In the middle of my senior year in High school, 1963, my pal Tim McGee helped me score a job working for Pearson’s Brentwood, the premier wine cellar of the Westside. Located on the corner of 26th and San Vicente, just across from the Brentwood Mart, Pearson’s was not the usual liquor store. First of all, it closed at 7:30 and did not do much of a brown bag trade. Pearson’s specialized in fine wines and in stocking the bars and wine cellars of the rich and famous. Thus, my job was to deliver cases of wine to very exclusive addresses and occasional 6 packs to friends in the Palisades.
The owner was Casey Pearson, who was rarely around, but the store was run by his son Roger Pearson, a decorated war hero and a genuinely great employer. Roger lived with his family in Mandeville Canyon and his house backed up to a hillside. Wheeling a hand truck past the pool, one came to a huge vault door which led into a massive wine cave nearly the size of a house, temperature controlled and stacked with pallet after pallet of the best vintages. The store itself had a red carpeted two story wine cellar, featuring the best foreign and domestic wine that could be found probably anywhere on the west coast. Another room featured fine crystal bar glasses.
Roger was a hard working man and he expected the same from his employees, but he was always fair, thoughtful, and generous…one of those adults who looked you in the eye and spoke to a 16 year old with the same respect he would extend to a customer. That I repaid his respect by occasionally pilfering beer from him is a fact of which I am not proud. In fact, he fired me once for totaling the delivery van ( I swear it was not my fault), but later hired me during every Xmas rush throughout my college years. This was a remarkable gig. Customers like Gregory Peck (another who would speak respectfully, asking a delivery boy about his education) would hand over a ten page typed Xmas list, ordering gifts from single bottles to cases of the best for every single person he worked with that year. So once the gift wrap department did their jobs, I would pack my VW van with gifts and drive anywhere in LA dropping off Gregory Peck’s largess. It was not just Peck, it was James Garner, John Ford, and a host of others who were not as well known but every bit as wealthy. I could make over $1,500 (not including the tips!) in three weeks, putting in 16 hour days and appreciating every minute/dollar. It was a goldmine for a student and Roger always sent me home at Xmas with a bottle of something good for my family’s dinner.
But the best benefit of the job was the incomparable wine education that I received. Roger was a judge at many tasting events and was well respected in the wine world. When the store closed in the evening, often some vendor would open a bottle of his best and line it up with other labels from the region, same year, or five consecutive years of a same variety, same vintner. We would sit on cardboard boxes in the back room and I would sip fine and not-so-fine wine out of huge crystal glasses and listen to a circle of people discussing the ins and outs of each vintage/appellation, and grape. While I was stupid in many ways in those years, I was wise enough to keep my mouth shut and just listen. I learned what I liked and did not like. I learned how to taste a wine and how important my nose was to the experience, what “legs” were, how to tell a “corked” wine, a wine before its time and one past its prime. The California wine industry was just getting its own legs, so there were few enough major labels that it was possible, unlike today, to know California wine makers. Then, of course, the industry exploded and the Big 12 growers became the Big 400 or 800.
It was not long before my friends and I discovered the original Trader Joe’s, a store whose aisles consisted entirely of stacks of wine cases from some remarkable old European vineyards. We would by a case of pick hits at about $1.99 each, open them all in the parking lot, and then go back to purchase cases of the best. My friend, Peter Sinclair, did this regularly and one of my most prized Xmas gifts each year was a case from Peter that consisted of his pick hits from Trader Joe’s year. (I learned from Roger Pearson that buying foreign wine was like going to the racetrack: if you don’t know the horse, bet on the jockey, or in this case, the importer. This works. If you find a wine that you like at TJ’s, note who imported it and look for others that they picked.)
Eventually, places like the Wine Warehouse, Trader Joe’s, the Wine Barn, etc. proliferated and it was not too many years until Pearson’s could no longer compete. I was sad to see the store closed by the time I came back from living in Australia in 1976. I never knew what became of Rod Pearson or his remarkable wine cellar, but I am still grateful to him for both the lessons he taught me about wine and those he taught me about hard work. I believe that I got a better education in the back room of Pearson’s Brentwood than in any single course I took in college. I still like a good bargain wine and cannot begin to afford to be much of a wine snob. I have developed some inner equation that the enjoyment of a wine is often amplified by the fact that I found it for 12.99. So I raise my glass to Roger Pearson and a lifetime of magical uncorkings. Oh, and sorry about the beer, Rod. Just know that I never raided your good stuff.
Loved this one, and remember your stories of Pearson’s delivery tales well. We walk by that beautiful place Pearson’s was in every day, and I often think of you – – really, ask Marion how many times I’ve said “did I ever tell you about the time Dennis…” 🙂
I liked this. Thanks for the story.
You probably have something to teach me! lol
Drice (Dennis),
January 27th, 2015. I have just recently arrived back home in Minnesota from Cathedral City, California about 24 hours ago after a bittersweet trip to see my grandparents. I believe you worked for them, twice actually after you totaled the delivery van. Roger probably has told me this story, along with so many that I wish I could remember. I find it hard to retain all of the stories of their life while I listen to them, always in awe of their amazing life.
My mother is Jody Pearson, Roger and Nancy Pearson’s first child followed by Tobi, Cris, and Roger Jr.
You may remember her, she did know your reference of Tim McGee in your post: The Uncorked Truth, and immediately knew who he was and she had not even read it yet. I had not dug deep enough into your blog to know what your first or last name was and had to call her immediately…before I could even cite my sources.
I was on Google trying to find any pictures, wikipedia page, library source, anything that mentioned my grandparent’s legendary store, Pearson’s Brentwood. After two failed Google searches (order of words was the problem), my third and final attempt for the night was, “Roger Pearson’s California Wine Store.” Your blog post titled: “Lessons Learned: the uncorked truth” was the first site that came up. I have searched for the store in the past with little to zero luck. I was shocked that I had finally found something, and I knew I had something legitimate because of the blurb describing the article ” but the store was run by his son Roger Pearson…The California wine industry was just getting its own legs…” Roger, Nancy, my mother and I talked 2 nights ago about the wine industries that were just getting on their legs when the store was open.The date is for May of 2014 when this was posted, just under a year ago.
I was hoping and would have loved to find a Wikipedia page of the history of the store, its employees, and I’ll be honest… the glamorous customers; instead I found something more precious. Instead, I found your experience with my grandparents, Roger Pearson at Pearson’s Brentwood and the invaluable lessons of hard work. That is more than a page in history, and I am so happy that I did not find what I had originally been searching for.
Your honest and kinds words of your experiences with my grandfather are the definition of his character as well as my grandmother’s. I cannot begin to express how reading what you have written about them has completely melted my heart. They have touched so many lives in infinite ways, whether you were a neighbor, employee, customer, friend, family, or someone they sheltered. I have always known this, but it has become more obvious to me in the last few days I have visited them, although the extent to this is much larger than I can comprehend.
Roger and Nancy are now both recently in hospice at their home of 25 years in Cathedral City. The phone rings every 10 minutes from a loved one. There are hundreds of cards. Trust me, I organized half of them. They have friends and family come every day near or far. It is beautiful.
Thank you so much for “keeping your mouth shut and listening” and for raising glasses with my grandfather. I am priviledged to have done the same throughout my life and this past weekend with them.
My mother will read them what you have written and I’m sure more glasses will be raised as always. If you would like to contact them or myself you can contact me at address below, it would mean the world to them. And you won’t have to wonder what became of Rod Pearson and the wine cellar. Their story isn’t over yet, but it is a pretty damn good one.
Thank you
Hannah Myers
HannahEMyers@gmail.com
Dear Hannah, It is so kind of you to write this response. I do have many fond memories of your grandparents. ( I remember your mom too!)They were hard working and fair people. The sign over the back delivery desk said “a place for everything and everything in its place.”..he meant it. As I write, I am taken back to the rainy Xmas eve when, coming back from one last delivery, a woman pulled out from a stop sign on Sunset and sent me crashing into the windshield of the van. I respected your granddad so much that all I could think was how I might have let him down. Please give both Rod and Nancy my warm regards. Let them know that Tim passed this year from cancer, but when we got together from time to time over the years, we would raise our glasses to the Pearsons…as I do now to you for your faithfulness to them.
Drice,
Along with Hannah, I am a granddaughter of Roger Pearson’s; the daughter, and only child of Tobi. Firstly, I thank you for sharing this story about our family’s legacy. Apparently, not only has our grandfather impacted our lives, but those around him. After Pearson’s Liquor, my grandfather and grandmother moved from their home in Mandeville, to the year round dry & warm Cathedral City/ Palm Springs. They welcomed 5 grandchildren, Barret, Hannah, and Nicholas, children to Jody &Jay, and Sophie, daughter of Peter and Tobi, and six years ago, their lives were blessed with their 5th grandchild, Coco Lee Pearson, daughter of Roger Jr. 7 months ago, the first great grandchild, Walter David, was born to Barret and her husband Elliot. We were recently all together, as Hannah mentioned, in the desert, under unfortunate circumstances. Both my grandma and grandpa have been diagnosed with grim cancer sentences. However, while devastating, and unforeseen, not once has their faith, love, and devotion to a blessed life wavered. It’s hard to relay in this small text box the great accomplishments of their lives, and it would likely take years to share how incredible their lives have been, but I will share with you a story. My grandfather has a device at home that he stands on and it asks him a series of health related questions. Sometimes my grandmother helps him out and presses the yes or no buttons, rather hastily, as it gets boring. One of the questions always asked is: “are you happy?”. In a rush, my grandmother accidentally pressed “no.” Within 10 minutes, a doctor called my grandfather and said: “Mr. Pearson, are you ok?” To which he responded, rather confused, “Yes, of course.” The doctor them said “Well, you said you weren’t happy on your machine.” Realizing that my grandmother made this mistake, he laughed to himself and told the doctor, “I’m the happiest 84 year old you’ll ever meet,” and hung up the phone. So, to answer your question, what became of Rod & Nancy Pearson, was and still is, a happy life.
Thank you for your note, Sophie. It pleases me that he is happy and I hope that his various health issues still allow him to raise a glass now and again.
I am sorry to tell you that I found your blog via Google because I was trying to remember Pearson’s Brentwood which was mentioned in an obituary I saw in this morning’s Los Angeles Times.
Rod Pearson passed away on February 12th. You can probably find the obituary for yourself and leave a note for his family. But you have already given your tribute in this wonderful posting.
Thank you so much for letting me know and thank you for reading my post.