Arrow&Branch proprietors Steve and Seanne Contursi share a great love for the wines of Bordeaux, particularly those produced with a large quantity of Cabernet Franc, such as Château Cheval Blanc. The couple began their romance while traveling through Bordeaux in the mid 1980’s, and have since found their dreams come true in being able to live and make wine in Napa Valley. They sought out their Coombsville vineyard property with an eye to producing top-quality Bordeaux blend wines from Napa Valley. The Contursi family lives in Laguna Beach and bought the Arrow&Branch Estate Vineyard in November 2007. Etude Wines founder Tony Soter, a renowned Napa Valley winemaker and prominent wine consultant, previously owned the organic vineyard property. The vineyard was the source of Soter’s renowned and highly rated “Little Creek” Cabernet Franc. The Contursi’s have maintained the organic farming and, through their work with the detail-oriented Viticulturalist Mike Wolf, are continually improving this wonderful vineyard site.
The couple constantly shares wines, tasting notes and insights with their highly regarded Winemaker Jennifer Williams and esteemed Viticulturist Michael Wolf. Collecting wine since the mid 1970’s, much of it purchased directly from the chateaux of Bordeaux, the Contursi’s collection has been featured in Wine Spectator magazine as well as on CNBC’s investing news.
Arrow&Branch was chosen as the name for the couple’s wine as a subtle reference to numismatics, the study and collection of coins. Steve Contursi became enamored with coins at seven years of age, when, as a paperboy, he was often paid in coins. He built his childhood pastime into one of America’s most respected and renowned dealerships and now owns Rare Coin Wholesalers and RCW Financial. A professional numismatist since 1975, and armed with a Cum Laude degree in physics, Contursi has bought and sold more than $1 billion worth of United States rare coins, and helps both collectors and other dealers acquire the finest quality, historically significant, museum quality coins. Found on the reverse of most United States coinage is an eagle holding an olive branch and arrows in its talons. The Arrow&Branch name is both a nod to Contursi’s success in the rare coin business, as well as paying homage to both US coinage and Americana. The olive branch signifies the United States as a peace-loving nation, while the arrow portrays the country’s ability to defend itself if that peace or freedom should ever be compromised.
Contursi made international headlines in March 2004 when he and the American Numismatic Association unveiled new evidence about “Uncle Sam’s first buck.” The Neil/Carter/Contursi specimen, 1794 Flowing Hair dollar, is believed by many experts to be the very first silver dollar struck by the U.S. A truly historic national treasure, this mint coin represented an economic declaration of independence for the young United States. Contursi has loaned the now famous coin to the ANA Money Museum in Colorado from 2004 through 2010 where tens of thousands of visitors have viewed it there and on exhibits around the country. In May 2010, Contursi again made the news by selling this coin for $7.85 million, setting the record price for a single coin.
Honored by Lehman College of the City University of New York in 1974 as the graduating physics student with the highest academic achievement, Contursi then attended the University of Minnesota graduate school while moonlighting at a coin shop. Deciding that his future should involve numismatics rather than Newton’s Laws, he opened his own coin shop in a Minneapolis suburb in 1975. Since then, he has held executive positions with several prominent rare coin and precious metals companies including Northwest Territories Gold and Silver Exchange; Miller-Contursi, Inc; James U. Blanchard and Company; and Monex Rare Coins. Contursi has served as President of Rare Coin Wholesalers since January 2001, combining his management skills and numismatic expertise to create one of the country’s foremost dealerships.
Seanne Contursi has worked alongside her husband in the numismatics business, and now with the development of Arrow&Branch, in the fine wine business. The couple enjoys spending time with their five children, ranging in ages from 16 to 32, which usually involves sitting around a table partaking of food and wine. Their eldest son served four years in the United States Air Force, of which they are very proud. Their family continues to grow, as their eldest daughter was wed at Arrow&Branch Vineyard during the summer of 2010 and their first grandchild, from their eldest son was born in the fall of 2010.
WWW.ARROWANDBRANCH.COM
MARTIN DIEDRICH FROM KEAN COFFEE
About Kéan Coffee
Kéan Coffee™ is the newest, most exciting coffeehouse concept by coffeehouse visionary Martin Diedrich. Our mission is to purvey fresh-roasted artisan coffee the way it is meant to be, in a beautiful, eclectic coffeehouse environment. Martin is craft roasting the finest coffees from around the globe on-site, many organic and fair-trade. This enables us to serve our coffee so fresh, most days it has been roasted within hours of the moment it reaches your cup. Our expertly trained baristas are creating the most innovative, cutting edge coffee beverages to be had.
Martin, local coffeehouse pioneer and founder of the Diedrich Coffee chain, left behind the world of corporate culture to return to his origins as an independent coffeehouse operator in order to stay true to his ideals of what a coffeehouse should be and what coffee culture should be. Along with his wife Karen Varese Diedrich, Martin spent two years putting all of his creativity, inspiration and community and global awareness into bringing Kéan Coffee to reality. Martin and Karen Diedrich aptly named this next generation of coffeehouse after their son, Kean.
Kéan Coffee also features an outstanding selection of organic loose-leaf hot and iced teas from Tao of Tea in Portland, Oregon, as well as non-coffee steamers and a decadent chocolate beverage menu. Our pastries and savories are baked fresh daily by small local artisan bakeries. We also offer scrumptious gluten-free and vegan options. Come and enjoy our warm, community atmosphere in the true coffeehouse tradition!
About Martin Diedrich
Martin Diedrich grew up in Guatemala where his family owned a small coffee farm. In 1983, Martin left behind a blossoming career in Mayan archeology and came to Costa Mesa to help his parents with their small custom coffee roastery. During that year his vision emerged to create community meeting places where folks could gather and enjoy his family's high quality coffee. He founded the first Diedrich Coffee coffeehouse in Costa Mesa in 1984. Under Martin's direction, Diedrich Coffee grew to nearly a dozen locations over the next ten years and earned the reputation as "The Best Coffeehouses in Orange County". These original coffeehouses were exciting, creative hives of activity and the most popular gathering places in their respective neighborhoods.
In September of 1996, Diedrich Coffee went public. Within a few years there were more than 30 Diedrich Coffeehouses in California, Colorado and Texas. Martin Diedrich is now considered one of the pioneers of the coffeehouse phenomenon. Martin has been a Master Roaster for 21 years and is an internationally recognized coffee expert. In 2005 Martin was presented with the Specialty Coffee Association's Lifetime Achievement Award an award only bestowed on a handful of other individuals, including, Alfred Peet the founder of Peet's Coffee, Jerry Baldwin the founder of Starbuck's, George Howell the founder of Coffee Connection in Boston, Dr. Illy the family patriarch of the Illy Coffee.
In June of 2004, Martin resigned his position at Diedrich Coffee, and began to manifest a new vision: a state-of-the-art, cutting edge coffeehouse that would bring back the community feeling, coffee connoisseurship, and cultural atmosphere of his early Diedrich coffeehouses, as well as embrace his ideal that businesses should model community and global responsibility and awareness, both environmental and cultural. In December of 2005, Martin and Karen Varese Diedrich opened the doors of Kéan Coffee in Newport Beach, California. Named for their only son, Kean, Kéan Coffee is just a stones throw from the first location where Martin had originally joined his parents Carl and Inga. Kéan Coffee has already developed a loyal following of customers with its high quality artisan coffees fresh roasted onsite daily by Martin himself, in a world-class roaster built and manufactured by his brother Stephan Diedrich in Sandpoint Idaho. Through Kéan Coffee, Martin Diedrich is taking his community coffeehouse vision to the next level.
WWW.KEANCOFFEE.COM