Sutro Wine Co.
Get the Dirt from Alice Sutro
“People who have larger brands tell me all the time – keep it small, keep it fun. I can be more nimble with marketing and embracing vintage variability. ”
What was your first vintage year? 2012
How many cases do you make per vintage? 700
Do you have a Tasting Room?
Hospitality for a micro-winery is SUPER hard to figure out. You always need a creative work around and it ends up being very costly to the winery, with much time invested per customer, and often whole bottles opened for just a few people. But we can’t escape the need to share our wines and the expectation that some sort of experience or hospitality will be offered. I buck at this expectation because it is not so with small producers in other countries. There is usually a state funded collective tasting room where all producers are represented and if you want more information, you can try and find the producer in their vineyard, home, or literally garage. Not so in the US and us micro-wineries are left to defend ourselves and stand our ground against GIGANTIC hospitality budgets and deep portfolios where customers are traded between brands owned by the same corporation.
So to that, I say TAKE A HIKE and here at Garagiste, with an understanding and like-minded crowd as my audience, I’m piloting that marketing approach. My wines are available to taste by the glass at Oakville Market in Healdsburg and if you want to discover more, please book a hike with me at my family’s vineyard Warnecke Ranch on Chalk Hill Road and I will GLADLY convey to you the love and passion I have for the property that bears amazing fruit for my SUTRO wines and the long legacy my family has as stewards here.
If not you, who is your winemaker?
My husband Eliot is the wine director for our wines. The wines are made at Medlock Ames with the help of their oenology team.
What wine made you want to become a winemaker/start your own winery?
My family’s business is grape growing – I wanted to be involved but not forsake my identity as an artist. Therefore I started a small label that gives me creative freedom and the chance to mold the primary material of the land that I love into a tangible object that tells a story and communicates directly with people.
What varietals do you work with? Which varietal/wine is your favorite to make?
I work with what grows at Warnecke Ranch: Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley is Cab Country), Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. My favorite is the Cab – with that one you can get a real sense of what the volcanic soils contribute to the aromatics.
What vineyards do you source from? Why? If Estate, why do you choose your location?
Beside our estate vineyard, I also source a small amount of fruit from neighbors so that I can blend Cab Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec into my two red bottlings.
What type of oak treatment do you use? Why?
Very minimal new oak, I don’t like to mask the primary and secondary aromas from fruit and fermentation. My reds are barrel fermented for almost two years, the Cab is 20% new oak and the Merlot is 100% neutral oak. I use Hungarian oak because it accentuates the coffee/cocoa aromas that are in my wines.
What do you love about your winemaking region? What makes it different special?
I love that we are very country. Our tag line for Alexander Valley is CAB COUNTRY. And I like to add: REAL CAB, REAL COUNTRY. All my winemaker friends are deeply invested in the farming and most have about 6 other wine –industry related jobs to survive.
What’s the story behind your winery name / label?
I married Eliot and took his last name so my name is now Alice Sutro. I liked that it was shorter and easier to pronounce than Warnecke. Plus my grandfather was a well known architect and so his name is on buildings all over the US and I felt like that name had enough stage presence and Sutro could be revitalized from its historic past in SF. Not to mention if anyone else in my family ever wants to start a micro-winery too, Warnecke is still available!
What's the one thing you wish someone had told you about the wine business before you started your own winery?
That it doesn’t make any money, at least not fast! But actually people did tell me that, I just didn’t listen.
Most importantly, what's so great about being small? What can you do as a small winemaker, that wouldn't be possible for larger wineries?
It’s still fun. People who have larger brands tell me all the time – keep it small, keep it fun. I can be more nimble with marketing and embracing vintage variability.
How do you view the future in the wine industry for small-lot winemakers?
Only with collaboration and partnerships can we survive, and the understanding from consumers that beauty is in diversity and if you value that, you’ll support small for all your wine purchases.
If you could choose another wine region to work in what would it be? Why?
Probably France to be near my brothers who live in Europe and my secretly favorite wine is Beaujolais Nouveau which is like, the opposite of the powerful reds that I make.
For more information about Sutro Wine Company, please visit their website.