2026 Wineries San Jose

Terah Wine Co.

425 S 3rd Street, Richmond, CA
www.terahwineco.com

Region: Bay Area

Owner: Terah Bajjalieh

Winemaker: Terah Bajjalieh

About: Small producer, focused on working with grower partners who farm organically and biodynamically. Making wine from Mediterranean varietals or varietals off the beaten path. Looking to produce food-friendly wines showing balance and site.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Barbera. I love the flavor and acid profile of the grape

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? 

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? Acidity and the huge flavors!

tercero wines

2445 Alamo Pintado Avenue Suite 105, Los Olivos, CA. 93441
www.tercerowines.com

Region: Santa Barbara County

Owner and Winemaker: Larry Schaffer

About: I concentrate on making small lot, hand crafted wines using fruit from leading Santa Barbara County vineyards. My main focus are Rhone varieties – I’ll be President of the Board of Directors of the Rhone Rangers in 2025 – but also work with other interesting varieties.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Counoise

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? I can still remember the first time I smelled a Gewurztraminer – those hauntingly beautiful aromatics were like nothing I had ever experienced in a wine before – and to this day, the aromatics of this variety remain so special to me.

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? I love how they provide distinctive flavors and aromas that expand ones horizons as to what wine can be.

Trail Marker Wine Co.

1160 Hopper Ave, Santa Rosa CA 95403
www.trailmarkerwineco.com

Region:  Sonoma County

Owners/Winemakers: Drew Huffine and Emily Virgil

About: We’re purists at Trail Marker and Kid Sister. We source fruit from small, yet responsibly farmed and passionately cared for vineyards, anywhere from Mendocino to Santa Cruz. Our traditional winemaking style allows us to make wines that are high acid, low alcohol — well balanced expressions of these uncommon places. They’re wines we like to drink and share, and we think you will too.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Trousseau

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? Jura Trousseau

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? That people just taste from a place of pleasure rather than what they THINK the wine should taste like (as is the case with more typical varietals).

Tres Sabores Winery

PO 238, Rutherford CA 94573
www.tressabores.com

Region: Rutherford, Napa Valley

Owner: Julie Johnson

Winemakers: Julie Johnson

About:

Tres Sabores is nestled into the western hills of Rutherford where Julie Johnson and Jon Engelskirger make their home and grow dry-farmed, no till, CCOF and Napa Green certified Old Vine Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Pomegranates, Meyer Lemons, and Heritage Olives (and raise Golden Retrievers, Sheep, Goats and Guinea Hens, too!). The estate vineyard has a storied history. Originally planted in the 1890’s, then to pears and walnuts during prohibition, then again to grapes in 1972, wine was produced for Frog’s Leap beginning in 1987 and then for Tres Sabores from 1999 through today.

The adventure into truly “uncharted” territory began in 2014 when, almost (not quite, but almost) on a whim, Jon sourced over half of California’s St Laurent production from Dale Ricci’s vineyards in the Carneros and the magic began. Soon, the serendipity factor really kicked in! A chance meeting with Beckham Vineyards owner and ceramic artist, Andrew Beckham, led to the purchase of Novum Amphora to ferment the St Laurent. An auspicious trip to the Sierra Foothills yielded sources of Picpoul Blanc from “Gold Hill” in El Dorado County. Soon, Tres Sabores was making a range of “newly discovered” varietals including a full range of Rhone Whites, Barbera & Tempranillo from El Dorado County, making amphora fermented and aged St Laurent, and a wildly inventive St Laurent blend “Thinking Cap”. Several ‘careful’ trips to the Willamette for more amphora, countless voyages to and from Apple Hill and Placerville later, the Tres Sabores cellar is full of some marvelous wines.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? Julie: “Picpoul blanc”, for it’s amazing tropical aromatics and rich phenolic personality. Jon: “St Laurent“, because it’s one shiny little dot along the long arc of wine on the planet.

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? My husband, Jon, showed up at the winery one September night in 2014 hauling seven tons of St Laurent from the Ricci Vineyard (“Surprise”!!). He unloaded the bins and held a séance to decide what to do with them. (We’ve loved the results over the years and still make what is roughly 10-15% of the St Laurent in California).

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? “Undiscovered grapes” are often varieties developed over the centuries by (local) vignerons, cooperatives, monasteries, etc. that for some reason never got a ticket to the ‘big stage’. (To our detriment!) Now, as the best of these cultivars are being rediscovered, planted, and made into wine, we’re reaping the benefits of varietal diversity. These grapes celebrate the heritage of the communities and people who developed them, a broader range of varieties propel vineyards into a place of enhanced sustainability, the spirit of discovering something ‘new’ piques the curiosity and interest of consumers. These are grapes that help to highlight the past by moving everyone into the future.

15230 Oak Glen Ave, Morgan Hill, CA 95037
www.twicetyger.com

Region: Santa Clara Valley

Owner: Billoo Rataul

Winemaker: Bobby Graviano

About: Nestled in western Morgan Hill on the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Twice Tyger is a boutique producer of estate wines, olive oil and honey. Committed to nurturing the land through regenerative and biodynamic practices, our wines embody this journey – honoring timeless traditions while embracing the renewed vitality of our soil.

What is your favorite undiscovered grape? At the moment, Petit Verdot, a Bordelaise grape often referred to a “blender”. However a single varietal offering changed such a notion as the variety offers great color, medium-weight, and overall complexity. Grown in California, this variety ripens towards the end of the season yet even still has great freshness and is jam-packed with broad layers of fruit tones. The variety produces a very food-friendly and engaging style of red wine with enough uniqueness that it sets itself apart from more homogenized, market-popular varieties.

What was your first experience with an undiscovered grape? The first encounter with an undiscovered grape would be Grenache from the Southern Rhone, in particular Chateauneuf du Pape. So bright and fresh yet complex and powerful at the same time. Magnetic wines that could stand shoulder to shoulder with any other wine on the market.

What do you love most about the undiscovered grapes? Discovery! It’s the excitement of finding something new is always energizing. In wine, there is so much to discover and that’s what makes it fun.