Maya Angelou loved to party!

The Maya Angelou memorial service is televised this morning, the mood is mildly somber and incredibly joyful  - "Maya Angelou loved to party", this quote made the crowd join together in laughter.  There is much to learn about Maya and learn from as well... “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style" -  the beloved Maya Angelou.

This quote from Maya Angelou is timely and timeless...especially relevant to our mission statement and reasons why we've begun Smith Story Wine Cellars...

Smith Story Wines are made with respect for the land, kindness for the grower and love from the winemaker.  The wines show restraint, balance and integrity of the grape.  Our winemaking philosophy is to utilize classic, old world techniques and let the grapes and sense of place where they are grown both speak for themselves.   Our vineyards and growers are among the precious AVA’s of Northern California.

Passion for Smith Story Wine Cellars is keeping us up in the middle of the night! No, not with worry, but excitement about doing things well and how much we love this opportunity that our hard work over the years has created.

Compassion keeps us in check! Sustainability & fairness is our #1 desire in business dealings with our vineyard families, vendors, cellar team and our future buyers and wholesale partners.  In all conversations, dealings and plans - we remind ourselves to listen with compassion and understand needs from all sides upon making final decisions.  Compassion also extends to the precious vines...we are so very proud to know that each of our vineyards are watched over with great depth and vigor.

Humor - to know us is to laugh with us!  We're that couple that could find joy and laughter together in just about any situation.  Life is serious, we certainly are about building and running Smith Story Wine Cellars, but hey, let's all have a great time along the way! There's no room on our spreadsheets for anyone lacking humor. 

Style - whether it's the way we run the business modus operandi or the appearance we bring in person, on the label and create on the website, we hope our style exudes 1) unconditional love  2) razor sharp focus  3) really nice shoes.  Eric owns more pairs of swanky shoes than Ali by the way...

Each of these elements are allowing us to survive and hopefully thrive for many many years to come. Thank you Maya for summing this up so effortlessly for the two of us and for the world. 

This is Our Story. 

 - Eric and Ali