Profile: Catherine Bergen of Made in Napa Valley
I dropped in on a friend yesterday, someone I admire for single-handedly changing the way people think about food and Napa Valley in the same breath. In a profession (commercial food) dominated by Big Firms, most of them run by men, Catherine Bergen is a refreshing change. And her dog, Jane, is an original, too.
Catherine Bergen and her wonder dog, Jane, the effervescent Jack Russell Terrier who goes everywhere with “mom.”
I pulled Catherine from her office; we sat on a sun-dappled bench, on the bank of the Napa River, beside her 14-year-old, still-expanding, food business (officially called Tulocay and Company) and exchanged updates. Catherine’s were so big, they’re newsworthy.
Catherine is the creator of Made in Napa Valley, a line of premium sauces, condiments, dry rubs and ice cream toppings that you can’t help but notice on visits to specialty food stores, high-end grocery outlets, places like Crate & Barrel, Williams-Sonoma and Cost Plus World Market.
Catherine’s news: she’s taken on two investment partners and they’re expanding the enterprise, prospecting for gold in them thar hills. And grocery aisles.
“We’re moving into a 50,000 square-foot facility that we’re building from the ground up,” says Catherine. The new facility, next to Napa Airport, south of Napa town, will open next spring.
“In addition to making all our products there, we will conduct cooking classes on location; visitors will be able to take a glass-paneled tour of our production facility and will also be able to taste a lot of our products in a tasting/café/bar area,” says Catherine.
Can you identify a tastier, silkier, more sensual commercial chocolate, or caramel, sauce?
1) If so, I want to know what it is…. and
2) Your prescription drugs are way too strong, because the ONLY answer to the trick question above is: THERE ISN’T A BETTER SAUCE, NOT ANYWHERE. Period.
The products that I most admire Catherine for inventing are three dessert toppings, which, if they were wines, would each be rated 100 points by Robert Parker. Think of these as tasty, cult toppings, the Screaming Eagles of Saucedom.
My favorite is MINV (Made in Napa Valley) Pure Dark Chocolate Sauce made with Kona Coffee. If I could only take one chocolate sauce to a dessert island, it would be this. It has a richness and intensity associated with premium quality couverture chocolate, yet has a silken texture that one would associate with velour, or satin sheets.
Mind you, there is nothing shabby about MINV’s other chocolate sauce – Pure Dark Chocolate Sauce made with Cabernet Sauvignon. It has more of a milk chocolate-tasting finish, compared to the darker, brooding Kona-infused sauce.
And let’s not forget the sensational, sensuous Vanilla Caramel Sauce made with – are you ready for this? – Chardonnay! One spoonful leads to…. another… and another… Basically, the stuff’s addictive and should be on the government’s Controlled Substance list.
But Wait, There’s More!
I asked Catherine to reveal some of her new, soon-to-launched, products.
They include:
MINV Artichoke Condiment is made rich with Parmesan cheese, it is goosed with capers, tweaked with citrus and then the afterburners are set aglow with a good hit of roasted jalapeno. Just enough flavor and acid to draw you back for another flavor hit.
MINV Tropical Fruit Salsa is IMPOSSIBLE to stop eating. It has a mild, fruited, curry-like front end and a stunning, chile-induced finish that goes on and on.
These new products will soon be available in Napa Valley at Sunshine Foods, Dean & DeLuca, Oakville Grocery, Copia, Napa General Store, and the Carneros Inn, as well as at Adronico’s, Draeger’s and Mollie Stones in the Bay-area.
As with all MINV products, the labels of these two new condiments include a cartoon image of Catherine’s wonder dog, Jane. “I don’t go anywhere without my little Jane,” says Catherine, “ so I figured that none of our products should leave here without Jane either.”
Catherine’s 7-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, Jane, became the official mascot of Made in Napa Valley years ago and now, if her image were to be removed from the label, consumers would likely comment that something comforting, cute and endearing has gone missing.
Another new series of products that Catherine will launch this fall: “Gifts to Go,” a line of (approximately) $25 condiment gift sets. These include a gift pack with two Simmer Sauces, a gift pack with Barbecue Sauce and two tasty new mustards, and a gift pack with a fancy-dancy Dipping Oil.
That’s a lot of tasty stuff from a woman who grew up in San Diego not knowing what she really wanted to be when she grew up. “I was a licensed stock broker, a real estate agent, a bookkeeper, a hairdresser, a dog-groomer,” says Catherine. Then, one day, I attended a seminar in LA, given by Marianne Williamson. The title of the session was ‘Return to Love.’ I’ll never forget it. In the middle of the lecture, she said, ‘Do what you LOVE and the money will follow.’”
“That lecture changed my life. I knew that I wanted to be in the food business but didn’t have a clue how to do it or where to do it.”
Catherine Bergen at home -- my home! -- for a photo shoot.
Catherine’s story zigs and zags a bit, but within a very short period, she found herself in Napa Valley and, 14 years ago, started Tulocay and Company, which specialized in producing etched bottles of premium-quality olive oil – the first in the US.
Catherine’s earliest national customers included Crate & Barrel, Pier 1 Imports and Cost Plus World Markets, but always for private label (store brand) merchandise. “I knew that to sustain my business, I had to invent a line of shelf-stable, all-natural foods that these same customers would take and promote…. the origins of Made in Napa Valley."
To learn more about Catherine’s products, or to sign up for her biweekly newsletter, or to discover about two bazillion recipes, suggesting how to use her tasty sauces, dry rubs and condiments (and don't forget the ice cream toppings!), go to www.madeinnapavalley.com. It’s that simple.