Once when the world was a little younger and words came more easily from my mouth than they should’ve, I said something I shouldn’t have to someone and as a result one day found myself being chased by a very angry young wild bull elephant across the (seemingly) vast Kenyan savannah. I was on foot and so was he, and to this day I can easily recall how the weight of him pounded and the ground shook as he ran after me. Needless to say, I learned a number of poignant lessons that day: 1. never joke about a Kenyan’s spear; 2. white people can run fast , too; 3. I should’ve paid more attention to all of those Wild Kingdom episodes.

In many ways, being involved in a small, start-up winery is like having a wild elephant around. Sometimes I run from it. Other times I’m running after it. And then sometimes I’m sitting astride it, looking out over the landscape and maybe even reveling a little in the accomplishment.

Nowhere to run, Nowhere to hide

I love my job, there’s no doubt about it. I have always enjoyed being involved in wine production and the many roles I’ve had an opportunity in in many various wineries over the years. This is something I’ve learned over the years: the title “winemaker” and all of the responsibilities with the title vary from winery to winery. Winemakers for large corporate wineries tend to do a lot of tastings, sit in a lot of meetings, ask for samples to be brought to them, and talk to a lot of people. Winemakers in medium-sized wineries do anything from fix the bottling line to directing cellar staff, act as a liason between winery ownership and directors and staff and cellarcrew, and possibly manage vineyards as well. Winemakers for small wineries, I have discovered, can be found doing just about anything at any given time whether it’s making a sales call to a local restaurant, planning marketing and financial strategies, making sure everyone gets paid on time, fixing that leaking barrel, purchasing grapes and working with growers on how to manage the vines, cleaning drains…..you get the idea. To a certain extent I enjoy absolutely everything that comes with the job, but there are things from which I do find myself running at times. Budgets, revenue projections, pricing decisions, doing lab work, bottling and preparation for bottling — these are all things I tend to avoid (that’s what I’m doing right now).

Something else: the landscape of this project is often vast and there’s simply nowhere to hide. It’s true. What I’ve discovered is that it essentially involves putting oneself out there, opening oneself up to criticism in one way or another, and at some point realizing and accepting that your being humbled everyday.

But Wait for Me!

When we first conceived of this project there was so much at the time that remained to be decided — package design, marketing and sales strategies, our marketing identity, bottling times, release dates. Many of these factors we had control of, it was just a matter of time before they resolved themselves. But also at the beginning, so many unanswered questions and uncertainties floated around: What will the wine be like? How will we be received? Will this winery be a success? Will it be profitable? Many of those questions are still unanswered, but so many things have changed over the course of the last year and half that we are sometimes dumbfounded by where we are today. The packaging and website have taken a life of their own. Folks are calling or emailing to order wine. Our chardonnay is almost sold out. Some wine buyers recently practically flipped when they tasted our pinot — they liked it that much. So, along the way, we hoped that all these things will happen, but when they have, I have realized this is no longer in our control. Sometimes it seems like it has become a lumbering pachyderm with a mind of it’s own and is setting it’s own course, inspite of me or anything else. I’ve come to accept that we are at that stage where once you’ve set something free you better hang on and enjoy the ride, or at the very least, the chase!

This is Good

Then there are the beautiful moments when all comes together: Harvest is over! Bottling is over! Those catwalks we installed over the tanks are the best! Wow — that wine is tasting good! These are the times when we can congratulate each other and ourselves for a job well done, and they are times to look behind us while on top of that elephant and see how far we have come. At the same time, we can also look out far ahead and see how far we have yet to go. It is the time when we feel like we’re riding high, and realize, yes, it is all good.

This post is in response to Erwin’s comment to my post from 3-24-06 “Pinot for Everyone Else”:
Hi Erwin,
You raise some theoretical and practical concerns that I’m not sure many can answer at this point. First of all about the frustration you mention about trying to gain a deeper understanding of a varietal: I remember when I was just beginning on the path of learning about varietal characteristics in wines. If I had an array of glasses in front of me, all with a different varietal in them and it was a blind tasting, the initial impression made is of the color and all of its facets: depth, tone, hue. I could get a pretty good idea just from looking at the wines what they might in fact be. Can tasters who are trying to find their way through the maze of varietal character — and trying to learn more about wine appreciation — rely on color as an indicator anymore, as you mention? Frustrating indeed.

You ask about experienced wine tasters and detecting the presence of Mega Purple. Dan Berger’s Wines & Vines article describes a tasting that he, John Buechsenstein of UCDavis, a winemaker named Kerry Damskey Harvey, Clark Smith of Vinovation and Dr. Richard Peterson (former winemaker at Beaulieu) and Dan Berger himself organized. They added Mega Purple in varying degrees: .2% to .8% (remember, this is pretty concentrated stuff, and these additions were described as being “large amounts”) to Cabernet and Zinfandel. Some of the comments: Dan says “the ‘additive’ wines were clearly plumper and a bit more full-bodied than were the control samples…..The Cabernet in this case wasn’t very dark in color, so the additive wines bolstered the red color, but even at the lowest levels, I found the wines to be a bit fatter and less characteristic of Cabernet. For me, the Zinfandels were most hurt by Mega Purple, because the color additives compromised the varietal spice.” Damskey said “he has used Mega Purple in the past a couple of times, ‘but the addition has to be a lot less’ than we used in our blind tasting. ‘And you have to be very careful how you use it. The downside is that I don’t like the way it changes the aroma. More than often, it mutes the aroma’”. Harvey said: “‘the ‘sweetness’ in the Cabernet made the tannins more astringent, ‘ because, she said, the sweetness was out of sync with the rest of the wine…..Harvey added, ‘I don’t plan on using it. It’s easier to add Cabernet Franc to Cabernet Sauvignon. Using (Mega Purple), the wine seemed too disjointed, plus I got a sort of licorice or jug character from it.’” The article finishes with a quote from John Williams, of Frog’s Leap: “William’s concern, he said, is that color additions like Mega Purple might someday ‘become part of the regular winemaking regime’”.

So, this tasting doesn’t necessarily reflect what might happen in reality in that they were using higher additive rates than what might normally be considered, but it is still interesting to read the comments on the effects. So who knows if an experienced taster can say “Aha — they are using Mega-whatever”, but if a varietal wine seems dumbed down, slightly sweet or round, highly colorful, etc., it might be a tip-off of some kind of modern winemaking manipulation (these Mega products are only one of an array of “tools” brought to us courtesy of modern technology).

Which leads me to an idea of disclosure, as you mention as being the main issue for you. Here is an idea and one I would like implement here at the winery: to begin labeling all wines as to their exact content and that they are free of any color additives. Federal law states that anything on the label must match cellar records, and if it doesn’t then the winemaker — not the winery — (so in this case, me) is personally liable for any fines, prosecution, jail time, etc. Maybe disclosure would be the best option for most wineries — especially small wineries — to insure the consumer knows what they are drinking? How does this sound?

I don’t really like to discuss wine color a whole lot these days because I think the whole subject is pretty tiresome at this point. But two articles that have come out recently in the wine industry media that have spurred my interest. The first article was published in the April, 2006 issue of Wine & Spirits magazine entitled “Pinot Noir Taboo”, written by Jordan Mackay. I’ve gotten to the point with wine media where I’m generally looking forward to my subscriptions running out for most of them, especially the review-heavy types of zines. But, I have to say that the kinds of articles I have seen in this magazine recently have piqued my interest in this magazine, and I hope they continue the good work. In this article, Jordan discusses the taboo of blending other varietals into Pinot Noir to make it darker and richer than it ordinarily would be. It is taboo not because it is an illegal practice (25% of a wine of a varietal wine can be of other varietals), but because no one wants to admit they do it. Jordan doesn’t find out much, because no one is willing to talk to him about it except for the folks that are making Pinot Noir blends outright (for example Terry Speizer, Greg La Follette and Lynn Penner-Ash). All of these folks have been making Pinot for years and say that yes, folks do blend and don’t admit to doing it. Also, an interesting point that Jordan points out is that the amount of Pinot being sold these days has increased dramatically, but the acreage planted has almost remained unchanged. How can that happen unless it is, in fact, being blended with other wines?

The other article that pursued a related taboo is one entitled “Mega Purple” by Dan Berger in the March 2006 issue of Wines & Vines magazine. Mega Purple and its cousin Mega Red are products that I have been vaguely aware of for sometime but didn’t know much about. According to Dan, Mega Purple is produced by Constellation, aka Canandaigua. (A quick corporation primer here: Constellation, which owns, among other things Estancia, Ravenswood, Simi, and the sole distribution rights for Corona and Modelo beers in the US is, in turn, owned by Canandaigua, the illustrious producers of, among other things, Cisco and Wild Irish Rose, and other what I call “formula” wine products). To summarize, many winemakers, maybe thousands of winemakers, apparently use this additive (a concentrate of grape skin extracts) to enhance color, body and add a light “sweetness” to a wine. Here’s a quote from the article on page 53: ” Yet one Monterey County winery president confided, ‘Virtually everyone is using it.’”

First of all — to Jordan and Dan — good job in tackling a subject that folks have whispered for years. It is about time that these things start to be examined by folks in the industry, but especially by wine drinking consumers.

Second of all: why such a concern over color? It is such a silly concern that started in the early 90′s, in my opinion, when the cult Cabernet thing was moving into full swing and the concept that dark-hued wines receive higher magazine ratings (read, then higher the value and collectibility of the wine will be) developed. Before you knew it, a grain of wine color obsession became a landslide of delusion and superficial concern. In the 90′s, the main winemaking discussion seemed to be how to get the most color out of Pinot. I am hoping that wine drinkers and winemakers are moving beyond that simple concern, but apparently not?

The way I see it, there are two different classifications of Pinot these days in the US: PCD’s (Pinot for Cab Drinkers) and PEE’s (excuse the acronym: Pinot for Everyone Else). I like Cabernet, and I have nothing against Cabernet drinkers, but what I don’t like is the concept of placing the same expecations one has of Cabernet (dark, rich, and, well, dark, rich) on a wine such as Pinot Noir and, as it turns out, the typical PCD’s are usually dark, rich and relatively non-varietal in character. If you like that, then go to it.

But, as one who has been involved with Pinot Noir for some time and has had the opportunity to form a, more or less, “purist’s” opinion about it, this is an idea I offer: Let’s embrace the concept of, um, PEE! What should we expect from Pinot for Everyone Else? How about “Everything Pinot Can Be”, which is to say, let’s appreciate it for it’s wide-ranging varietal capacity, depending upon where it is from and who makes it. That, in the end, is the beauty of the varietal to me, and also, I suspect and hope, for a growing number of other wine interested folks: the possibilities Pinot holds within itself, without any help from its friends.

I will admit that I have developed the occasional habit of smoking cigars (small cigars mostly — cigarillos). This is just a recent occurrence and one my husband says coincides with the evolution of Cima Collina. Many times, there just seems nothing better than to go home, sit on our porch, look at the mountains around our house and smoke a cigar, and maybe drink a little Pinot as well. Not being the kind of person to have many vices (although I’m a winemaker, I tend to actually consume very little wine myself), I wonder if he might be right…..

When talking about Cima Collina, people ask me all of the time about what it is like to be involved in a start-up winery. On any given day I could say exciting, fun, daunting or downright frustrating, as one might say with any new project. A project that involves the production and sale of alcohol, however, is probably even more challenging than most might think and it is mostly challenging when it comes to government regulation. Let me give you a run-down here of the hurdles wineries are required to jump over in the US:

There are a myriad of local regulations these days either restricting wineries or banning them altogether. These are usually county regulations, although cities sometimes participate in this as well. Many of these regulations have come around in the last 10 years or so in response to public sentiment about vineyards or wineries. Much of this sentiment stems from misinformation about the wine industry or a “not in my backyard” attitude, or in this area especially, an incredibly far-reaching fear that a community will be “Nap-ified” (ie, there will be almost nothing else but wineries and vineyards in the area). Some of this sentiment is in response, and justifiably so, in my opinion, to ill-conceived projects in the past that caused erosion or some other environmental catastrophe or destruction (hillside terracing, cutting down forests, etc.). So, for a new winery project just about anywhere on the west coast these days, it takes a lot of effort to discover where, how, and, especially, how much it will cost to just get the local conditional use winery permit.

Also under the local regulations category is, of course, the building codes, fire inspection and water permits.

If one is able to obtain a local permit, then a state license from the alcohol control entity (in California it is Alcohol and Beverage Control, or “ABC”). They must approve the winery space, and the proposed uses of the building. Additionally, the winery must pursue various licenses from ABC for a number of purposes: selling wine off-site, tasting room licensing, some types of events require additional temporary licensing, etc.

In addition to “ABC”, the other state entity to consider is that which manages excise tax and reseller permits. (In California, this is the Board of Equalization, or “BOE”). The winery must apply to the BOE to receive a reseller permit. This also allows the winery to pay sales taxes. And, of course, to remain in good standing with the BOE, one must file sales tax returns on time every quarter.

Another permit one has to get if buying grapes from vineyards not owned by the winery is an Agricultural Processor’s permit as well as an Agricultural Agent’s permit.

Before a winery can legally produce wine intended for sale, it has to be “bonded”, ie it must get a federal “Basic Permit” to produce alcoholic beverages under a bond. This is a very complicated process that involves a lot of paperwork, time and patience, on the part of the winery as well as the federal agent handling the case. This permit is received from the “Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau” (formerly known as the “BATF”, but currently known as “TTB”), under the umbrella of the Department of Treasury. There are many requirements that must be met, and a number of restrictions understood, for a winery to be bonded and also to continue to be bonded. Some requirements, for example, are making sure that bonded wine remains in and properly accounted for in the “bonded area”; filing monthly forms (formerly known as 702′s, now know as 5120.17′s) describing the activities that took place in the winery, monthly inventory depletions in casegoods, amount of grapes brought in during crush, monthly wine inventory, etc.; filing excise tax forms in a timely basis, and of course paying the excise taxes due.

Once a winery is ready to sell it’s product and wants to sell directly to consumers in other states, then it is time to pursue interstate licensing. If a winery is in California, then it does not need a license to sell to consumers in California (thank goodness). But for every other state, there are highly varied licensing requirements (the application can be one page or ten pages; there can be a variety of applications for one state; some states require excise tax returns be filed every month regardless of whether wine was sold or not; some states require hundreds of dollars per label for label registration), different costs involved and various restrictions on how much can be shipped to an individual at any given time. The list doesn’t stop there, but you might get the idea of the amount of bureaucracy and paperwork involved when most states require licensing of some sort with different requirements. Those, of course are the states we can ship to; some we can’t. If you are interested in this, feel free to check out the Wine Insitute for more information.

So, there you have it for government regulations and wineries. I will go home and have a cigar, and then we can discuss the other challenges of a start-up winery: marketing, sales, winemaking, politics, wastewater, and maybe in the end making (a little?) money…..

Those outside of the industry often seem to focus on the winemaker as the primary person in a winery operation. Maybe it is easiest to condense the focus on one person that represents the organization, and that is all well and good. But let’s not forget that there are many, many folks who work behind the scenes in wineries all over the world in a variety of capacities who, in the end, make it all happen. At Cima Collina, Doug is one of those people.

Doug likes to say that he was dragged into this project mostly because, among other things, he’s my husband. But really, he wanted to do this, he just had no idea at the time of his true potential or that this is really his true calling. It all started when I needed help setting the winery up — “Could you pick this up at the hardware store?”. Then it was “Could you go in and do a punchdown?”, then “Would you mind plumbing the rest of the glycol system?”, etc., etc. and, as you might expect, it eventually turned into a full-time, don’t have time for anything else kind of thing.

In his previous life, Doug had been involved with wine for quite a long time, mainly on the beverage service end of things in San Francisco during the 90′s doing bar and wine list management at swanky restaurants. He got an opportunity to learn about the wineries from which he purchased wine, and got to taste a good deal of wine as well. All in all, it was a chance to not only discover what was out there, but also to refine his palate. But as the world turns, things change, situations change, and he eventually found himself in the Carmel area.

Fast Forward to March, 2006. What does Doug do now? Well, his official title is Cellarmaster, in that he’s in charge of making sure we all stay in line when it comes to cleaning up in the cellar, making sure all the barrels are topped and in good working order, making sure tanks, fittings, etc. are clean, insuring, bascially, that all goes smoothly in cellar operations. Additionally, we bounce ideas off each other all of the time whether it is winemaking, marketing, sales, etc. He’s the one that gets up and goes to the winery at 2 in the morning when there’s a problem with the alarm, and recently he has become, as his unofficial title would suggest, Cima Collina’s one and only salesperson.

Yes: we do all of our own California distribution and sales. If a retail or restaurant account needs more wine they call us and we deliver directly. And the reason that account has the wine at all is because Doug hit the pavement, put himself out there and made the sales call. The best thing about it all: he likes doing it

It might seem pretty easy when one thinks about selling wine: hobnobbing with chefs, tasting wine, talking about wine, etc. Let me guarantee you it is not. The wine industry on a global scale is bigger than ever these days, which boils down to it being a very highly competitive marketplace right now. The restaurant industry is booming more than ever as well, which means restauranteurs are some of the busiest, around-the-clock, never stop folks I know. What does Doug have to do with when he goes out on sales calls? He has to get the wine buyer’s attention. If he gets their attention, then he has to make an impression in a matter of a minute or less. If that works then the buyer has to like the wine. If they like the wine then they have to like the price. If the price is good, then they have to work on where the wine will fit on the wine list and when the wine list will be reprinted so that we are included on it. He has to accomplish this all with many times at least 1 or 2 distributor reps, each with porfolios of 30, 60 or 100 wines, breathing down his neck waiting for their shot. But the job doesn’t stop there because after all that, he’s got to maintain the accounts as well which means making sure the wine actually makes it on the wine list, calling to make sure they haven’t run out of wine, and if they have, then delivering more. It is a non-stop effort.

Why does Doug do sales for Cima Collina? Why not farm it out to a distributor? We find nothing wrong with distributors, it is just that for this winery operation, it is important that we keep as much control over the finished product as possible, which includes whose hands finally pour it to the consumer. Since our main market is relatively close to the winery, it also doesn’t seem to make much sense to send the wine to sit in a distributor’s warehouse faraway, just to come back here. We think we can make a little more money doing it this way and at the same time keeping prices as low as we can. Lastly, small wineries such as Cima Collina tend to get lost in a distributor’s portfolio, so we want to take on full responsibility — from beginning the the very end — the insure the success of the winery.

So, the results of Doug’s hard work? So far, here’s where you can find us:

Clementine’s Kitchen
Shopper’s Corner, Santa Cruz
Deluxe Foods, Aptos
Uncorked, Saratoga
Kuleto’s, Los Gatos
Star Market, Salinas
The Bountiful Basket, Carmel
Sierra Mar at Post Ranch, Big Sur
Passionfish, Pacific Grove
Monterey Fish House
Village Fish House
Paradise Wine Bar
Grasing’s, Carmel-by-the-Sea
La Playa, Carmel-by-the-Sea
Bixby’s Martini Bistro, Carmel
Bahama Billy’s, Carmel
Taste of Monterey