Moving The Chapters!

The Chapters can now be found on our website here: 

http://www.smithstorywinecellars.com/the-chapters

And we promise to keep things update more often now! 

Cheers, Ali & Eric. 

The Best New Sauvignon Blanc from California?!

Our 2014 Smith Story Wine Cellars Sauvignon Blanc

...well it's what people are saying about our Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc, our first born! So it's been 3 months now since we released our 2014 Sauvignon Blanc for $25 bucks a bottle and we couldn't be happier with the wine and also with the praise this crispy white wine has received. Judge Ken Starr who's the President of Baylor University (Ali's Alma Mater) has even applauded the wine! We love seeing your photos on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages as well - keep'em coming.

Each time we are alerted to a new review published on the internet, Ali's blood pressure rises until she reads the review - thankfully smiles trump the moment! Most are 90+ point ratings and a handful of top 5 & 4 Star honors on VIVINO.

A few from Delectable ...

"CA Sauvignon Blanc that I actually like?!! Score!"  - Sommelier Jen from SoCal.

"This wine just warms my bosoms. Perfect! Cool story bro.",  Drummer, Distributor Wine Manager, Shadd from Austin.

"Outstanding!", Rohit, Owner of Travis Heights Beverage World in Austin.

"Loire Valley is our Muse", is what we often tell folks when describing our Sauvignon Blanc. The soils found in our Sonoma Mountain Vineyard emulate those of Sancerre where our Knights Valley grapes bring a real finesse to the wine. Our 2014 was aged in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks - with no oak treatment. The Sauvignon Blanc is bright and popping with a big mix of minerality (think wet limestone), lemon-lime citrus notes and a streak of lemon thyme too.

We are so thrilled with this sophisticated but gulp-able white wine! It's perfect with summer dishes, poured poolside (along great 80's music hopefully blaring) and is now being served in some of America's top restaurants. One of our mailing list members sent us a note of how he accidentally left a bottle in the freezer overnight...thawed out the next day and was still drinking spectacular. NICE!

Keep spreading the good word, it's heart-warming to see how our wine is selling...thank you. Oh we love this Sauvignon Blanc!!

This is Our Story.

 - Eric and Ali

12 months later...

We did it! We made wine! We have wine in bottle! People are buying our wine! Everyone is loving our Wine!

May 14, 2015 marks our first year anniversary for Smith Story Wine Cellars, and our 2nd year Wedding Anniversary. So much to celebrate, maybe the fact that we still love each other and enjoy each other's company after launching a new winery should be the most celebrated! ha!

We thank you all for your continued support  - being an ambassador,  buying our wines, following Our Story through our website, mailing list communication, on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.  We are so very grateful to you.

Courage. Dream. Grow. Peace. Love. Believe... Live a Great Story!

This is Our Story,

Eric & Ali

PS - our first blog post...prayers answered!

Hustle Your Face Off

In the words of Gary Vaynerchuk - HUSTLE is the most important word EVER.  Ali's been a fan of Gary's for over a decade now, watching his own empire grow, spending a quick minute with him at his book signing in Austin years ago, hearing about his successes, his family life, his freaky adoration for the NY Jets...and inspired by his hustle.

HUSTLE. No other word can describe the last 12 months of our lives starting and building Smith Story Wine Cellers. We are often told, "wow what you guys are doing is amazing".  No it's not, we're just hustling our faces off. Anyone can do it - as long as you make every minute count, you gotta put in the work. That's how you get it.  As Garyvee puts it...there is no reason to do shit you hate!

Our First Label off the Printing Press! 

Where's all this coming from this morning? From the hustle, it's go time, it's all happening now. The to-do lists are long but focused, our network of wine business pros are lined up and waiting for the green-light as to when they can also join our game.  The hustle has brought thousands to our humble website in support of Our Story - Our Hustle.

Wine has been made for a gazillon years...what we are doing is nothing new, but we hope in all regards to up-the-game by continuing the HUSTLE. 

Now off to those to-do lists...

This is Our Story.

Eric and Ali

PS - HOLY S!&% we are bottling our first wines in 3 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Freaking Out Together

What what??? Only 2 more days left of January 2015? So much has been and is going on for Smith Story Wine Cellars this first month of the New Year!  A little insight to running your own winery for the first time...IT DOES NOT SLOW DOWN AFTER HARVEST ENDS! The first of the year has been crazy wearing so many hats, shoes and gloves...all while Eric broke his ankle (saving a baby seal), Ali lost her car-keys (all of them) for over a week (she found them in a pocket of course!) and Lord Sandwich came down with a case of the fleas (thank you Russian River Banks!).  Freaking out - ohh yeah, but every day our to-do list grows, we are able to check major items off.  We'll see our families soon  - we hope...oh and start calling all our friends to let them know we are ready to mingle again!

We hardly know where to begin with this post - other than to

say - GET READY FOR OUR FIRST RELEASE NEXT MONTH EVERYONE!!

Yes yes, ALL-CAPS is extreme, but's it's been extremely non-stop since New Years Day.  First time to make decisions on packaging for each wine - glass, label design, label paper, colors of the capsule, type of corks to use, screw-cap colors, boxes, where to warehouse, who to sell our wines to...it's ALL HAPPENING. The ecommerce area of the website is in beta-testing right now - we're going live soon!  All this while our Harvest 2015 vineyard partners are lining up, man we are so excited to tell you all about this soon.

How can you HELP us?  Please take a moment to sign-up for our mailing list  - we are sending out our first official winery email offering within days. Yikes - days away from showing off our new Harvest 2014 Babies to the world.  Oh and we've been meeting folks for barrel tastings at the winery...don't hesitate to contact us for a special "garagiste winery" tasting in the Russian River Valley with us!

A nerve racking, hard as hell, insanely awesome time of our lives going on...thank you for following and being a part of Our Story too.

Most of all, we are so glad to have each other through this beginning chapter of our new winery!

This is Our Story,

Eric & Ali

2014 is not over yet!

Tonight we give toast to 2014 and ring in the New Year. But, we still have plenty planned for what 2014 brought us. Our 2014 bottling schedule is set, 2014 vintage release dates are set, sales forecasts and marketing plans are all in motion and being posted to the new calendar as we steadily move forward into 2015.  

We cannot thank you enough for your encouragement, support and inspiring enthusiasm for Smith Story Wine Cellars in 2014 - we did it!

Humbled, proud, exhausted, happy, thrilled, scared, content...so many emotions can describe our first year and the "Birth of a Winery".  Reading back through all the blog posts makes us both a bit teary-eyed with joy.

All that's left is for you to taste our wines and start all over again in 2015...Harvest is already on the horizon (plenty of vineyard walks and spreadsheets in the not so distant future!). 

With love and kindness, we wish you all a very Happy New Year!

This is Our Story.

Eric & Ali

Lodging in the Napa Valley

Well since we don't have wine in bottle for sale yet, we are certainly recommending "all good things" when asked specific questions.  We're often asked where to book a hotel room in the wine country.  Honestly, this could get tricky as the rates fluctuate during the year due to seasonal events and harvest time of course. In the Healdsburg area, Farmhouse Inn and the H2 are among our favorites to suggest. 

Ali was recently interviewed by writer Jessica Dupuy for www.bedandbreakfast.com regarding Napa...

“I love to send folks to Milliken Creek Inn. I know it’s the best of all things luxurious with beautiful gardens and outdoor design. Being a Texan, I know it’s fun to stay where we can enjoy the fantastic California cool mornings and evenings while meeting others.”

— Alison Smith Story, Smith Story Wine Cellars

Yes - it's so hard to select one hotel in Napa, but feel we chose well and the Milliken Creek Inn is a perfect place for those wanting to get away from it all or feeling close to downtown Napa where so many great stores, wine bars, and restaurants await your company.

More on Smith Story Wine Cellars happenings coming up soon...oh our brains are bursting and hearts are melting with excitement! 

This is Our Story. 

 - Eric & Ali