Today is a sad day for me. It is the 17’th Anniversary of the death of Ridge’s Donn Reisen. I have a ton of Donn Reisen stories… some of which are even true!!
Donn started working at Ridge in the mid’-’60’s as a volunteer picker at harvest. Dave Bennion eventually hired him to run the Ridge tasting room in the late ‘60’s. He eventually became the Western States Marketing manager. And then eventually the National Marketing Director for Ridge. Where he was when I first met Donn. Eventually he became the President of Ridge, working closely with Wilma, who preceded him as Prez.
Donn was a serious biker. He would daily ride from 13100 MonteBelloRd down to the bottom of MB Rd and then back up to the Wnry. Those of you who have driven that road know it’s not a pedal for whimps.
One day Donn was doing the downhill part & at the bottom of MB Rd, he swerved to avoid an oncoming car, hit the curb, & went over the handlebars. His head hit the pavement, totally shattering his biking helmet. He suffered some serious brain damage and was very lucky that the Stanford Hospital was able to save.
Donn was very demanding of himself and not being able to function as before was a great burden for him. He eventually ended his life on his own terms.
For many yrs, Donn was the public face of Ridge, along with Paul Draper. He was a large measure responsible for the success of Ridge because of his outgoing personality.
My best Donn Reisen story: He knew of my passion for the Syrah grape. When Ridge made their first Syrah in ‘76, he brought a pre-release btl to SantaFe for me to try. It was a good Ridge red. But just that. He could tell from my look that I was disappointed. He put his hand on my shoulder and admonished me to give it some time. And he was right. It turned into a wonderful old Ridge w/ 10-15 yrs of age.
For those of you who never met Donn…. you really missed a wonderful man. For those of you who did know Donn, you are indeed fortunate. Tell us your best DonnReisen story here.
He was an amazing man & I greatly miss Donn Reisen to this day.
Tom