"I Make Wine for the Ladies"

It's been a busy couple of weeks keeping up with all the sharing on Facebook, the connections on Twitter, and the tastings in real life. I've promised myself that taking a week hiatus from posting is not to become "the usual" - but if it happens, it happens. Let's just all agree to believe that any delay in posting simply means that I'm out drinking lots and lots of wine.

And actually, in reality, I have been drinking lots of wine (yay!) but I've also been meeting lots of winemakers and importers as they pass through town promoting their labels to the Atlanta market through their distributors. In fact, I really can't remember the last time that I went to a tasting event at which drinking wine was the only focus...call us spoiled, but tasting experiences in this city often come with a bonus of making a personal connection to the owner, winemaker, importer, shop manager, etc. who had a hand in bringing the wine to your glass. It's this behind-the-scenes feel to a tasting experience that I find to be the most valuable these days. Sure, I can always grab a bottle off the shelf on a Tuesday night at Kroger and enjoy it (which has been happening lately...) but the wine drinking experience somehow becomes even more rewarding when you find a deeper connection to the craftsmanship.

A tasting of Slo Down Wines hosted in April by d'Vine Wine Bar and Shop

A few weeks ago, however, never have I ever had a winemaker be more candid and eccentric during a meet-the-winemaker style tasting than Brandon Allen, the Founder and Winemaker of SLO Down Wines. No joke, he had me giggling the whole time with his YouTube videos and personal stories. For anyone who ever thought that wine tasting is a trade of snobbery, allow Brandon to completely shatter that stereotype with one click to the homepage of his website: A scripted "Goes Great with Pretty Much Everything" greats you followed by a subtext "We say 'Pretty Much' because to say 'Goes Great with Anything' makes us sound like total marketing d'bags" ...just in case you were wondering if they believed in sticking to any expected type of formality. Personally, I find this approach refreshing. It's fun, it's welcoming, it's stripped down (and yes, Brandon actually literally strips down in several of their marketing videos on YouTube...google "SLO Down Wine on YouTube" and prepare yourself), and it's clever. So, ok, you've got me. I'm interested, tell me more...but, the wine better be good.

A packed tasting room of wine enthusiasts at d'Vine Wine Bar and Shop

From a marketing standpoint, I was already intrigued upon getting just a brief overview of the brand. Yet, my skepticism for gimmicky labels quickly set in that evening as guests settled in and gathered for the tasting event to begin at d'Vine Wine Bar and Shop in Dunwoody, GA. Two of my favorite wine-loving friends in Atlanta joined me in the private tasting room as the d'Vine staff set out several enticing fruit and cheese platters along the long tables of wine enthusiasts. After a brief welcome from the hosts, we all received a pour of the first wine in the lineup while Brandon, patiently waiting to make the introduction, cracked open a beer at the end of our table. "It takes a lot of bad beer to make good wine," he said to me, "and this will help with my hangover." I raised my glass to him, and I already knew this was going to be a memorable tasting experience regardless of the quality of the wine.

The first wine, the 2013 Broken Dreams Chardonnay, struck a happy note on my nose with expressions of pear and bright, stone fruit. It had a subtle backbone of oak structure on the palate, but balanced with crisp acidity and flavors of apples and citrus. A lovely, classic California Chardonnay that finds harmony between oak and fruit without the weight of a buttery mouthfeel. Honestly, I was surprised? It was lovely! From a guy who admits to wanting to be a fire truck when he was five years old and then made his first barrel of wine as a freshman in college, the wine expressed poise and sophistication from that of a seasoned winemaker.

"My parents didn't drink alcohol," Brandon explains, "but I thought making wine would get me girls. I could impress the ladies while also getting free booze." Before he started making wines, Brandon thought that wine was something for elitists like many of his fellow college students, but he soon discovered that people kept demanding his wines in higher volumes and enjoyed his jovial spin on the craft. In 2008, the first year of production, SLO Down Wines made 93 cases when Brandon dropped out of college to pursue his vintner dreams. Today, Brandon and his team of three staff produce 20,000 cases of wine that are sold in 35 states. If that's not what we call Achieving the American Dream then I don't want to know what is.

New life goal = be a Director of Important Stuff too

But why such a sad name for the delicious Chardonnay? In the midst of relationship trouble and a rocky breakup with his first business partner, Brandon had changed his voicemail greeting to say something along the lines of SLO Down Wines being the home of Sexual Chocolate (the flagship wine) and...broken dreams. A retail shop owner who called him to place an order, however, mistakenly thought that this message was in regard to a new wine that they had available and insisted on purchasing it. So, instead of disappointing the shop owner...boom: Broken Dreams Chardonnay was born. That's how you turn a frown upside down.

Wine number two, the 2012 Stand Out, was a crowd-pleasing Bordeaux-style red blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, and...1% magic. No, seriously, that's exactly what it says on the label:

The 1% magic in this red blend comes from that of "unicorn tears"

The nose was bursting with aromatics of black cherry, cloves, and vanilla followed by a smooth, bright palate of red fruit and spice. Sourced from fruit grown in the Dry Creek area of Sonoma, this wine ages for 14 months in American oak after fermenting with native yeast...so as Brandon says, "it's 101% American" and wouldn't have it any other way. But when I inquired about the components of the "magic" in the wine? "Unicorn tears." Because, obviously.

And finally, to cap off the tasting flight, we all indulged in a tasting of Brandon's flagship Sexual Chocolate (2012) of which he produces approximately 10,000 cases per year. This wine really, really surprised me because it was really, really good. The nose was bursting with red fruit followed by a palate of dark chocolate (well, duh), black cherries, blackberry, and spice. The finish is much more elongated than that of the Stand Out which I personally enjoyed because it allowed for a layered effect likely coming from the blend of Syrah, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and 2% Petit Verdot. The namesake of this smooth wine that was initially made "for the ladies" comes from a rock band of the same name featured in the movie called Coming to America. The label, once again, is something to be remembered...a handwritten note filled with American pride from Brandon himself - and yes, his cell phone number still exists on every bottle.

You can't miss the label of the flagship at SLO Down Wines - Sexual Chocolate

I'm still smiling about the unique experience and the pleasure of getting to meet Brandon. The wines can stand on their own when it comes to nose, palate, and overall quality which is only accentuated by the eccentric marketing and branding approach. If you have a chance to pick up one of these wines, make sure you share it "with the ladies" and then reach out to Brandon on social media to thank him for being awesome.

Brandon Allen, Founder and Winemaker of SLO Down Wines