California’s newest talents are some of the most exciting we’ve seen in awhile. Coming 20+ years after the “New Cali” wave, this group is confident in making wines exactly how they want. 

 Like those before them, they're finding freshness through cool sites and early pick times. But unlike their predecessors, many are using infusions, co-ferments and even other fruit types to add lift to their wines. These methods in combination with early harvests add ripeness from more natural sunshine + texture for complex and versatile final wines.

We’re lucky that many of these new names have made their way to the shop. Check out some of our current crushes!

Stagiare

We’re excited to welcome Brent Mayeaux’s Stagiaire to Brooklyn. Informed by his time with the Jura’s Philippe Bonard and Adelaide Hills’ Gentle Folk (both natural wine legends), he’s now making some of California’s most unique wines. He’s based in San Francisco and sourcing fruit from organic sites across the North Coast, from Santa Cruz to Sonoma.

There’s a gentle touch in the cellar and no SO2 added to the wines. Drinking these wines, you could miss how serious they are (especially the varietal Syrah and Pinots) because they’re fresh and highly drinkable. But, behind the colorful labels and (very) fun descriptors are some of California’s most interesting new wines to explore. 

Lady of the Sunshine

We’re huge fans of Gina Hildebrand’s wines and the work behind them. Having grown up on a Biodynamic farm in the Sierra Foothills, she’s deeply connected to farming.

You can see it in the sites she farms (which are Demeter certified), sources from, and in the final wines. They read like Loire Valley’s Venier got touched by a little extra sunshine with cooling aromas and fresh fruit in almost all of her bottlings. We especially love the Pinot Noir that she farms from the Chene Vineyard.

 

Desire Lines

Bedrock Wine Co. has a sleeper talent working in their cellar: Cody Rasmussen. His day job is working as the assistant winemaker at Bedrock but he also makes small amounts of wine under his own label, Desire Wine Co.

Like Bedrock, he wants to honor California’s most important sites, producing old-school wines that read like bottles of the past.

 You see it in his Cabernet which comes from Sonoma’s blustery Petaluma Wind Gap instead of Napa Valley. It results in a firm, deeply spiced wine that feels like a love letter to great California Cab. 

Margins

We recently had Megan Bell in the store to talk about her work. She’s a deeply passionate producer based in Santa Cruz, making transparent wines from organic growers. She even helps the few that aren't organic transition to organic farming.

She earned her BS in Viticulture and Enology from UC Davis, then went on to apprentice at wineries around the world. She started Margins independently from a crowdfunding campaign that allowed her to produce six barrels of Chenin Blanc. Now she makes ~2800 cases a year of 20+ wines. Her wines are lifted + light with distinct minerality & pristine fruit.

Shop all of these producers and more by browsing through our full California wine selection.