Allison Levine's Please The Palate: The stories behind ten Garagiste producers
By Allison Levine
There are about 9,000 wineries in the United States. Almost half of the total (approximately 4,000) of those wineries have limited production of fewer than 1,000 cases.
These small producers are sometimes called “garagiste.” The term “garagiste” originated in Bordeaux, France and referred to renegade producers in the mid-1990s who did not want to follow the strict rules of the region. Many of them made wine in their garages, hence the name, but today these “garagiste” producers around the world are producing some of the best wine in the world.
But as small producers, how do their get their stories out? These are wines made of passion and can be hard to find. Many of them do not have tasting rooms. They sell direct to consumers and possibly to local restaurants and retail shops. And another way to find them is at the Garagiste Festival.