VINTAGE ENTERPRISE

Forster Meeks thought seriously about becoming either an ace golfer in college or a chef-to-be in culinary school. He was a scratch golfer at the age of 14 and had no qualms about making a meal from scratch.

Maybe he placed a fairway-stained visor next to a pristine torque on a table one day and asked his teenaged heart, “What’s it going to be?”

Meeks, a fun-loving and fearless 2010 Lake Forest High School graduate, became a … winemaker/fervent recreational skier.

“Forster migrates from snow country to wine country each year,” says good friend Elise Nerlove, co-owner and winemaker of Elkhorn Peak Cellars, a micro-winery in Napa, California. “He skis a lot from Thanksgiving until May and then devotes most of his time to wine from August until the end of October. I know he’s well-loved in the wine industry and I’m sure he’s wellloved in the skiing community.

“Good guy,” she adds.

Enterprising guy, too. Meeks, 31, and Ohio native Abner Wyman—both call Napa home—launched Model Citizen Wines (MCW) in Napa three years ago. MCW makes wines that captivate a sense of place and inspire memorable evenings, friendship, and adventure.

“We strive to make approachable and interesting wines that showcase vibrancy, energetic fruit, and great tension across the palate,” Meeks says, who recently added a Santa Cruz Pinot Noir, a Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc, and a Santa Cruz Red Blend to an original lineup of label offerings that included a 2022 Santa Cruz Pinot Noir, a Pinot Noir Pet-Nat, and a Valdiguie Pet- Nat. “We work with cool climate vineyards throughout central and northern California to craft wines with lively acidity and exceptional freshness.

“The brand,” he adds, “is rooted in the philosophy that wines should be enjoyed with great friends and family in special places.”

Meeks’ 10-year trek to official winemaker status should be made into a movie. The flick would be part action, part adventure, part comedy and rated PG for Predominantly Grapes. He was a high school graduate for all of one day when he found himself en route to Oregon. One of his early restaurant gigs in the Beaver State was prep cook, working the 2:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. shift.

In 2011, a chef provided Meeks an opportunity in Oregon to dip his toes in the wine industry. Meeks stomped all 10 lower digits instead.

“It sounded like it would be good complementary work to my restaurant work,” Meeks recalls. “But my first harvest was rough. I didn’t enjoy it.”

He became a cellar hand at 19 and toiled his second harvest the next summer, this time in California.

“My attitude about wine did a 180 in California,” Meeks says. “I left that harvest with a deeper understanding of the field, along with a greater appreciation for it.”

Six-month stints in Napa Valley, bridging late summers and early falls, followed, and during winters—to give his busy skis and worn-out poles an occasional break—he managed wine shipments at Old Town Cellars in Park City, Utah.

Wyman had entered the picture in 2012. Future best friend and venture partner, Meeks hired him to fill a summer skiing operations post in Mount Hood, Oregon.

“He also got me my first harvest internship (in 2016),” Wyman says. “What we’ve been doing with Model Citizen Wines is classic adventure stuff. Meeks is focused and driven and hilarious and one of the most passionate individuals I’ve ever met.

“How many people do you know who ski 200 days a year and sometimes drive 15 hours straight to ski down a certain mountain for the first time? I know one. It’s Meeks.”

There’s a fun story beyond the name of Meeks’ and Wyman’s label. When Meeks was a youngster in Lake Forest, his father, Tom, would be sure to tell his son, “Be a model citizen today,” on school-day mornings. Tom and his wife, Holly, moved from Lake Forest to Park City in 2018.

In addition to running Model Citizen Wines with Wyman, Meeks serves as a host and wine vendor at Del Dotto Vineyards in Napa.

“It’s a tricky, unique business, winemaking,” Meeks says. “Winemaking is a capital-intensive field, with a lot of challenges. But I love it, love conceptualizing the stylized approach to winemaking and knowing that a little piece of our hard work leads to great evenings for others.”

Great nights at the dinner table, specifically. For many, a delectable meal without a fine wine is a cake without icing or a pool without water.

“Some of the most important times in life are spent at dinner, talking with family or good friends over great food and while drinking a good wine,” Meeks says.

Meeks holds Knollwood Club’s unofficial record for most caddieinitiated conversations with golfers during a five-year stretch, beginning at age 13. He’d amass nearly 90 loops each summer across the approximately 7,000-yard track in Lake Forest. That’s about 358 miles.

“I loved that job, and I was good at reading golfers,” says Meeks, a two-year LFHS varsity golfer. “I knew when a member wanted to talk and when a member wanted to just play a round. Through caddying I found out what made successful people tick and took note of how they carried themselves.

“There’s no doubt,” he adds, “the development of the work ethic I have today began with caddying. I recognized I could be the liaison to a golfer’s better round each time I worked.”

Meeks rents a cottage on the grounds of Elkhorn Peak Cellars in Napa. Nerlove and her father, Ken Nerlove, run the 40- year micro-winery together. Elise Nerlove and Meeks first met when both were harvest interns at Failla Wines in St. Helena, California.

“It takes a certain type of person to make it in the wine industry,” Elise Nerlove says. “Forster is that type—highly motivated, a self-starter, willing to get their hands dirty. He’s young, energetic, a go-getter.”

Visit modelcitizenwines.com for more information.