We wrote this from the road to Salt Lake City last night, now we're onto Denver via Vail so we can drop off donations for the upcoming event at the Roundup River Ranch! Catching up with our Texas nephews a little this week while they are vacationing in the Rocky Mountains, leading a private wine dinner outside Fort Collins and hope to see a few accounts with our Harvest Wine Co. team too. Uchi in Denver is pouring our Sauvignon Blanc, we hope to drop by to shake a few hands a deliver a fun thank you as well. The Women in Wine Radio Podcast is up (mentioned below) here's the link https://radiomisfits.com/ww10/ ... pour a glass and give it a listen soon, its a fun one with Ali who talks in depth about Our Story! Cheers to Summer Sipping... it's hot out here! - Ali & Eric
August 1, 2019
Hello from somewhere between Reno and Salt Lake City this very minute on our way to Colorado for special events. It’s our third trip to the Rocky Mountains this year...Colorado has become such a big state filled with Smith Story supporters!
Summer 2019 is moving right along and we hope you've been enjoying Smith Story wines in your glass. We sure have! As we've said before, our rosé is a "two-bottler" in the fridge at all times. It’s been a leader on the sales front with our 2018 Sauvignon Blanc on its heels. If you're doing back-flips over our 2018 rosé don't hesitate to order again, inventory is moving fast.
In the Vineyards
The 2019 growing season in the vineyards has been slow and steady. We avoided challenges from the unusually heavy May rains (lucky!) during flowering. Since then, the vines have been healthy and happy so there has been an added layer of farming this summer. Right now, most of our vineyards are at about 10% veraison (when the colors change and acidity and flavors begin). It’s looking like a good old fashion classic California harvest season is upon is, which means we’re later than recent years and we'll most likely still be in the cellar with fermentations around the Thanksgiving holidays. 2019 is all a buzz…it just may be the vintage of the decade. We remain hopeful!
The Storytellers Wine Club Membership Drive
August 1 - 31 we’re asking you to help us spread the word and turn others onto our Wine Club. Smith Story Wine Club members enjoy benefits like complimentary tastings, discounts on wine and reorders, savings on shipping fees, use of our private tasting salon for small meetings and/or functions, personal travel concierge help (thanks Will) and “Corkage Fee Credit” when taking our wines to restaurants. Our club feels more like a circle of good friends and there hasn’t been a better time in the history of Smith Story to join. Details are here on the website.
The Smith Story Fall Wine Release and Club Shipment
Ohhhh this is going to be a fun one! It’s a red-wine only release this fall with our 2017 “The Boonies” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley (formerly known as Nash Mill Vineyard) $58 and our 2017 Cabernet Franc, Sonoma County $40 which has a very cool vineyard change. Both of the wines are extremely beautiful examples of their unique AVA’s and micro-climates. We’ll be posting details on the website about each within the next 24 hours. Thank you so very much "Sharing the Smith Story" with others, our Storytellers Wine Club continues to grow mostly by your recommendation to friends and family!
Smith Story HAPPENINGS...please pay attention here!
Well we messed up! We put out a "save the date" for a Blessing of the Grapes event in the Anderson Valley before checking on the local lodging availability. There are only 80-ish rooms for rent in the valley and one rather large wedding has most of them booked. We apologize for any and all travel plans already set. However, you are welcome to visit us this weekend but know there's not much of a choice to sleep in the valley. Hotels only the Mendocino Coast and in and around Healdsburg, Windsor and Santa Rosa are about an hour away. We deeply apologize for the rookie-move here.
Sunday August 18th we're hosting a very special Pop Up event for Storyteller Shannon Kelly who's featuring her handmade Orphan Ten ceramics. Details about the day are here.
Our calendar over the next few months is packed with events in Colorado, Dallas, Chicago, and Fort Bragg. Please reach out to us if you would like to host a private tasting in your area. Ali and Will are up for the travel, as Eric will be planted at the winery during the fall harvest. Ali does have another road trip to Texas in the works once things cool down, might as well hit Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona while she's at it! HEB and Central Market in her home state continue to be our biggest retail partners in the US, heading back to support is always a blast!
Smith Story Press
Kind words!! Oh we have continued to receive praise for our wines! If you see us mentioned in an article, on the radio and or TV please share too. It's all happening... we are incredibly grateful since our advertising budget is $0! The NY Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes are among our most recent. Ali's also been on an heavy podcast circuit lately, tune into another interview tomorrow on Wine Women Radio Link to Press
It's been a fast year so far, it's harder than ever as a small winery to make our mark on the world with the ungodly amount of big wine brands, micro-brews and cannabis choices these days, so your support means so very much. Today actually is the 5th anniversary of our Kickstarter Campaign in 2014 "Farmers First". It seems like ages ago, big dreams with thrilling hope! As we go into our 6th harvest, please know that every single bottle purchased of Smith Story wine goes toward financing our family winery and family partners first. We are all in!
THANK YOU and come visit us soon. Our winery (Grand Cru Custom Crush) visits in the Russian River Valley are not as abundant as we anticipated, please remember that you can call or email us even on the day-of for a private tasting and tour. Windsor is located 45 minutes from St. Helena in Napa, 5 minutes from the STS Santa Rosa airport (new direct flights from Denver and DFW) and about 1.5 hours from San Francisco. Lastly, there's a big, I mean a super cool announcement we hope to make in the next 60 days that will enhance your experience with us in wine country! Paws and fingers crossed.
Keep it cool out there & cheers,
Eric & Ali Story