We, at Sort This Out Cellars, don’t own our own vineyards and equipment. When you visit our tasting room, you didn’t drive through 3 acres of grapes to get to our front door. That being said, once you have found your way inside, you might be surprised to find that we’re a little more contemporary, fun and hip than most wineries.
There’s no chateau up on the hill, no vines to survey and we don’t make you feel like you should be grateful for visiting and tasting the grape juice we turned into wine. We can’t buy into that whole part of the industry. We’re about having fun and letting the freedom of sourcing fruit and juice be part of the experience.
While we are trained Sommelier’s and knowledgeable about the history of wine, we don’t like to preach. Let’s not concentrate on AVA’s and Ph and which forest our oak barrels came from. Let’s face it – if you don’t like the wine, then none of it matters and if you do like it – it shouldn’t matter either.
While some of our grapes come from very well known vineyards which could rate a mention on most labels – we often keep them off and let the design aspects take over the bulk of the label. Labels inspired by vintage gentlemen’s playing cards, like our Suited line or Vegas gambling terms such as “Parlay” or “Ante Up” which grace our ‘Rollers Reserve line.
Fun labels and eye catching designs, are often a cover for some mediocre juice in the bottle. Not so, here. We strive to make the inside just as interesting as the outside. We produce wines that can be drank and shared now or in the next few years. We don’t make wines that are overly tannic and need to sit in your wine rack for 10 years before you can even approach them. I know of a couple of writers for really popular magazines who won’t be scoring our wines anytime soon due to the fact that we aren’t making wine for their palates, rather for the palates of the general public and consumers who are looking for wines that are easy drinking and offer a level of complexity they might be familiar with.
With the current economic situation, our virtual winery model works well. We dictate the amount of grapes to crush and wine to release each vintage and do so based on our selling trends. Currently, we produce about 1500 cases which could increase with recent distribution now in Nevada, Arizona and Southern California.
Our wines aren’t for everyone. Our tasting room banter isn’t for everyone. If you’ve been known to “do it your way” and appreciate the times when the men were men, the women were curvy, they drank, smoked, cursed and didn’t apologize for it – then you’ll “get” what we’re doing. If you’re looking for caves, barrels and picturesque vineyards with a focus on “family owned” and bottles and tasting notes that boast the ever popular ”handcrafted” term, well…it’s ok if you pass us by. But, if you’re looking for good times and great wines…you can bet on us!
-Michael Cobb
Vintner, Sort This Out Cellars
593 Ave Of Flags #105
Buellton, Ca 93427
office 805 688 1717
I was drawn to Sort This Out because they indeed do things differently. The tasting room is fun and fab, and I almost expect "The Rat Pack" to be in the back room, where there's a card table. Either Jeff or Michael are always around and a blast to talk to. Their knowledge of wine is intriguing, and their knowledge of the way to pull off being different truly sets them apart. We became members of Sort This Out because it is affordable, fun, and great wine. Diane G.
Thanks for reading and commenting Diane. It's clients like you that I bet Michael appreciates. Now, we just have to spread the word!