A small plot of land just off the Sonoma Coast, known as Zephyr Farms, is sheltered among towering redwood trees, with just enough divine sunlight slicing into the oasis. Coastal breezes carry moisture from the ground while still being shielded by the colossal forest, creating the perfect nursery for wine grapes to flourish. Zephyr Farms is just one of the areas Red Car Wine uses to harvest grapes, as no winery focuses more on the landscape and the earth.
“You want to be in the plants’ shoes,” says Tanner Scheer, winemaker for Red Car Wine since 2015. “The Redwoods drink from the fog. Across the eight acres, there are generally cooler days, but with lots of sunshine. You want photosynthesis to occur without it getting too hot.”
Each vineyard undergoes a detailed inspection, ensuring that it’s the perfect spot to plant. “Everything we do here is extremely terroir driven,” says Scheer. The back of every Red Car label displays specific data about the land where the grapes were grown. “We show numbers and information about the pH levels, average brix and soil type. It’s important to us. We want our customers to know everything about what they are buying.”
Through the art of cartography, Red Car Wine has charted itself into one of the premier local wineries, with an ornate tasting room located on the outskirts of Sebastopol. The interior features a series of maps along the walls, each detailing the specifics of where the grapes are sourced.
This relationship to the land goes back to the origins of the winery. Mark Estrin, Carroll Kemp and the current owners, Richard and Alison Crowell, created 50 cases of Syrah from a garage in Culver City in 2000. Syrah, with its rich complexity, was always the wine they wanted to create.
According to Richard, Estrin once made a comment that still rings true today, “When it’s your own vineyard, you’re not just selling a bottle of wine. You’re selling your hard work, your time, your imagination, your hopes and your dreams.” Estrin’s inspired passion led to him inscribing lines of prose on the bottles themselves: one passage per vintage. Crowell claims the packaging took almost as much time as the winemaking itself. Estrin passed in 2004, and the Cuvee 22, a vintage of Syrah, is an homage to Estrin and features a portrait of him on the label.
After receiving critical acclaim from wine critic Robert Parker and a spot on Wine Spectator’s “Best Ever California Pinot Noir” spread in 2009, Red Car established itself as one of the hardest working and loyal-to-the-land wineries in the North Bay, as Estrin envisioned.
The first taste is a 2018 Chardonnay from Zephyr Farms. It boasts a natural balance with hints of clementine, citrus rind and wet stone. Red Car had a great year in 2018, as the winery experienced a long, slow and cool growing season, where the Chardonnay was able to ripen to full maturity while maintaining beautiful natural chemistry.
Scheer takes immense pride in the creation of Chardonnay. “We set out to produce Chardonnay that strikes balance in aroma, flavor and texture, while expressing the character of the vineyard and vintage,” he says.
Zephyr Farms is also home to their 2018 Pinot Noir, a wine that bursts with bold flavors of hibiscus and cardamom, alongside a dash of redwood spice. With a high, natural acidity, this wine, made from the highly sensitive grapes Pinot is infamous for, is not possible without basking in the regions Red Car operates in. Defined by the landscape, its Pinot Noir has an exotic complexity which makes it stand out among the many other high-quality Pinot Noir wines from Sonoma.
But Red Car Wines wouldn’t exist without its Syrah. The wine possesses a labyrinth of flavors including violet, plum, anise and white pepper, with grapes hailing from the Fort Ross region. The Syrah vines were first planted in 2005, with more than a decade of benefitting from the diverse range of nutrients and minerals in the soil.
The final pour is a 2021 Rosé of Pinot Noir, Scheer and Kenny Strauss, the assistant winemaker, apply what they learn each harvest to tailor their approach. The Rosé reflects a generous and rich texture with incomparable balance, all while aging in 100% neutral French oak for three months.
The wines speak directly from the soil and maritime climate, according to Crowell, and it’s a story worth hearing. Twenty-two years in the making, Red Car Wines continues to evolve and improve, wearing its history on its sleeve with a map honoring the land that created their unique collection of wine.
Did You Know?
The Red Car wine label has gone through many phases of design and packaging, including at one point using original paintings as labels. When Wine Spectator named them as one of the best Pinot Noirs in 2009, their bottle graced the cover of the magazine, creating a new level of fame for the humble winery. Though the winery’s name wasn’t on this particular label, wine enthusiasts tracked down the makers of the unnamed wine. Over the years, the brand settled on a series of maps as their label, with their name clearly visible, which remains as their artwork to this day.
At a Glance
Red Car Wine
Address: 8400 Graton Road, Sebastopol, Calif.
Web: redcarwine.com
Hours: Open Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tasting Fee: Coastal Reserve Tasting $25/per person ; Vineyard Tour and Wine Tasting $50/per person; Forest Bathing Tasting $75/per person
Wines Available: 2018 Zephyr Farms Chardonnay, 2018 Heaven & Earth Pinot Noir, 2018 Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2015 Estate Vineyard Syrah, 2021 Rosé of Pinot Noir
Reservations: Recommended, but walk-ins welcome.
Picnics: No
Pets: No
