Part 3: Shining a Spotlight on Independent Wine Producers

Welcome back to our spotlight on independent wineries. Frequently producing some of the most highly-rated wines in the country, independent wineries are often overlooked due to their limited distribution (read more in Part 2).

However, if you’re only shopping at your local retailer, you’re missing out on truly unique wines that you’ve likely yet to discover. Independent wineries employ some of the most dedicated—and well known—winemakers and wine educators around. They have incredible knowledge of their specific region, bringing a level of creativity and artisanship not typically found in mass-produced wines. Their autonomy allows them to push the bounds of what’s popular, crafting limited-production wines with authentically one-of-a-kind personalities (read more in Part 1).

Ready to explore? Join us on a stroll through a Pearl Jam-inspired Washington winery and Sonoma County’s first Regenerative Organic Certified winery.

We celebrate independent wineries because we believe their wines should be experienced by discerning wine lovers who already have great taste and want to explore acclaimed wineries off the well-trod path.

When you visit independent wineries, one thing you may notice is how distinct they are from each other. In the same afternoon and within the same wine region, you can taste wines in settings that are radically different from one another, each reflecting not only its soil and climate, but also the genius, vision, and personalities of the teams that have grown the grapes and built the winery over the years.

But as different as these independent wineries are from each other, they all have one thing in common: each one operates autonomously, crafting their wines without the constraints of efficiency obsessed larger businesses. The real question is, how does that impact you as a seeker of great wine?

With each independent winery able to remain true to its own vision and implement its own aesthetic decisions, the wines you get from independent wineries expose you to a much greater variety of wines than would otherwise be possible. That variety directly translates to more “explorability”, and—as we wine enthusiasts all know—“explorability” is one of the most fun and rewarding things about wine.

Many independent wineries are owned by folks with strong personal values and stances on environmental sustainability and minimal-intervention winemaking—being independent means they can live those values in the vineyard and cellar, without external pressures.