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> California Style Magazine
> > March 2008

The statistics are almost mindnumbing:
California vintners harvest 3.1 million tons of wine grapes each year and, from them, crank out $16.5 billion worth of wine, attracting $2 billion in wine tourism in the process. With stakes this high, it’s no wonder corporate beverage giants gobble up boutique California wineries like blue whales feasting on shrimp.

But amid the feeding frenzy and the dizzying figures, there’s still room for the little guys—vintners who answer to no one but themselves. Here, a survey of the state’s leading pint-sized players:

Red Car (Los Angeles). "Each wine has its own story," says Red Car owner/winemaker Carroll Kemp, a former movie producer who “started making some money and got into wine.” With his original partner, the late screenwriter Mark Estrin, Kemp bought one ton of Syrah grapes from the 2000 vintage and made two barrels of wine in his Beverly Hills driveway.

"That was really naive," Kemp laughs now. At the time, though, he cheekily sent a sample to
uber-critic Robert M. Parker, Jr., who rated the wine at 90 points. Los Angeles restaurants
caught on, and by 2004, Red Car had become a fulltime gig for Kemp. The winery now produces 5,000 cases. Red Car 2005 Pinot Noir Amour Fou, Russian River Valley ($60). Rich and complex with notes of cherry, mineral and cucumber; long, fleshy, dense and serious. redcarwines.com.

Radio-Coteau (Sonoma). Eric Sussman first heard the French expression radio coteau while living and working in Burgundy in the mid-1990s. The term means “broadcasting from the hillsides” or “word of mouth.” But as Sussman explains, “The deeper meaning here is that all my wines are expressions from the hillside vineyards.” Having started as a 1,700-case winery with the 2002 harvest, the wines are offered via mailing list and at select retailers. True to its name, Radio-Coteau has great word of mouth among collectors, and releases sell out quickly. Radio-Coteau 2005 Pinot Noir La Neblina, Sonoma Coast ($42). Juicy and loaded with spice, cherry and lovely sweet fruit; excellent acid structure and balance. radiocoteau.com.

Roar (Monterey County). "Farming has always been in my blood," says Gary Franscioni. "In 1886, my grandfather came to California and planted citrus and row crop vegetables. I was a food science major, and we took a field trip to Napa in 1976. I got the bug." Converting part of his family’s Central Coast farmland to vineyards was a natural step. Franscioni planted the 50-acre Rosella’s Vineyard (named for his wife) in 1996 and partnered with Gary Pisoni to create Garys’ Vineyard the following year.

The Franscionis decided in 2001 it was time to make their own wines, and Roar was born. At 2,000 cases a year, the wines have garnered enough critical acclaim to encourage Franscioni to move Roar into a new winemaking facility in San Francisco this year. Roar Wine 2005 Pinot Noir, Garys’ Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands ($50). Dense and earthy with rich cherry fruit and lively acidity; smoky, complex and intense. roarwines.com.

Jelly Roll (Santa Barbara).“It’s not romantic,” admits Jim Knight of the five public storage units that serve as his winemaking facility. “But it’s a very well-thought-out winery with the best equipment we could buy.”

The facility is known as Holus Bolus Winery, a collective started by several wine-minded friends with similar goals. In addition to Knight’s Jelly Roll label, the facility also produces
the wines of several other founding members.

“I started with 35 cases in 2001,” says Knight. “I kept five for myself and the rest
was sold throughout Los Angeles.”

Today, he’s still only making eight barrels per year—about 200 cases. Jelly Roll 2007 Syrah, Santa Ynez Valley ($35). Dense, meaty and nicely textured with ripe berry fruit and good structure; long, rich and balanced.

Portfolio (Napa Valley). When Geneviève Janssens isn’t busy crafting her great Rutherford-grown
Cabernets as Director of Winemaking at Robert Mondavi in Napa Valley, she’s hard at work—along with equal partner and husband Luc—on her own project: Portfolio.

Born to a wine-growing family in North Africa, Janssens grew up in France and first visited Napa Valley in 1977. Belgian-born Luc, an artist and scholar by profession, shares the work 50-50. “Every year, it’s sold out,” says Janssens. “We don’t have publicity; it’s by word of mouth, from friend to friend. We don’t want to be so known that it becomes a nightmare.” Portfolio 2004, Napa Valley ($125). Smooth and silky with soft tannins, sweet oak and plum with pretty, seductive flavors; long, fresh, rich and layered. portfoliowinery.com.

Saxum (Paso Robles). Justin Smith grew up on his father’s vineyard on Paso’s Westside. “My dad has always made wine, and I helped him out as a kid,” Smith remembers. After college, he did stints at a few wineries but is mainly self-taught as a vintner. Noting increasing interest in Rhône grapes, Smith’s family replanted James Berry Vineyard with Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre in the mid-1990s. By the 2000 vintage, Smith was ready to start using fruit from James Berry to craft 300 cases of his own wine under the Saxum label. Saxum 2005 James Berry Vineyard, Paso Robles ($55). Massive, dense, and toasty with intense blackberry and black currant fruit. saxumvineyards.com.