Had lunch today with the very personable Dr. Thomas P. Kenefick, yet another Minnesota native now owning and operating a California winery. A double St. Thomas grad — Academy and College — back when the campuses were adjacent, Kenefick has been growing grapes in Napa for decades but only started making wines with the 2003 vintage.

And what wines they are — Kenefick Ranch’s plummy, layered merlot ($42 retail), smoky, dusty, currant-laden cabernet franc ($48) and rich, beautifully balanced cabernet sauvignon ($60) are all recommended.

Dr. Kenefick, who practiced here and at the Mayo Clinic before moving to San Francisco, will be talking about the wines at what figures to be a great event – a wine dinner at the Napa Valley Grille on Thursday. It’s not cheap at $125, but with seven courses of Matthew Fogarty’s always-fabulous food  and these wines, that figures to be money very well spent.

Especially because Dr. Kenefick is quite the raconteur, and has lived a pretty amazing life. (Ask him about the five jobs he once held simultaneously, or his childhood days sailing on White Bear Lake.)

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