Chardonnay, Olema, Sonoma County, CA, 2019

The vision behind every Olema wine is to capture one vibrant place inside a delicious bottle, all while working to show the world that outstanding wines can come at an everyday-drinking price. This wouldn’t be possible without the people behind Olema wines, who sample grapes, taste fermentations and craft blends with unrivaled intention and passion.

The Olema winemaking philosophy breaks down into two parts: first, discovering vineyard sources that grow great fruit at a great price. How? “It’s all about going to uncharted territory,” says winemaker Jesse Fox. “The quality of grape-growing in California is rising, and there’s fantastic fruit in not-yet-discovered places.” In some cases, it’s an up-and-coming region like Alexander Valley, which grows outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon—but it’s also about finding sites that fly under the radar within acclaimed AVAs like Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley.

After fermentation, blending is the key to Olema wines. Blending is creating balance, a wine that isn’t “too much” in any direction—too ripe, too acidic, too tannic, too sweet. The wines that result are meant to be elegant and enjoyable. “Our goal as a winemaking team is for someone to take a sip of an Olema wine and say ‘wow, that’s delicious!’ We want the wine to be part of people’s everyday lives, something they can drink on a Tuesday that also fits in at a special occasion.”