Inspirational Insanity

[Msk]

First let me say thanks for taking the time to stop by, we truly appreciate the opportunity.

I find your products to be such a delightful combination of art, science, and marketing each with its own unique and slightly irreverant style.

My question is this: How does the madness start? Is it the terroir that dictates the varietal, and ultimately the bottle art and marketing, or do you start with an idea of a style/blend/varietal you would like to make, then search for the terroir?

I guess its like asking a musician of the song starts with the lyrics or the tune.

Mike

"Msk"

[Randall Grahm]

Dear Mike,

Thanks very much for the question. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure where it begins but it is something like, "Y,know somebody really should make an X kind of wine. I bet an X wine would do really well in California." From that point on it is an iterative process, as one discovers that either X is a dead-end or perhaps it leads one to a completely new destination. In some cases, the name of the wine will enter my head and I am bound and determined to make that very same wine, viz. I am currently working on growing some tannat because I strongly feel that there should be a wine called, "So, what's Tannat like?". When all is said and done, the grapes are the muse. If I feel that I am privileged enough to be given some grapes that are absolutely unique and distinctive, then I feel a moral obligation to make that wine. If the grapes are really nothing to write home about, I feel a moral duty to not go there again. RG

[Steve Klc]

Hi Randall--would you share a little about how you go about "getting" good distinctive grapes? At the quality level and volume you do, it must be a complex juggling act to either grow what you need or source grapes grown by others. Is part of your success the fact that you developed, perhaps even encouraged, a network of growers who know they can sell interesting--less overtly commercial--grapes to you?

If so, was that a part of your strategy way back when or did your method evolve serendipitously?

[Jim Dixon]

I strongly feel that there should be a wine called, "So, what's Tannat like?".

Good name, but Tannat just begs for an anagram.

Jim

[Randall Grahm]

Dear Steve,

Good to hear from you. You asked about sourcing distinctive grapes. There really is a lot of hit and miss these days. We will often audition grapes on a single year contract and see how they do; worst case, they end up in Big House Red. But to really to it properly, we have to work closely with the grower and make sure that we are all trying to end up in the same place. Historically, it has been very difficult to find growers who would be completely cooperative. Growers are farmers and ergo, very stubborn people, who generally believe that they know what's best. The recent grape glut has compelled growers to slightly revise their attitude and we have found more people who are a lot more open to our slightly unconventional approach. We just harvested some Montepulciano from a vineyard in Tracy, CA that is absolutely delicious. Who knew? But for every success, there must perforce be the occasional failure. Hope this finds you well. Cheers, Randall