Small Boutique Wineries featured at Alexander Valley Event
Sonoma County is home to some of California’s best wineries. While some Sonoma operations are scaled for Disneyland size tourism, others are not. Great wines are produced from large and small wineries, but certain down home qualities are reserved for small productions.
Seven small wineries were featured in last weekends Alexander Valley Winegrowers Association’s Taste of the Valley. You would think that smaller producers could be lost in the fold among wineries like Alexander Valley Vineyards, Clos du Bois, Silver Oak, Simi and Souverain.
But the “Outlaw 7” banded together to meet, greet and pour their wines. This club includes Wilson-Fleming, Icaria Creek, Joseph Family, Quaking Hills, Hart’s Desire, Kachina and Mojon’s Bench.
“For us it’s about the boutiqueness and the variety and about having fun,” said Jeffrey Smith of Icaria Creek. “You can go to Clos du Bois and meet one of their 400 employees or you can come see us and it’s a little bit different. It’s what Sonoma County used to be.”
The Outlaw 7 held their tasting at the Thunderbird Ranch, which was perfect for the western style theme of the event. Over 2,500 people attended over the two days. According to Tony Fleming of Wilson-Fleming Estate Winery, “This is the only time we get to do these public tastings,” said Fleming. “Other wineries you can go to any day, for us it’s once a year.”
In a show of good faith, a portion of the group’s wine sales were donated to California Human Development. Which is s Sonoma charity that helps disenfranchised, underrepresented people with education, jobs and housing. Cheers to the Outlaw 7, they are true backbone of the California wine industry.
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Written by: Ryan Fujiu on Tuesday, June 05 2007
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