Sampl: How does Flambeaux’s rich New Orleans heritage influence your winery in Sonoma? 

Ryan: Like in Sonoma County, New Orleans has an innate warm, casual hospitality that comes from the culture, the climate, and its history. There the small pleasures of life are celebrated together – delicious food, great music, and our rich heritage. We welcome our visitors to Flambeaux Wine with the same easy-going hospitality we grew up with.

Sampl: What’s the driving force behind your passion for winemaking?

Ryan: The connection to our small, distinctive estate vineyard high up in the mountains above Dry Creek Valley. The magic and beauty of the place is reflected in the grapes harvested from those vines. That led us to find other exceptional vineyards – like Sangiacomo Vineyards – to showcase the extraordinary wines of Sonoma County.

Sampl: How has your winemaking experience led you to make your 2019 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay?

Ryan: Nicole Murray, one of our partners in Flambeaux Wine, is particularly fond of California Chardonnay, and our Winemaker, Ryan Prichard, is an expert in crafting outstanding Sonoma County Chardonnay. His relationship with the Sangiacomo Family gives him a palette from one of California's greatest vineyards, which he crafts into an elegant, age-worthy Chardonnay.

Sampl: How does the influence of family from being a fifth-generation winegrower play into creating a wine you’re truly proud to share?

Ryan: With five generations of our family growing grapes and making wine in Sonoma County since the 1880’s, we have an abundance of prime sites to pull our fruit from. The Pinot Gris 'Orange Wine' is from Morning Sun Vineyard in Bennett Valley, owned and farmed by my Uncle, Keith Kunde. The quality and location of the vineyard is the primary element in making premium wines and I’m grateful and proud to be continuing the tradition here in Sonoma County.

Sampl: As you were making your 2020 Pinot Gris Orange Wine, who was the first person you thought of that would like it?

Ryan: Our 2020 Pinot Gris ‘Orange Wine’ is made for the wine geek. This wine is called an ‘Orange Wine’ because the grape skin remains in contact with the juice for 60 hours before pressing, giving the wine a beautiful coppery color. We also age this wine in amphora vessels, which the ancient Greeks used to make wine. The amphora, a clay vessel, helps give the wine a richer texture. 

Sampl: How does your wine bring people together?

Ryan: Wine naturally brings people together and our 2020 ‘Orange Wine’ excels at this because it is a new experience people are able to connect over. 

Sampl: What’s the story behind the art for your 2021 Sonoma Coast Rosé?

Kent: Yellena James is the artist and she has been creating intricate, organic, almost hypnotic and explosively colorful worlds for years now. That label art in particular just seemed to be a perfect match for our bright, deep, electric pink rosé.

Sampl: What’s the dynamic between you the winemaker and your art curator?

Kent: Colleen Teitgen is our curator and she and I have known each other and worked together for 25 years now. She is the master of everything visual for EK. She finds all of our artists, identifies works that will show well in our format, then offers me a chance to review and pick the final works together for each wine. It’s always a super exciting part of our process. 

Sampl: How does the collaboration process work between Eric Kent and your artists?

Kent: This is a beautiful win-win all around. We like to work with art they have already created so that we don’t influence their creative process in any way (they always have final approval over what goes on the label). Then once the wine is released, we promote them and they promote us and we all try to share it with as many people as possible. Such a rewarding collaboration. 

Sampl: What emotions are you hoping to evoke from those who taste this wine for the first time?

Amy: I am all about fun. That's the way I wanna live the rest of my life. So I just, I always want my wines to be like you're always having fun. So you're sharing them with your fans, your friends, and your family, and it's just, you know, that fun. It's always fun, and relaxing, kind of the Cabo San Lucas of wine. So fun. That's my main thing. I love it.

Sampl: How does your 2015 Green Valley of RRV Pinot Noir and your personality overlap?

Amy: So the 2015 is really vibrant. we didn't have a whole lot of rain that year, so the berries didn't have the chance to soak up a whole lot of water. The berries are really intense and the flavors are really vibrant. I think it kind of correlates with having fun. You open it up and it's bright.

Sampl: Tell us the connection you have to your terrior.

Amy: So all of the grapes have been literally hand touched by the whole family from start to finish. I think that's really, really incredible because a lot of wineries can't say that: they purchase grapes or they grow the grapes but they’re not actually the farmers or they're not actually the winemakers. So it's pretty cool that we're able to take the land that we are so blessed to have, especially in California, and turn it into something that we can share with everybody.

Sampl: Why are you passionate about sharing your winemaking process? 

Fred: The winemaking process I have evolved is quite different than others' in the area as I have been solo in my own facility for decades and tend to think originally and outside the box. When sharing facilities it is natural to be influenced by how others with more experience or market success make their wine. It is natural to absorb methods without really considering the 'why.'

Sampl: How has your winemaking experience led you to make your 2016 Huntsman? 

Fred: Unlike anywhere else in the world, Sonoma County has so many diverse climates within a short distance from each other that earlier and later ripening varieties can be picked at full ripeness and still be harvested at about the same time. This allows for co-fermentation which is a fantastic way to begin harmonization.

Sampl: What's the story behind the 'Huntsman' name?

Fred: I couldn't figure out what to name it. So a salesperson for my SF distributor came up with the name. I am allowed hunting access to the sites where the grapes are grown which are on the edges of civilization/wild lands. Plus the things that we find to eat on those sites go well with the wine. It was a logical name, in hindsight. I just didn't imagine it myself.

Sampl: What sets this vintage apart from the rest you’ve experienced in your career? 

Sébastien: 2019 was the year of water and fire. Record-breaking late winter rainfall was followed by a cool spring. A cool to average summer allowed for the development of full flavors, fresh acidity, and great balance in the wines. Our grapes were picked and our wines finished with fermentation by the time the Kincade Fire started on October 23 and barely missed the farm a few days later.

Sampl: How do you incorporate your experience with French wines into producing Rhone varieties in Sonoma? 

Sébastien: I had my first wine epiphanies in my early 20’s with Rhône wines (St Joseph, Château-neuf-du-pape, Bandol…). While I am not trying to reproduce these, they still act as comparative markers of the quality that I aim for in my wines. That said, I have now worked 27 harvests in Napa and Sonoma versus only 5 in France so I certainly have adapted to a cleaner, more fruit forward style of winemaking.

Sampl: What nostalgic dish would you make using your produce to pair with your 2019 Red Blend? 

Sèbastien: My grandma use to make a stunning southern French « Veau aux olives » or veal (which can be substituted with beef) stew in a tomato, garlic, and black olives sauce with plenty of Provençal herbs. Perfect dish for this Rhône blend!

Sampl: Why was the 2018 vintage an excellent year for your Cab Franc?

Paul: Light-ish crop, ideal ripening for maximum fruit expression.  This CF is grown in the banana belt of Sonoma Valley where geothermal activity and hot springs contribute to ripening and flavor development.  The final product reveals intense fruit (nothing green) and a silky, elegant softness with soft, grippy tannins attributable to the warm micro-climate.  

Sampl: What’s rewarding about being the “home town” winery?

Paul: Our many loyal ‘local’ customers validate our presence and involvement in our community.  Sonoma is still very ‘old school’  in many ways and we like to think that we cater to a down-home local spirit.  

Sampl: What about wine from Sonoma that made you want to showcase it all under the Highway 12 label?

Paul: Our first vintage for the Highway 12 label was 2004, a single vineyard Bordeaux style blend that we still produce (16 vintages later).  When we started we didn’t want the winery or wine to be about us as proprietors but rather showcase the pioneering spirit of wine growing in Sonoma.  Our growers, to this day, are literally adjacent to Highway 12 - from Sonoma to the Sac river Delta.  We tell the story of where, not who.