| The Wine Industry Spotlight |
Ten Questions For Victor Gallegos of SeaSmoke Cellars
When it comes to California Pinot Noir, there are very few wineries as
hot right now as SeaSmoke Cellars. Those of you that are Pinot Noir
fans I'm sure have already heard of them and for the first few years of
their existence, the only way to score a few bottles of their wines was
through their mailing list. I've been on that mailing list for the past two
years and can tell you that I have certainly been one satisfied customer!
For those of you that are big fans of the movie "Sideways", one of their
Pinot Noir wines makes an appearance in the film. It is their Botella
Pinot Noir and it is one of the wines served to Miles and Jack when they
are on their first date with Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh's characters
at a restaurant in Santa Barbara. You know...the restaurant where Miles
makes it known to Jack exactly how he feels about drinking Merlot! It
was not coincidence that a bottle of SeaSmoke Pinot Noir made it into the
film, it is because the filmakers understood the reputation of the winery
and knew by showing it in the film it would have impact.
I first came to know Victor last year when there was a misunderstanding
with one of my wine shipments. He called me personally to help me and
take care of the situation. We got to talking and he mentioned another
venture outside of SeaSmoke that he has been working on called
"Melis". It is a wine made in Priorat, Spain. Right out of the gates, their
first vintage of Melis scored 93 points with the Wine Spectator and of
course, I can't recall a SeaSmoke Pinot Noir since it's inception only a
few vintages ago that ever received below a 92 point rating with either
Wine Spectator or Robert Parker. So I surmised that...hmm...this Victor
Gallegos must be pretty darn good at what he does! So I asked if he
could answer ten questions about himself, SeaSmoke & Melis and he
graciously agreed as well as providing me with some excellent
photographs of his vineyards in Spain. So without further ado, I give you
Victor Gallegos:
1). What is your role within the winery?
Officially, my position at Sea Smoke is VP/General Manager and
Viticulturalist. Sea Smoke is a small team - we have only 6 full-time
employees. This means that some days I am absorbed in financial
management and distributor reviews and other days I am stirring
biodynamic preparations at our estate vineyard or tasting blends with our
winemaker, Kris Curran.
Some days I get to just empty the trash and wash glassware!
2). Seasmoke is a relatively new winery, so how did the plans come about
for the winery and were the vineyards already in place long before it
started?
Bob Davids – the owner of Sea Smoke – had looked at various Pinot Noir
producing regions before settling on the Sta. Rita Hills AVA for its
unique microclimate and geography. Eventually, he enlisted the help of
Bill Wathen of Foxen to help identify properties that met his criteria (clay
soils, southern exposure, hillside transition zones with shallow soil depth
etc..). The property Bill identified for Bob was not for sale and had
never been planted to grapes. In 1998, Bob made an offer the owner
could not refuse and acquired the 350 westernmost acres of Rancho
Chahuchu. In 1999, 100 acres were planted to Pinot Noir and a small
amount of Chardonnay. The land that can be planted has already been
planted…and we do not purchase fruit.
3). How did Seasmoke come about finding winemaker Kris Curran?
During the search for a vineyard site, Bob had also consulted with Bruno
d’Alfonso of Sanford winery (Bruno and Bill Wathen are old friends).
When the time came to look for a winemaker, Bruno suggested Bob
consider Kris Curran for the job. Kris was then working as winemaker
at Koehler and was excited about the potential of Bob’s new project.
4). What role did the wine critics play in the instant success of
Seasmoke?
Almost by accident, our first vintage of Sea Smoke (2001) ended up on
the desk of Jim Laube. He had requested a tasting of the top wines being
featured by The Wine Cask at their annual Santa Barbara Futures
Tasting; Doug Margerum (the owner of Wine Cask) obliged by sending
him a sampling which included our wine. This certainly helped Sea
Smoke gain some instant visibility. That said, I have been in the wine
business long enough to know that if you do not have world-class quality
in the bottle at our price points, no amount of marketing or PR will
convince consumers to buy your wine….at least not beyond the first
purchase!
5). How do you go about getting wines reviewed by critics and the wine
trade?
We have been very fortunate in that most of the writers who review our
wines each year have actually requested samples from us; we set aside a
small amount of wine each vintage to fill these requests. Samples are
sometimes sent directly to critcs for tasting; however, Kris and I try to
taste the wines in person with critics when we have the time to travel.
6). What are the different sales chains you are currently using to sell the
wines, i.e. The Allocation List, Distributors, etc…? How do you go about
courting these avenues? What about marketing the wines?
Sea Smoke sells wine through two channels: the three-tier system and
our List. We do not sell wine directly to restaurants or fine wine shops.
We currently have distribution in approximately 22 domestic and 8
international markets. We are fortunate that all of our growth in both of
these channels happens through word of mouth….when we have wine to
meet the demand! Sea Smoke does not advertise or produce marketing
materials; we are not open for tours and we do not have a tasting room at
the winery. This allows us to stay focused on growing and producing the
best wine we can from our vineyard and to take advantage of the word of
mouth that this generates.
7). Syrah is a grape varietal that has been gaining notoriety in your area
of California, does Seasmoke have any plans of making any other
varietals other than Pinot Noir and Chardonnay?
Sea Smoke produces estate grown Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. We
continue to learn more about our vineyard each year and believe that we
have a lot of room to continue to improve what we do with Pinot Noir and
Chardonnay. Focus is our mantra.
8). How was the Melis project started and who all is involved?
Javier Lopez - my Spanish business partner and closest friend - and I
went to the Priorat for the first time over 20 years ago. We were
roommates at UC Davis, where I was studying viticulture/enology and he
was a graduate student in agricultural economics. We were psyched
about the terroir of the area, but did not have the resources to launch a
wine project at that time. In 1999, we were in the Priorat again and
decided that things were changing so quickly that we needed to take the
plunge, even though we still did not have the resources! So, we called
Russ Weis (another wine industry friend and now GM of Silverado
Vineyards) and convinced him to join us in forming a company. With the
help of a couple of other friends as investors, Melis was born. Javier and
I spent a year looking for the right vineyard site, with the help of Jose
Luis Perez (Cims de Porrera and Clos Martinet) and eventually found a
spot which met my parameters: southern exposure with access to the
garbinada wind from the Mediterranean, licorella and schist soils of
shallow depth (20%+ slope)….etc. Our estate vineyard in Torroja del
Priorat is about 20 planted acres (on 40 acres), with 50+ year old
Cariñena and high-density, double row terraces of new plantings of
Garnatxa, Syrah and a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon. We also control
farming and have long-term fixed price contracts on a few other
vineyards in both Torroja and Porrera….mostly Garnatxa and Cariñena
of 25-120 years of age. Javier is the General Manager of the project
and runs the day to day business; I am the President of the company and
lead the winemaking and vineyard team, which also includes our enologist
Toni Sanchez and our consulting enologist Claude Gros.
In 2004, we made our first vintage of Melis (and our second label Elix)….
which is now in the market in the U.S.
9). What is Spain/Priorat like and how are things different there in terms
of making wine than in California?
Priorat is one of the most magical places to make wine. It is farming on
the lunatic fringe…. the landscape is harsh, steep and untamed and it is
virtually impossible to find vineyard workers willing to endure the
grueling - but necessary - handwork. It is an incredibly peaceful place
(some would say boring) and I love it more every year.
To be successful as an outsider making wine in the Priorat, one has to
have a clear idea of one’s own winemaking goals and values, while
showing respect to local viticultural knowledge. I have come to greatly
appreciate the knowledge I have received from the old vignerons
regarding the seemingly unpredictable and rapidly changing local weather
patterns, the proper care of very old vines, and how to cultivate licorella
slate soils without going broke. Over the years, I have also learned to
work in a different rhythm and to accept that everything will take quite a
bit longer to accomplish. The Spanish will find a thousand good reasons
to interrupt a ‘normal’ weekly work schedule…and I would argue that
they enjoy life more as a result.
10). Do you have any future projects in the works?
As a Pinot Noir guy at heart, I am very excited about the mencía-based
wines of the Bierzo region….they are the closest thing Spain has to Pinot
Noir. Javier and I are planning a trip there this spring to look at
potential vineyard sites….
hot right now as SeaSmoke Cellars. Those of you that are Pinot Noir
fans I'm sure have already heard of them and for the first few years of
their existence, the only way to score a few bottles of their wines was
through their mailing list. I've been on that mailing list for the past two
years and can tell you that I have certainly been one satisfied customer!
For those of you that are big fans of the movie "Sideways", one of their
Pinot Noir wines makes an appearance in the film. It is their Botella
Pinot Noir and it is one of the wines served to Miles and Jack when they
are on their first date with Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh's characters
at a restaurant in Santa Barbara. You know...the restaurant where Miles
makes it known to Jack exactly how he feels about drinking Merlot! It
was not coincidence that a bottle of SeaSmoke Pinot Noir made it into the
film, it is because the filmakers understood the reputation of the winery
and knew by showing it in the film it would have impact.
I first came to know Victor last year when there was a misunderstanding
with one of my wine shipments. He called me personally to help me and
take care of the situation. We got to talking and he mentioned another
venture outside of SeaSmoke that he has been working on called
"Melis". It is a wine made in Priorat, Spain. Right out of the gates, their
first vintage of Melis scored 93 points with the Wine Spectator and of
course, I can't recall a SeaSmoke Pinot Noir since it's inception only a
few vintages ago that ever received below a 92 point rating with either
Wine Spectator or Robert Parker. So I surmised that...hmm...this Victor
Gallegos must be pretty darn good at what he does! So I asked if he
could answer ten questions about himself, SeaSmoke & Melis and he
graciously agreed as well as providing me with some excellent
photographs of his vineyards in Spain. So without further ado, I give you
Victor Gallegos:
1). What is your role within the winery?
Officially, my position at Sea Smoke is VP/General Manager and
Viticulturalist. Sea Smoke is a small team - we have only 6 full-time
employees. This means that some days I am absorbed in financial
management and distributor reviews and other days I am stirring
biodynamic preparations at our estate vineyard or tasting blends with our
winemaker, Kris Curran.
Some days I get to just empty the trash and wash glassware!
2). Seasmoke is a relatively new winery, so how did the plans come about
for the winery and were the vineyards already in place long before it
started?
Bob Davids – the owner of Sea Smoke – had looked at various Pinot Noir
producing regions before settling on the Sta. Rita Hills AVA for its
unique microclimate and geography. Eventually, he enlisted the help of
Bill Wathen of Foxen to help identify properties that met his criteria (clay
soils, southern exposure, hillside transition zones with shallow soil depth
etc..). The property Bill identified for Bob was not for sale and had
never been planted to grapes. In 1998, Bob made an offer the owner
could not refuse and acquired the 350 westernmost acres of Rancho
Chahuchu. In 1999, 100 acres were planted to Pinot Noir and a small
amount of Chardonnay. The land that can be planted has already been
planted…and we do not purchase fruit.
3). How did Seasmoke come about finding winemaker Kris Curran?
During the search for a vineyard site, Bob had also consulted with Bruno
d’Alfonso of Sanford winery (Bruno and Bill Wathen are old friends).
When the time came to look for a winemaker, Bruno suggested Bob
consider Kris Curran for the job. Kris was then working as winemaker
at Koehler and was excited about the potential of Bob’s new project.
4). What role did the wine critics play in the instant success of
Seasmoke?
Almost by accident, our first vintage of Sea Smoke (2001) ended up on
the desk of Jim Laube. He had requested a tasting of the top wines being
featured by The Wine Cask at their annual Santa Barbara Futures
Tasting; Doug Margerum (the owner of Wine Cask) obliged by sending
him a sampling which included our wine. This certainly helped Sea
Smoke gain some instant visibility. That said, I have been in the wine
business long enough to know that if you do not have world-class quality
in the bottle at our price points, no amount of marketing or PR will
convince consumers to buy your wine….at least not beyond the first
purchase!
5). How do you go about getting wines reviewed by critics and the wine
trade?
We have been very fortunate in that most of the writers who review our
wines each year have actually requested samples from us; we set aside a
small amount of wine each vintage to fill these requests. Samples are
sometimes sent directly to critcs for tasting; however, Kris and I try to
taste the wines in person with critics when we have the time to travel.
6). What are the different sales chains you are currently using to sell the
wines, i.e. The Allocation List, Distributors, etc…? How do you go about
courting these avenues? What about marketing the wines?
Sea Smoke sells wine through two channels: the three-tier system and
our List. We do not sell wine directly to restaurants or fine wine shops.
We currently have distribution in approximately 22 domestic and 8
international markets. We are fortunate that all of our growth in both of
these channels happens through word of mouth….when we have wine to
meet the demand! Sea Smoke does not advertise or produce marketing
materials; we are not open for tours and we do not have a tasting room at
the winery. This allows us to stay focused on growing and producing the
best wine we can from our vineyard and to take advantage of the word of
mouth that this generates.
7). Syrah is a grape varietal that has been gaining notoriety in your area
of California, does Seasmoke have any plans of making any other
varietals other than Pinot Noir and Chardonnay?
Sea Smoke produces estate grown Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. We
continue to learn more about our vineyard each year and believe that we
have a lot of room to continue to improve what we do with Pinot Noir and
Chardonnay. Focus is our mantra.
8). How was the Melis project started and who all is involved?
Javier Lopez - my Spanish business partner and closest friend - and I
went to the Priorat for the first time over 20 years ago. We were
roommates at UC Davis, where I was studying viticulture/enology and he
was a graduate student in agricultural economics. We were psyched
about the terroir of the area, but did not have the resources to launch a
wine project at that time. In 1999, we were in the Priorat again and
decided that things were changing so quickly that we needed to take the
plunge, even though we still did not have the resources! So, we called
Russ Weis (another wine industry friend and now GM of Silverado
Vineyards) and convinced him to join us in forming a company. With the
help of a couple of other friends as investors, Melis was born. Javier and
I spent a year looking for the right vineyard site, with the help of Jose
Luis Perez (Cims de Porrera and Clos Martinet) and eventually found a
spot which met my parameters: southern exposure with access to the
garbinada wind from the Mediterranean, licorella and schist soils of
shallow depth (20%+ slope)….etc. Our estate vineyard in Torroja del
Priorat is about 20 planted acres (on 40 acres), with 50+ year old
Cariñena and high-density, double row terraces of new plantings of
Garnatxa, Syrah and a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon. We also control
farming and have long-term fixed price contracts on a few other
vineyards in both Torroja and Porrera….mostly Garnatxa and Cariñena
of 25-120 years of age. Javier is the General Manager of the project
and runs the day to day business; I am the President of the company and
lead the winemaking and vineyard team, which also includes our enologist
Toni Sanchez and our consulting enologist Claude Gros.
In 2004, we made our first vintage of Melis (and our second label Elix)….
which is now in the market in the U.S.
9). What is Spain/Priorat like and how are things different there in terms
of making wine than in California?
Priorat is one of the most magical places to make wine. It is farming on
the lunatic fringe…. the landscape is harsh, steep and untamed and it is
virtually impossible to find vineyard workers willing to endure the
grueling - but necessary - handwork. It is an incredibly peaceful place
(some would say boring) and I love it more every year.
To be successful as an outsider making wine in the Priorat, one has to
have a clear idea of one’s own winemaking goals and values, while
showing respect to local viticultural knowledge. I have come to greatly
appreciate the knowledge I have received from the old vignerons
regarding the seemingly unpredictable and rapidly changing local weather
patterns, the proper care of very old vines, and how to cultivate licorella
slate soils without going broke. Over the years, I have also learned to
work in a different rhythm and to accept that everything will take quite a
bit longer to accomplish. The Spanish will find a thousand good reasons
to interrupt a ‘normal’ weekly work schedule…and I would argue that
they enjoy life more as a result.
10). Do you have any future projects in the works?
As a Pinot Noir guy at heart, I am very excited about the mencía-based
wines of the Bierzo region….they are the closest thing Spain has to Pinot
Noir. Javier and I are planning a trip there this spring to look at
potential vineyard sites….
| The Licorella Soil in the Melis vineyards of Priorat, Spain |
| Victor with SeaSmoke Winemaker, Kris Curran |
| Melis Vineyard in Priorat, Spain |
| Javier Lopez with Victor Gallegos |