2025 Wineries

28 Feb Doctor’s Orders Natural Wine Company

Posted at 23:25h in 2025 Wineries, Wineries

Doctor’s Orders Natural Wine Company

801 E Main St, Santa Paula, CA 93060
https://drsorderswine.com/

Region: Santa Barbara County

Owner: Dom O’Reilly and Anna O’Reilly

Winemaker: Dom O’Reilly

About: A family-owned-and-operated winery situated in the beautiful Upper Ojai Valley, dedicated to producing fresh and lively wines in a serious and terroir-driven style. These are both for everyday drinkers and the most discerning of palates. Sourcing organic grapes from the Ojai Valley and the Central Coast, we take pride in crafting unmanipulated, natural wines that are sophisticated, healthy, and clean.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Grenache and Trousseau

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? When I had a Grenache blend at Zuni restaurant in San Francisco.

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? Forgotten grapes are more food-friendly. They tend to complement spicy and funky dishes which is food that I particularly enjoy.

28 Feb Flowers & Cheese

Posted at 23:08h in 2025 Wineries, Uncategorized, Wineries

Flowers & Cheese

9904 Canoga Ave, Chatsworth, CA
flowersandcheese.com

Region: Los Angeles County

Owners: Antonio & Michelle Brunetti

Winemaker: Antonio Brunetti

About: We are a Los Angeles winery making wine with grapes grown in Los Angeles county and other places in SoCal. Native fermentation Wine/Merry/Story-Making in a warehouse.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Moscato

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? Tasting a Palomino made by another winemaker/making my pet-nat Moscato from Ramona Valley.

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? The possibilities in California never end!

21 Nov Friendly Noise

Posted at 02:18h in 2025 Wineries, Wineries

Friendly Noise

111 Poindexter Ave, Ste D, Moorpark, CA 93021
www.friendlynoise.com

Region: Ventura County

Owners: Peter Clausen and Andrew Sylvia

Winemakers: Peter Clausen and Andrew Sylvia

About: We make casual, party-pleasing low interventions wines from underappreciated grapes and growing regions.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Picpoul

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? Drinking delicious, dry, bubbly Muscadine wines in North Carolina and absolutely loving them!

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? There is more freedom to create and more freedom to enjoy them than there are with more mainstream grapes.

28 Feb Full Tilt Wines

Posted at 23:12h in 2025 Wineries, Uncategorized, Wineries

Full Tilt Wines

3359 Fernside Blvd, Alameda, CA 94501
fulltiltwines.com

Region: Mendocino County

Owner: Craig Sutphin

Winemaker: Craig Sutphin

About: Full Tilt Wines started as an experiment to see how far The Fukuoka Philosophy of “do nothing” farming could be applied to the entire natural winemaking process. The goal: create charming and delicious wines from climate-ready Mediterranean grapes in ecologically responsible, closed-loop farm. Nothing is added or taken away in the vineyard or the winery, ever. We call it zero-zero-zero. You’ll call it horizon expanding.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Frappato

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? I was relatively young and new to wine, and I purchased a bottle of 100% Negrette from Fronton, made by two female winemakers. I had no idea what Fronton was or who they were, but my wife and I decanted the wine, immediately smelled salt air and lavender fields, and sensed the blistering summer heat. And with one sip, the horizon opened, and I knew there was more above heaven and earth than are dreamt of in all our philosophies. It was like I grew two new eyes that allowed me to see in new directions.

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? They expand our ontological horizons.

08 Mar Giornata

Posted at 23:10h in 2024 Wineries, 2025 Wineries, 2026 Wineries, Los Angeles 2026, San Jose 2026, Wineries

Giornata

470 Marquita Ave #A, Paso Robles CA 93446
giornatawines.com

Region: Paso Robles

Owners/Winemakers: Brian and Stephy Terrizzi

About: We make authentic, complex and balanced wines in Paso Robles, CA featuring Italian grape varieties.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Fiano. It almost disappeared until someone made it a focus. It is a success story and also delicious!

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? I wasn’t sure what to make of Nebbiolo the first time I tried it. I did not understand it, but I knew I wanted a second glass.

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? Learning their history

Giornata-stephy-wine-photo-Stephy-Terrizzi

07 Feb Hitching Post Wines

Posted at 19:09h in 2025 Wineries, 2026 Wineries, Los Angeles 2026, Wineries

Hitching Post Wines

420 E HWY 246 Lompoc CA 93427
hpwines.com

Region: Santa Barbara County

Owners: Frank Ostini & Gray Hartley

Winemakers: Frank Ostini and Weston Hartley

About: Led by Frank Ostini (owner of the Hitching Post 2 Restaurant) and Gray Hartley, Hitching Post Wines has passed its 40th vintage in its ongoing quest to create the finest wines possible of Santa Barbara County. The emphasis is to make intriguing, age-worthy Pinot Noirs featuring Santa Barbara County’s two iconic appellations, the Santa Maria Valley and the Sta. Rita Hills. However, other lesser-known varieties such as Chenin Blanc and Valdeguie have also caught their attention. With Frank Ostini as Chef Winemaker since its inception, these are food-friendly, handcrafted wines of balance and finesse that express the essence of the great vineyards of the Santa Barbara region. Moving forward, the next generation of Hartleys – Emily (DTC Manager) and Weston (Winemaker) – have joined the team and are doing much of the heavy lifting at Hitching Post Wines.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Valdiguie – It’s Racy. Defined as: (of a wine, flavor, etc.) having a characteristic quality to a high degree.

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? Valdiguie – It was so fresh and lively, and once in the barrel changed every month, from tart and tangy, then softening as the months passed to being this fresh, racy fruit that continues to get better and better and better.

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? Great heritage varietals that are lesser known have so much potential when taken seriously and given respect. There is greater freedom to explore old and new techniques and styles.

13 May JMC Cellars

Posted at 23:03h in 2025 Wineries, 2026 Wineries, San Jose 2026, Wineries

JMC Cellars

6800 Greenville Road, Livermore CA 94550
jmccellars.wine

Region: Livermore Valley

Owner/Winemaker: Jessica Carroll

About: JMC Cellars is a small winery owned and operated by women who are all geeks about wine. This small ragtag group is lead by a retired civil engineer who fell in love with wine and never looked back. The JMC Cellars group is all about the weird and wonderful of wine. We like to try new things and are always open for a challenge, which is how we have things on our menu like Teroldego and Grignolino. We are a place where love of wine, meets love of knowledge, and love of people.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Favorite “undiscovered” grape would have to be Viognier. When Jessica was just starting to make wine when she went on a trip to France and in a tasting discovered that in certain regions in France they co-ferment Syrah (her favorite discovered grape) with Viognier, and it makes a beautiful wine. So she started to make it as a single varietal and loves it.

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? One of the first lesser-known grapes that Jessica discovered was Roussanne. It was a grape that one of the first wineries she worked at used for a single varietal and it fueled her interest in grapes from the Rhone region in France, as that is where Syrah comes from as well.

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? We love learning about undiscovered grapes, they all have wonderful unique flavors and histories that are so interesting to dive into.

14 Mar Kareen Wine Company

Posted at 16:47h in 2025 Wineries, Uncategorized, Wineries

Kareen Wine Company

23400 Upton Road, Plymouth, CA 95669
www.kareenwine.com

Region: Sierra Foothills (Shenandoah Valley AVA)

Owner: Rose, Susan, Greekor, Greg Nemet

Winemaker: Greekor Nemet

About: Family winery making low intervention wines from organic vineyards and farming 5 acres of our own estate grapes in the Sierra foothills. Queer woman owned of Armenian heritage.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Areni – an Armenian indigenous grape

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? My first experience was making our 2013 Malbec in the garage. Never looked back since.

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? These grapes bring diversity to the palate, the wine scene, and the overall gastronomic experience. These grapes punch through the monotony of the Cab, Zin, Chard trifecta.

22 Feb Kinetic Cellars

Posted at 01:11h in 2025 Wineries, 2026 Wineries, Los Angeles 2026, San Jose 2026, Wineries

Kinetic Cellars

282 W. Portland Ave. Fresno, CA 93711
kineticcellars.com

Region: Lodi

Owner: Cole Dennis

Winemaker: Cole Dennis

About: We specialize in crafting wines from unique varieties that we have come to love from our experiences with European wines. We craft wines with a European or, otherwise, Old-World mentality so that the resultant wines focus on and showcase the grapes from which they are made. We stress all of the important details that go into making a wine so that we can end up with wines of unique character that reflect the many aspects of terrior. We currently have focused on making wines from varieties that originate from Portugal and Spain.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Nebbiolo

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? Outside of childhood, my colleagues and I would taste a bunch of esoteric wines from the old world in College during my senior year. That was our goal – to find all of the off-the-wall unique tasting wines that we could find in Fresno. That was a special and impressionable time for me, and I am forever grateful for it.

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? What I love about forgotten grapes is that they have some much personality to them. They are just as good if not better than all of the mainstream varieties that are on the market in the big box stores and even the grocery store shelves. You can start to truly taste the passion a winemaker has when you get to try these odd varieties because all of the “toys” that winemakers tend to use get put away and the grapes get a chance to shine in these wines.

01 Jan Los Pilares Wine

Posted at 01:51h in 2025 Wineries, Wineries

Los Pilares Wine

Durbin Road, Santa Ysabel, CA
lospilareswine.com

Region: San Diego County

Owner: Coleman Cooney

Winemaker: Michael Christian and Coleman Cooney

About: Los Pilares is a long-term exploration of high-altitude viticulture in the mountains of San Diego County, founded by Katie Fawkesmoore, Coleman Cooney, Jay McCarthy, and Michael Christian. Before Los Pilares, they were backyard vignerons, garage winemakers, or wine industry professionals. Since the first vintage in 2010, they have been showcasing the terroir of San Diego’s backcountry and mountains by making wine with nothing but grapes, and sometimes apples. All the fruit comes from sustainable vineyards and orchards grown in the backcountry and mountains of San Diego County.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Assyrtiko

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? Drinking young Tintilla Sardo wines in Spain

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? They extend the spectrum of flavors, textures, and aromas.