The Chapters | Smith Story Wine Cellars

Gearing up for Harvest 2014

...we've secured our vineyards (well still could use some budget friendly Pinot Meunier), fallen in love even more with our winemakers Katy & Ross, locked down our crush needs with Vinify, now comes the hardest part - waiting for the grapes to ripen.

It's cooled off over the past few weeks after a warm Spring, so some say the grapes will be early, some say they'll be picked right about the same time as the past two years...which is OK for those not juggling full-time jobs elsewhere - we are anxious! Both of us hope to be in California (and can take the early morning off) to help with the pick and crush at the winery. After all this wait, Dear God we hope we don't miss a thing!

Here's a peek at our Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon Vines on top of the Sonoma Mountain AVA - about 24 hours ago. We are very pleased with the vineyard and are so excited to make our first Smith Story Wine Cellars wine from this beautiful spot in Sonoma County!

Our love for Sauvignon Blanc started with France, particularly the region of Sancerre, France in the Loire Valley. I'm sure we've bugged our winemakers to death about crush and cellar details that come with our rather large expectations of producing world-class Sauvignon Blanc.

We can hardly sleep through the night thinking about it all!

This is Our Story,

Ali (and Eric)

The Wine Business is Dangerous

Adventures with winemakers Katy & Ross...

Picture 4 of us in a brand new Subaru 4WD wagon with about an half of inch of vineyard dirt on the back window, speeding down a cliff-side gravel road after accidentally driving down a dead-end road - right into a marijuana grove.

So just about the time we thought about slowing down to take-in the breathtaking views and pop a bottle of Eric Bordelet Pear Cider, a large angry looking man draped in a scarf and mirrored sunglasses on a large ATV appeared right on our tail. I turned around to look and quickly yelled out S%#! I'm talking straight outta 60 Minutes folks. Now I know why Ross travels around with TP in his car. The weed-farm scary guy must have had a good head-shake and chuckle watching us sip on our iced-Americanos inside the Subaru as he peeled away & turned back. Wine people!

Lesson learned kiddies: Stop and turn around the minute you notice a sawed-off tree with a bow & arrow attached when you are in the middle of thick forest land!

Anyhoo...beyond this slight-heart attack, the day was full of beauty in the Anderson Valley. We made a stop by Handley Cellars to say hello to the dear Milla Handley and taste her current releases then spent the rest of the day visiting with vineyard managers and kicking rocks. We also drove past Nash Mill Vineyard and gave it a big high-five too, Nash Mill Vineyard was original the vineyard that Eric and I spent some time in while he and his pal Jeff planted riesling about 10 years ago. Those were the days...

Thrilled to have a small footprint from the Anderson Valley AVA in our 2014 inaugural offering of Smith Story Wine Cellars!

This is Our Story.

- Ali

Better Together

Our dreams are made out of real things...

14 days of travel through Austria, Alsace (well for 15 minutes to taste the worlds best croissant) and now Germany - at least a thousand songs have blasted in the rental car as we've rolled along. Jack Johnson's "Better Together" is the theme song of this amazing trip!

We've always known we could get along just about anywhere, but now that we've been challenged with very little sleep, foreign languages and being on the move near 18 hours each day, we are thankful to have each others company. Today is the first day I've taken off to catch up on a little work and write while Eric is visiting a few wine producers from the Mosel in Germany.

Eric's wine career began over 15 years ago when he began working part-time for K&L Wine Merchants to earn some cash for a backpacking trip to Europe. Towards the end of his trip, he sent an email to K&L and asked for a full-time job with them in Redwood City upon his return, the wine bug had bitten. I have to brag a bit here, he's been such a Rockstar over here among wine producers and importers. I'm so proud of the way he's conducted himself with a great mix of integrity for the business and passion for the winemakers, his work ethic and enthusiasm has made a difference to so many producers over the years. We haven't met a single one who hasn't greeted us with a big smile and warm-hearted welcome.

A gazillion highlights to record and chat about, but the one thing that has happened at nearly each stop is seeing husband and wife teams working hard together. Whether they've sat with us in their living room and tasted with us over a home-cooked meal, or met us in the vineyards with their kids & dogs playing around our feet, their presence has been so inspiring to us. Their dreams are also real things they've made come true. We hope to so the same with Smith Story Wine Cellars one day soon too!

Our dreams, and they are made out of real things
Like a, shoebox of photographs
With sepia-toned loving
Love is the answer,
At least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and
Sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together
Mmm, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together

- Jack Johnsons "Better Together," from the album In Between Dreams (2005).

It's always better when we're together.

This is Our Story. - Ali

Small Production. Highly Allocated. Join Our Mailing List.

Greetings from Vienna!

Nussburg & the city of Vienna

Need to make this brief, as we are on a tight schedule this week...Eric and I are attending the Vie Vinum International Wine Festival, over 500 wineries from all over the world showcasing their best wines. It's the first time we've traveled together on business and we are having such a fun time seeing friends in the wine business here in Vienna with us. It's about as close to Heaven on Earth work-wise as things get, the people, the wines, the food the history here...oh I could go on for days!

It's awesome to see Eric do his thing as the top Austrian wine buyer in California, it's a bit like having my own personal rockstar around here! Eric has such passion for the wines he is responsible for buying and promoting at K&L.

As for me, running TexaCali Wine Co. nationally and now internationally is thrilling, among our friends here are the top wine writers, importers, exporters, US distributors, inspiring wine buyers from the US and from all over the world. Many of my top key accounts across America are in attendance, so needless to say it's been a blast to talk shop with this change of venue. I'm grateful for my partnership with Winemonger Imports as this has certainly strengthened relationships and opened new doors these first few days of travel.

It's also been great fun to hear all the excitement for Smith Story Wine Cellars from everyone! Soo cool. We've had a few "pinch me moments" in this short time, amazing how small our circle is within the wine business worldwide and the enthusiasm showered over us! More from Austria later this week. Thank you for following our journey, we are so pumped to create this new chapter in our lives!

This is Our Story.

-Ali

PS - WATCHING THE WORLD CUP FROM HERE IS FANTASTIC!

Maya Angelou loved to party!

The Maya Angelou memorial service is televised this morning, the mood is mildly somber and incredibly joyful - "Maya Angelou loved to party", this quote made the crowd join together in laughter. There is much to learn about Maya and learn from as well... “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style" - the beloved Maya Angelou.

This quote from Maya Angelou is timely and timeless...especially relevant to our mission statement and reasons why we've begun Smith Story Wine Cellars...

Smith Story Wines are made with respect for the land, kindness for the grower and love from the winemaker. The wines show restraint, balance and integrity of the grape. Our winemaking philosophy is to utilize classic, old world techniques and let the grapes and sense of place where they are grown both speak for themselves. Our vineyards and growers are among the precious AVA’s of Northern California.

Passion for Smith Story Wine Cellars is keeping us up in the middle of the night! No, not with worry, but excitement about doing things well and how much we love this opportunity that our hard work over the years has created.

Compassion keeps us in check! Sustainability & fairness is our #1 desire in business dealings with our vineyard families, vendors, cellar team and our future buyers and wholesale partners. In all conversations, dealings and plans - we remind ourselves to listen with compassion and understand needs from all sides upon making final decisions. Compassion also extends to the precious vines...we are so very proud to know that each of our vineyards are watched over with great depth and vigor.

Humor - to know us is to laugh with us! We're that couple that could find joy and laughter together in just about any situation. Life is serious, we certainly are about building and running Smith Story Wine Cellars, but hey, let's all have a great time along the way! There's no room on our spreadsheets for anyone lacking humor.

Style - whether it's the way we run the business modus operandi or the appearance we bring in person, on the label and create on the website, we hope our style exudes 1) unconditional love 2) razor sharp focus 3) really nice shoes. Eric owns more pairs of swanky shoes than Ali by the way...

Each of these elements are allowing us to survive and hopefully thrive for many many years to come. Thank you Maya for summing this up so effortlessly for the two of us and for the world.

This is Our Story.

- Eric and Ali

Want to Watch the Birth of a Winery?

The best tweet yet came across my iPhone yesterday " The Graped Avenger @Graped_Avenger Want to watch the birth of a winery follow @smithstorywines. Drink what you love, love what you drink. #smithstorywines #texacaliali"

Since announcing Smith Story Wine Cellars to the world exactly 14 days ago, the response, support and enthusiasm has been such a confirmation that we are on the road to living our ultimate dreams in this business of wine. Giving birth to a winery - wow - this is our reality. Please read our first post if you've skipped over May 14...

This week I was asked by a banker "based on your experience in this business, what's the number one mistake that wineries have made over the years in terms of sales and growth?". Without any hesitation, I told the banker "the lack of Best Practices put in place from the beginning. This coupled with not listening and/or empowering employees who bring real wine business experience to a team."

This business is like no other, just because you've become wealthy doing something else in the world, does not mean you have any chance of being successful in the wine business. Yeah, those folks who start with a small fortune or big one most certainly think that they'll make it because they can buy things, chances are pretty darn good for a winery like us who's making certain every dime spent is for the right thing, every phone call is good business, each relationship is bound by integrity and egos remain outside our Best Practices. The wine business is built on relationships, nobody wants to deal with assholes, nobody wants to deal with needy high maintenance emotional winery owners, nobody wants to deal with a disorganized business - period.

The banker quickly replied, "Indeed, you are only as good as your weakest planning, worst employee, worst client, worst vendor, I ask my winery clients often about their Best Practices. Many of the wealthy families I help made their millions by having A-team players surrounding them and holding court, once they step off into their new wine business frontier they often chase the romance and ignore (because of egos) what highly experienced & knowledgeable industry professionals bring to the table for them, often mismanaging these folks thus running in circles like a dog chasing their tail".

Watching a dog chase it's tail is always a good laugh, but "what an idiot" always comes to mind too. Both Eric and I know what our strengths are, we are happily & mindfully relying on others who bring killer talents to our team that we lack. I say this often, we are all in this together, and I'm going to say it forever. The birth of a winery...

This is Our Story.

- Ali

And so it begins...Start-up Mode.

In all honesty, we are scared to death during these beginning months of building the foundation for Smith Story Wine Cellars. Besides our years in the wine business, both Eric and I have been working full-time before we were old enough to legally drive - so we know our work ethic and drive at the very least will make this happen. What we are scared to death about the most is:

Keeping our first years of marriage stress-free
Fees and business areas that are foreign to us while in start-up mode
Taking on investors

One: Smith Story Wine Cellars is sorta like our newborn, this little bundle comes complete with feelings of joy and sleep deprivation from worry. Well, thank goodness we have plenty of wine to help relax us and a million-dollar view from our rental home in San Rafael as we will be taking staycations for a long while. So #1 we aren't too worried about. Plus Lord Sandwich (our giant Goldendoodle provides us with hourly laughs). And we love each other so much it may sicken others.

Two: As for getting into the real art of understanding new business licenses, to LLC or to INC, setting up bank accounts, reporting taxes (um yeah, we won't be selling anything for awhile), paying experts to help us swim through all this with either wine trade, dog sitting, baked goods /BBQ ribs, wine sales or hard cash is also part of the plan. Holy %#!@ this is hard, confusing, and crazy stressful part of starting a new business. We just want to do it right from the beginning. Breath, just breath. I also find my self praying a little more each week, God give us strength and the insight to make right decisions each day. Seriously. Don't sweat the small stuff. I repeat.

It's truly when Eric and I are in the vineyards, talking to our winemaking team, tasting wines that excite us is what exactly keeps us filled with courage and pressing on to make this happen and become sustainable. We are determined.

Three: We are not starting with a small fortune, we are starting with our sleeves rolled up ready to rock this business plan. Neither one of us come from money or cashed out from Silicon Valley lucky-cards and we've hardly borrowed a dime before. We've worked for everything we have, memories and material things alike. A handful of folks have reached out in asking how they can invest (seems that Eric & I are a live-and-in-person solid business plan together).

All that we know is that investors are crucial for us in the first few years of building. We are listening with great intent and are overwhelmed by the amount of support and generosity that MAY happen. Making an investment in Smith Story Wine Cellars is long-term and according to our massive forecasts will be a safe place (unless Acts of God happen) for our investors - plus they'll have plenty of great wine along the way.

This scary new frontier will soon pass, the vines are already singing for an incredible 2014 Harvest ahead and by this time next year with all our might & hope - our first wine offerings will be released and sold-out. There's a reason the words "Start-up Mode" is a part of the new business process and I can not wait to look back and smile at all that we've accomplished on day... sooner than later!

This is Our Story.

- Ali

The Introduction

Oh here we go, onto a new chapter for Eric & I as we've reached our 1 year wedding anniversary. Today marks the official debut of Smith Story Wine Cellars - giving birth of sorts to our newest little bundle of joy!

Best to answer the top questions of the day:

Yes - we are still 100% working our regular jobs (K&L Wine Merchants & TexaCali Wine Co.) and are grateful for your continued enthusiasm of our wine regions and winery clients we support so diligently. To quote the pioneering Philip Togni we are not starting "with a small fortune". We are working like mad to make this next Chapter in our lives come together and prosper.

NO - we are not producing Riesling from California, we feel it's best to leave that up to our pals over in Germany.

Many elements of our beginnings are written on the website, but I must be honest here and tell the world that for over a decade, the vision of walking through a vineyard in the Anderson Valley hand-in-hand with Eric Story along with our loyal dogs has stuck with me each and every day.

The winery name was spontaneously created while sitting & sipping rum on the stunning Mauna Kea beach on the Big Island of Hawaii ... where we tied-the-knot 12 months ago in the hills of Holualoa. Eric and I both paused after hearing Smith Story Wine Cellars. Though not sure who blurted it out first, we thought the name had a nice ring, and man could our stories go far and wide with all that we've worked so hard to accomplish in the wine business over the past decade.

So I ask you to follow Our Chapters, become involved with Our Story and please support our new small family business. The best way to do so now is to sign up for our mailing list.

Yeah yeah, we are following our dreams and all that, but it's our biggest wish to create a sustainable winery that can support not only the 2 of us, but all the vineyard growers we partner with, our wonderful winemaking team and everyone else involved with the entire supply chain of making and selling fine wines from California.

A number can't possibly be guessed on the many wine producers that have inspired us in our lifetime. Eric and I are so very humbled and honored to start this new chapter in our lives.

This is Our Story,

Ali