Arnold Tudal was a row crop farmer in Alameda, when he decided to retire and sell his land that grew high-caliber fruits and vegetables that wound up on the tables of white tablecloth San Francisco restaurants.

It was 1974, and the Napa Valley still had loads of walnut orchards, and that’s what Arnold and Alma bought.

Thirty-five years later, John Tudal looks out over a handsome property that he has renovated, marvels at the vision his late father had in junking the walnuts in favor of cabernet sauvignon, and wonders whether the property that almost no one knows about is ever to gain the fame he knows it deserves.

I visited Arnold Tudal in 1983 and was regaled with stories of the man’s frugality, which he told without embarrassment. Indeed, Arnold was proud of the fact that he planted his vineyards without wires supporting the vines because, as he said, that would be money poorly spent.

The head-trained vines were an anomaly for the Napa Valley even in 1974, but Tudal made some superb wines from his cabernet vines in 1984, 1985 and through much of the rest of the decade.

But the tight-fisted farmer was not about to waste money on promotion. He made honest wines that he believed would sell as long as people would try them.

A San Francisco resident by the name of Joe DiMaggio liked Arnold’s cabernet well enough to visit the property often, but the rest of the world, apparently, was oblivious.

Today, the name Tudal means little to wine collectors, and that near-anonymity has left the family project without much public visibility. To the point where the house’s 2006  cabernet sauvignon, a lovely wine, sells for $35 a bottle, one of the least expensive in the gold-flecked valley.

To ratchet up visibility for the brand, John has developed a series of new brands to market other wines. Two of the wines are superb values.

• A 2008 Honker Blanc Sauvignon Blanc, about $15, is a terrific aromatic wine with stylish, lilting fruit.

• A 2007 Tractor Shed Red, about $10, a blend that has vibrant fruit and depth, is priced well below what it could sell for.

There are also wines made from chardonnay, pinot noir, syrah and other grapes.

But what was, for me, a bit sad was that the excellent cabernet sauvignon grapes growing on the Tudal ranch are so little recognized for quality that a truly fine wine, the 2005 cabernet sauvignon, is selling for so little.

There are people in this world who actually assess the quality of a wine by how much it fetches, and the price of the 2005 Tudal cabernet is so low some people may think there is something wrong with it.

All that it needs is a bit of aeration and the wine opens up and becomes wonderful. For now, insiders can buy a bargain.

Wine of the Week

2005 Tudal cabernet sauvignon, Napa Valley ($25): Dried herbs and savory spices mark the initial aroma, but with decanting the wine shows a lovely balanced cherry fruit and generosity without hard tannins.

Dan Berger lives in Sonoma County, where he publishes “Vintage Experiences,” a weekly wine newsletter. Write to him at danberger@rocketmail.com.