Two Shepherds, Windsor, Sonoma County, California, and one of those stories where a wine blogger turns the tables and ends up making wine better than most of the people he used to write about. William Allen came out of tech, spent years as the Rhône-obsessed “Sonoma William” online, planted a few rows on a rented weekend place in 2007, and by 2010 had a run-down two-acre property and 175 cases in the garage. Karen Daenen joined in 2015, and the pair now run a proper small-lot operation with a menagerie of donkeys, goats, dogs and a cat for company.
The name is a nice double meaning. Shepherd of the palate, guiding drinkers back toward old-world style wines, and shepherd of the grape, keeping the winemaking light on the hand. The labels carry black and white silhouettes of the actual animals, which is about as charming as wine packaging gets.
What I love is the sourcing. Cool-climate, organically farmed, old vines, lesser-known grapes, wherever they hide, from Mendocino and Yolo County to the Russian River and Lodi. Grenache, Carignan, Cinsault, Pinot Meunier, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Grenache Blanc, Vermentino, Picpoul, Viognier, a seriously good Rhône-and-friends lineup. The Ancient Vine Cinsault comes off a 135-year-old vineyard in Lodi, possibly the oldest surviving Cinsault vines anywhere, whole cluster, foot trodden, fresh, aromatic, red fruits, violets and pepper.
Native yeast, neutral barrels, whole cluster, unfined, unfiltered, SO2 kept to the bare minimum. Lots of 25 to 200 cases each, about fifteen different wines a vintage, enough to earn William the nickname “insane master of small lots.” Someone has to be.
California’s got plenty of big stories. This is a small, quietly brilliant one.
Two Shepherds, Windsor, Sonoma County, California, and one of those stories where a wine blogger turns the tables and ends up making wine better than most of the people he used to write about. William Allen came out of tech, spent years as the Rhône-obsessed “Sonoma William” online, planted a few rows on a rented weekend place in 2007, and by 2010 had a run-down two-acre property and 175 cases in the garage. Karen Daenen joined in 2015, and the pair now run a proper small-lot operation with a menagerie of donkeys, goats, dogs and a cat for company.
The name is a nice double meaning. Shepherd of the palate, guiding drinkers back toward old-world style wines, and shepherd of the grape, keeping the winemaking light on the hand. The labels carry black and white silhouettes of the actual animals, which is about as charming as wine packaging gets.
What I love is the sourcing. Cool-climate, organically farmed, old vines, lesser-known grapes, wherever they hide, from Mendocino and Yolo County to the Russian River and Lodi. Grenache, Carignan, Cinsault, Pinot Meunier, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Grenache Blanc, Vermentino, Picpoul, Viognier, a seriously good Rhône-and-friends lineup. The Ancient Vine Cinsault comes off a 135-year-old vineyard in Lodi, possibly the oldest surviving Cinsault vines anywhere, whole cluster, foot trodden, fresh, aromatic, red fruits, violets and pepper.
Native yeast, neutral barrels, whole cluster, unfined, unfiltered, SO2 kept to the bare minimum. Lots of 25 to 200 cases each, about fifteen different wines a vintage, enough to earn William the nickname “insane master of small lots.” Someone has to be.
California’s got plenty of big stories. This is a small, quietly brilliant one.
