Porthos is the name of the fun loving, wine drinking musketeer from Alexandre Dumas novel, The Three Musketeers. Porthos Wine Ventures was founded by three wine lovers now dedicated to seizing the finest undiscovered small production boutique wines in Napa and Sonoma and rescuing them for your cellar! Today, the Porthos team samples over 5,000 wines annually and recommends the highest scoring 1% to our thirsty audience of avid wine collectors.
Our mission is to build long term, personal relationships with our clients by providing&
Porthos members place the greatest value on our ability to recommend and source new wines that they will personally enjoy! To ensure you only receive wines guaranteed to thrill, we invest in customizing our recommendations based upon your purchasing history and individual feedback.
At Porthos, we're committed to providing you insider information about the best new up-and-coming wines before they are discovered by the wine critics and collector crowds!
Porthos was established in June, 2000 in Sausalito, California by Hal Oates and his business partner Nick Moult. Porthos originally started as a newsletter for co-founder Hal Oates' thirsty friends and family in Texas looking for hard-to-find California wines and has since grown to become the #1 "wine personal shopper" service in California. Since the original clients of Porthos were all friends and family, our team established a highly personalized customer service attitude which were proud to maintain today with our extended family of fellow wine lovers. While many of our colleagues in the wine world love to pontificate about what wines they love, our purpose is to help you find the wines you already love and then introduce you to new wines according to your individual tastes!
If you're not happy with a purchase or one of Porthos recommendations, we'll do what it takes to make you happy. But we ask our customers to acknowledge that wine is a living thing, easily bruised, damaged, or killed in a variety of ways. All wine sold by us is maintained at optimum conditions.
We consider wine to be out of our control once it has been successfully delivered and you've had a reasonable time to sample it. We cannot be responsible for improper storage (storing on top of your refrigerator, in your car, next to your oven, for example).
Know your palate: Older wines (ten years or more) may differ from their characteristics on release - and still be great wines. If you purchase older wines, be patient and allow your mind - and the wine - to open.
We cannot accept returns for sound wines that do not coincide with personal tastes.
In general, Porthos will make every effort to resolve any wine issues to your satisfaction.
By submitting an order to Porthos Wine Ventures, Inc. you are also submitting that you are 21 years of age and legally able to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages. Wines may be delivered to persons of 21 years of age or older only. You will be asked to provide positive ID by the shipper or carrier. Porthos is not responsible for the return of shipments due to lack of positive ID, and return shipping charges are your responsibility. All wine is sold in the State of California, and the title passes to the buyer in California. PORTHOS makes no representation to the legal rights of anyone to ship or import wine into any state outside of California. By placing an order with us, you are stating to us that you are in compliance with your local laws governing alcoholic beverages.
We promise to protect your privacy and will not share any of the information we collect from you with any third party. Questions or concerns? Contact us.
Due to interstate shipping regulations that remain in a few states, Porthos cannot ship wine to all 50 states. Thankfully, these laws are changing rapidly, but if you need wine shipped to a state that is included on the current list of prohibited states, well contact you directly in order to make other arrangements.
Porthos reserves the right to hold shipment of your wine during extreme weather conditions.
Although unlikely, we reserve the right to raise prices for shipping/handling without notice.
Porthos cannot be responsible for damage to wine (including leakage or damaged corks) shipped to you against our express protestations in regards to weather conditions.
Porthos cannot be responsible for wine damaged by a shipper or inappropriate storage/handling on the part of the buyer, although we will make a reasonable effort to resolve any disputes.
We reserve the right to refuse sales if we deem it to be inappropriate and/or unsafe.
If you're not happy with a purchase or one of our recommendations, we'll do what it takes to make you happy. We ask our customers to acknowledge that wine is a living thing, easily bruised, damaged, or destroyed in a variety of ways. All wine sold by us is maintained at optimum conditions. We consider wine to be out of our control once it has been successfully delivered and you've had a reasonable amount of time to sample it. We cannot be responsible for improper storage (storing on top of your refrigerator, in your car, next to your oven, for example). Know your palate: Older wines (ten years or more) may differ from their characteristics on release - and still be great wines. If you purchase older wines, be patient and allow your mind - and the wine - to open. We cannot accept returns for sound wines that do not coincide with personal tastes. In general, Porthos will make every effort to resolve any wine issues to your satisfaction.
Occasionally, we offer our most highly-sought-after wines to our loyal clients on a pre-order basis before the wine is released. We believe this is the most democratic manner in which to guarantee quantities of particular wines desired by our clients. In order to guarantee the wine purchase, Porthos will charge the client for wine, shipping, and sales tax (if applicable) at the time of the order. At that time, Porthos will advise the client of the estimated shipping date. Then, Porthos will notify the client once the pre-ordered wine ships. Timing may range from several weeks to a few months before the winery delivers their wine to us.
At Porthos, we never claim to have the absolute cheapest prices on every wine because we have found that some competitors occasionally misprice items and/or bait and switch pricing on a few bottles of a big name wine that happens to mysteriously sell out when a purchase is attempted. Porthos provides competitive retail pricing on featured wines to offer our members a fair deal and avoid any price gouging on our rarest selections. In most situations, if you find a wine priced significantly lower in a legitimate offer from a competitor Porthos will strive to match that offering*.
*Depends on availability. Price will be matched once we receive confirmation of the lower price.
Our #1 focus at Porthos is providing the finest personalized service to our discriminating clientele. The majority of Porthos members are serious wine collectors that place a premium on our ability to customize recommendations and source rare wines that they will personally enjoy. Weve learned that a big rating or the cheapest price for a particular wine is not a true value to a thirsty wine lover if they do not enjoy the actual bottle.
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Our Team
Hal grew up in Texas with a large, loving family that was/is obsessed with sensational food and wine. Hal's first trip to Napa was at age 10 and his only regret is that he didn't return to start Porthos sooner. After college at the University of Virginia and business school at Wharton, Hal spent ten years in consumer advertising and promotions with PepsiCo. Hal relocated from Texas to northern California for his last assignment as V.P. of Corporate marketing working with George Lucas and the Lucasfilm management team to develop all corporate advertising and promotions for Star Wars. Hal quickly became more interested in wine sampling than film marketing and began an "insiders" newsletter raving about the best undiscovered wineries in Napa and Sonoma. That newsletter led to the development of Porthos after enough friends and family complained they couldn't purchase (locally) any of the new wines Hal recommended. Today, Hal and his team are dedicated to sourcing and recommending the finest small production wines in California according to each clients' personal tastes.
Pam works with the thirstiest Porthos clients to help them aquire their favorite wines and personally recommends new discoveries based upon each clients individual palate. Pam is a true Napa insider. Born, raised and residing in the Napa Valley Wine Country. She co-founded Jessup Cellars in Napa in 1996. Knowing first hand the hard work and passion a first generation Napa Valley boutique winery faces to get wines to those who are looking for the undiscovered Napa Valley gems. Pam led national sales and marketing for Jessup Cellars for 10 years before deciding she was ready to expand her horizons and sell a broader portfolio of the finest wines from Californias small boutique producers. Pam now picks the best-of-the-best new wines for Porthos clients with a particular emphasis on her favorite varietals including Sumptuous, Age Worthy Cabernet, Big Chardonnays, luscious Zins and sultry Merlots to those who share the passion of enjoying excellent wine.
With the exception of living in Tokyo for three years, Bruce has lived in California his whole life. It was during his school days in the heart of the Central Coast region where Robert Talbot shared his first vintage of Chardonnay with Bruce. His love of excellent wine began. College days at SF State were about business and baseball. He then moved North to Sonoma County to raise his family. His career path led him to luxury sales where the focus was on customer satisfaction and the development of long-term relationships. His love of wine steered him toward wine country and he steered his career toward hospitality. In the Napa Valley, Bruce developed the current food and wine education program at Duckhorn. As GM (and first employee) of Nicholson Ranch, he created the hospitality vision for a new winery. During his time at Nicholson Ranch, Bruce met the young Mike Smith and Thomas Brown – now superstar winemakers of Schrader, Myriad and many more collector labels. All the while his love of wine (and the size of his cellar) grew… At Porthos, Bruce is a member of the tasting team, bringing only the 'best of the best' to our oenophile audience. He offers personalized recommendations to his clients and provides the very best possible concierge level service to his clients.
Born and raised on a cattle ranch in Texas, Jeff moved to Southern California at the age of 19. Just a few years later the wine bug bit him hard while riding his vintage Triumph motorcycle across France and Spain. He began collecting wines while working for companies such as the Four Seasons and John Varvatos and living in places like New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Charleston South Carolina and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 2004 , Jeff and his family moved to the Bay Area and began working with wine aficionados, helping them procure Napa's rarest wines by utilizing his experience with luxury brands and his passion for providing unparalleled customer service.
One of the original inspirations behind Porthos, Eric rejoined the team in 2006 to lead client management strategy and wine acquisitions. Eric brings a wide variety of experience to the Porthos team including retail, restaurants, imports, and a very fair share of personal research! Having been born and raised in the Chilean wine country Eric has wine history in his blood. Prior to Porthos, Eric spent 5 years in the import export side of the wine industry. Most recently he headed Artemis Wines International overseeing all national sales, marketing, distributor and public relations efforts for its import winery clients. Previous to Artemis he was Director of Export for Scott Street Portfolio where he negotiated and managed the entry of 40+ US wineries (Alban Vineyards, Kistler, LEcole 41 Niebaum Coppola to name a few) into the competitive Hong Kong market. At the same time he created and shipped a new brand from Chile, Via Corral, into the UK market. Prior to his first time at Porthos, he founded Vias International, a tour company that pioneered wine tourism combined with Patagonian adventure travel in Chile and Argentina. Additionally Eric sits on the board of Directors for the non-profit Under One Roof, where he created the acclaimed San Francisco Champagne & Sparkling Wine Tasting & Auction Benefit.
Nicholas Moult, Co-Founder and V.P. of Operations, grew up in England and became a wine lover while working in kitchens around Europe and, prior to Porthos, Lulu's and Plumpjack's in Northern California. In the early 1990's, Nick managed the construction and operations of a wine bar in Austria, several restaurants in New Zealand and hospital units in Kuwait during the first Gulf War. Nick utilizes his diverse culinary and logistics experience to help Porthos select California + wines with an international flavor as well as make sure our valuable clients receive the wine they order in a timely manner.
Ryan leads all creative and technical developments for Porthos.com. Prior to Porthos, Ryan scored movies and television commercials for several years as well as successfully launching a new restaurant concept for Gap, Inc.
Julie is a native of Northern Michigan, landed in the heart of Napa Valley fifteen years ago. Her broad accounting background includes working in education, construction, and agriculture, until finding her true passion 7 years ago in the wine industry. She comes to Porthos from Napa Valley Vintners where she oversaw finances for the non-profit organization and their very successful wine auctions: Auction Napa Valley and Premiere Napa Valley. A knack for crunching numbers and a love of great wines makes for a perfect fit on the Porthos team.
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