not easy and I don’t think it’s ever going to be easy. I’ve been in America for 25 years, but I used to visit him 2 weeks a year. That time with him was always very meaningful. We lived in the same place and would have breakfast, lunch, and dinner together.”
After a moment, she says with a loving smile, “I think about my dad every day. I miss him very much.”
Nathalie Vache was born in the south of France and was raised in the countryside, just outside of Paulliac in Bordeaux, France. Nathalie works as the hospitality manager for the incredible Peter Michael Winery. I so enjoyed my time with her.
Nathalie has been significantly influenced by her dad. Her story and his story are one in the same. Her love and reverence for him carries through to every facet of her life. “I went into this business because of him.”
“My dad always had a passion for life! He loved people, family, and friends.” Nathalie’s father was a master electrician for a large company. He was notoriously known for going out of his way to make a co-worker feel like the most special person on the planet, especially on their birthday.
“He would spend months in advance getting to know someone. Once he understood their persona, he would design these costumes specific to who they were. He would create a story board and find items to make up their unique costume. He would then attach these items to a long string.”
Her dad created these elaborate costumes to celebrate his co-workers’ birthdays. At the party, he would place them in a box, sectioned off piece by piece, and surprise them as a new item was revealed. “One by one, the recipient would pull a string out of the box. Each item, or piece of clothing, would have a short explanation of what it was and what was coming next, ensuring to keep everyone guessing along the way. This ultimately concluded in assembling a complete costume.”
Nathalie’s dad would also make the entire room sing! “He would literally have everyone on chairs singing! His favorite song was La Pitchouli. That was his type of music. He would have his friends playing several instruments as the whole group sang!” Nathalie says with a smile.
“When my dad passed, I met a lot of people who told me that he did this for them and made this particular day, the most special day of their life.
He always took time to do that…”
It was Friday evening at their home in Bordeaux and guests were about to arrive for dinner. The house was filled with aromas as the evening’s meal simmered on the stove. The family tradition of selecting tonight’s wine was moments away. Nathalie and her sister knew that they had to be quiet as to not disturb their father during his special ritual.
Nathalie proceeded down the steps into their cool dark cellar and selected the wines her dad had requested. As she slowly made her way back up the stairs, she carefully gave the bottles to her father.
“They would be covered with dust. He would take them in his hand, study it, gently clean it, remove the cork, and decant it. He would pour a small amount in a glass, swirl it around, smell it inquisitively, and taste it…making sure it was ‘on point’. I used to think he was a little over the top about it, but as I got older, something clicked with me. I was curious and began to pay attention. I started to watch him closer and asked him what he was doing and why. As I listened, I started to understand his passion and zest for life. This was a defining moment for me.
I saw how he changed people’s lives with his passion and appreciation of good wine, good food, good company, and most of all, the family bond. These were some of the memories that inspired me to enter the hospitality and wine industry; to create that memory and be the positive bond between people and their experience…or their defining moment.”
Nathalie was profoundly inspired by her father’s passion for the things he found meaning in. At 19 years old, she packed up, moved to Boston desiring to sell wine around the world, and learned English. She worked as a concierge in a French Hotel for about a year and followed that with a 5-year stint managing the wine program for a local restaurant. During that time, she fell in love and moved to Alaska.
“I learned a lot about myself during that time. I was insecure and felt dependent on him. I knew that I was not living the lifestyle that I wanted. I made the decision to leave, not knowing if I was going to make it on my own. But I realized that I WAS strong enough, just as I was when I first left home to build my life here in the US.”
Nathalie moved to Napa in 2004 to get back into the wine business. “At Peter Michael Winery, I meet a lot of people intimidated by the wine industry. I try to be approachable, fun, and educate them about the brand. For my guests, I hope to instill my passion and appreciation, not just for the product that I am representing, but for the connection I feel in sharing the beautiful area we live in and the people in it.
For my family and friends, I would want them to remember me as a person who did a lot… but never expected anything in return. I hope to be remembered in this way.”
