Relentless, one of winemaker Lance Cutler’s wines, comes from a two-acre merlot vineyard owned by Marcello Hernandez, and another small cabernet vineyard on Sonoma Mountain. Submitted photo
Sonoma has more than its share of creative, small vintners sought out by consumers who like their wine to come with its own story. Sometimes difficult to find, these winemakers are tucked into nooks and crannies throughout the county and depend on local customers as well as tourists to keep their casks flowing.
While not so visible on the nation’s shelves or in travel publications, these smaller, artisan wines are highly influential. “The industry thrives on small production wines that are made by passionate winemakers,” said winemaker David Noyes. “Each of us has a personal esthetic, a style or varietal we really want to make and then we start making it.”
Compared with Constellation, whose corporate wineries produce 50 to 60 million cases each year, Noyes and other small winemakers may seem miniscule, but their ranks are large. More than 90 percent of California’s 2,400 registered wineries produce less than 10,000 cases annually, according to the trade group Family Wineries of California.
Two highly influential small winemakers are profiled below; two more will be profiled in a future edition of the Sun.
David Noyes Wines
David Noyes spent nearly 30 years making wine for other people, devoting a decade as assistant winemaker for Ridge Vineyards and 16 years as winemaker for Kunde Estate Winery & Vineyards. In 2006, he decided it was time to pay homage to his own dream – a brand with his name on it.
“I told myself that if I didn’t do it now, I never would,” said Noyes, 56. He now crushes and bottles small lots of pinot noir, zinfandel, chardonnay and tocai friulano grapes. He produces about 2,000 cases of David Noyes Wines each year, and sells most of it himself.
Noyes started making his own pinot noir in 2001, sourcing grapes from small local vineyards and using the facilities at Kunde to crush and bottle the wine. He likes to press the pinot before it finishes fermenting, releasing a yeasty flavor into the wine. He describes the effect as “bright and fruity, with raspberry and strawberry flavors that work well with the toasty yeast flavor.”
Now devoted full-time to his business, Noyes has added chardonnay, zinfandel and tocai friulano to the line sold on his Web site, at the Family Wineries tasting room in Kenwood and through a Bay Area distributor. He explains its success in terms that are almost metaphysical.
“People are looking for things that are handmade, that are made with soul,” he said. “So much of our lives are spent with things that are mass produced that we lose that personal connection.
“And wine is a transformative beverage. It turns a meal into a special occasion. It’s a metaphor for place, the environment, culture, history and people at any given time. When you share a bottle, there is a sense of getting a handle on that mystery.”
David Noyes Wines, Boyes Hot Springs, 707-935-7741. www.davidnoyeswines.com. Available at the Family Wineries tasting room, 9380 Hwy. 12, Kenwood, 888.433.6555.
Relentless
Anyone who gets a taste of Lance Cutler’s almost-impossible-to-find wines will be enjoying a rare treat from one of Sonoma Valley’s legendary winemakers.
Lance Cutler’s annual production may be the smallest of any professional winemaker in the Valley, but it’s among the most legendary. After serving as winemaker for Gundlach Bundschu winery for a decade, Cutler resigned in 1991 “out of frustration with the pressure to get bigger and the lack of funds to do what needed to be done,” he said, and soon started bottling his own formula.
In 1994 his father and grandfather died, and he became a grandfather, giving him three good reasons to mark the year with something special. He shifted his attention to his own small-batch wine, and still makes 200 cases a year with partner Rusty Staub.
Called Relentless, the wines come from a two-acre merlot vineyard owned by Marcello Hernandez, and another small cabernet vineyard on Sonoma Mountain. They’re not cheap, at $60 a bottle, but they’re sold directly to charter members and friends of the family, as well as in 15 restaurants scattered throughout Florida and New York.
Cutler says he has been through 31 harvests, of his own and with Gundlach Bundschu, and they’re beginning to take a toll on his body. “I have a contract for two more years, and after that…..?”
Relentless, available locally only through winemaker Lance Cutler at lance@winepatrol.com
