A San Diego Urban Winery…

Small Winery, Great People, and Quality Wines

Before we get to far into it, I want to talk about Little Oaks Winery. Little Oaks is my first winery that I got an opportunity at and I have the pleasure of continuing to work for them. This winery may be small but it has a big place in my heart and I want to share it with you.  Also we make amazing local wine!

First to get the terms right, Little Oaks Winery is what the industry calls an “Urban Winery”, which loosely means a full on winery in an urban city, no rolling vineyards here, sigh.  So if a winery does not have it own vineyards where does it get it grapes from? For Little Oaks specifically we keep it local! We source all our grapes from vineyards in San Diego County or sometimes Murrieta/Temecula area (still very local just the next county over). Urban wineries seem to be everywhere these days, look up a local one near you, or visit Little Oaks or another one in San Diego as it is home to several.

Little Oaks got its start with owner and fellow winemaker Dr. Rich Sportsman. Rich is a PhD chemistry guy and has made the majority of his career in the biotech/biomedical fields, however, he found that he had a passion for home winemaking. His first wine he ever made was actually from home grown apricots and not grapes! In 2008 it’s become a permanent hobby when he won his first silver medal for a Merlot with grapes out of San Diego County. With Rich’s background as a chemist, wine was an easy hobby. Wine is both part an artistry and part scientific understanding. I asked Rich how his chemistry background has influenced his winemaking, “…that the discipline and patience that science forces on you is well applied to winemaking.  I learned quickly, as many winemakers do, that you have to control the chemistry of your wine (as well as several other aspects of the craft, of course) and that was something I could apply my analytical chemistry training to.”   Once you can begin to master the basic chemistry you can begin to make some exceptional wines and that is exactly what Rich did. (Rich actually went beyond winemaking and invented several different wine testing devices and is President of Vinmetrica, for more information click here)

As with any passionate hobby, that hobby grew. What started with a few glass carboys, became more carboys, which lead to the first barrel, which then lead to a few more barrels, which then becomes “Well might as well start a winery now” haha. Quite literally Rich and the family were making wine just under the legal amounts to be considered home winemaking. If they wanted to make more it was time to get a license and bonded and that is what they did. 

Lucky for me that is exactly when I joined on. To be sure I joined on as a research scientist and had no idea that this new job was leading to a huge career change, but we know that already. Also incredibly lucky for me I found an amazing mentor and even better team. Turns out I was the first (and still currently)  outside hire and I learned from the beginning when you join what is considered a start up you need to be flexible and ready to do just about anything. And again lucky for Little Oaks that’s me. I was also really really interested in learning about wine and Rich was happy to share all he knew with me.

The family and myself do it all,  picking the grapes, bringing them back to winery, crushing grapes, pressing, prepping barrels and all that goes in between. At Little Oaks we all love getting our hands dirty and appreciate a good day’s work (often followed by a cool glass of wine or cold beer!). It is family atmosphere at Little Oaks where hard work does not go unnoticed. Little Oaks is a place where creativity and personal development is encouraged because the results of those two things usually means greater wine!

I love that Little Oaks focuses on local varietals as well. This is beneficial for several reasons. One being that we can establish good relationships with the grapes growers and can clearly communicate about what we want the grape chemistry to be, how many clusters we want per vine, ect. It is also convenient sourcing local as we can drive there and inspect the grapes ourselves. Why we care about how the grapes are grown and cared for throughout the growing season is that the fruit quality has a direct impact on the wine quality itself. We are seeking perfect fruit and being logistically close to the fruit gives us that much more control. Another great advantage of sourcing local fruit is that it helps support the local economy which we all love to do. As it is important to eat local fruits and veggies it is also important to drink local wine. Local wine showcase the uniqueness in the growing region and again goes back to supporting the local economy. Turns out San Diego County (east county San Diego)  is a great place to grow grapes as well. It gets plenty warm in the summer to ripen the fruit but with the closeness of the ocean helps regulate the heat. Just this week we have had early morning fogs which then burn off, these fogs along with the cool evenings are super important to preserving the acids and other phenolic compounds in the grapes. These compounds help create a higher quality wine buy adding crisp acidity, a fresh mouthfeel, bright flavors, and fragrant aromas. A good growing region will produce a chemically stable wine that can age beautifully in the bottle. Even more reason to keep sourcing local. San Diego County is not super popular or well known for its grapes but as long as we keep producing quality wines I have no doubt it will get on the map soon!

With all this local fruit talk what are we making? Varietals that we are well known for are Viognier (vee-ohn-yay), Sangiovese, Malbec, Barbera, Syrah, Rose. and red blends. Just a few notes about these varietals:

What is Viognier? Viognier is one of our white wine varietals, meaning is a green grape that makes a crisp, fresh white wine that is highly aromatic. It is from the Rhone in France, another warm climate, so we are finding that it well suited here in southern California. We usually produce a Viognier that has aromas of pears and jasmine and honeysuckle.  https://www.littleoakswinery.com/products/2017-viognier

One of our most popular reds is our Sangiovese (pronounced san-geo-vay-say). Sangiovese grapes are from Italy and are particularly popular in the Chianti region. Ever had a Chianti before? It was Sangiovese grapes! Sangiovese is an extremely versatile grape and can be made in several different styles, big and bold to light and pleasant and all that’s in between. We oak our Sangiovese in Hungarian Oak barrels giving the wine complexity and a rich finish. Our Sangiovese typically has flavors and aromas of fresh raspberries, red cherry, toasted ceder, and cardamom. https://www.littleoakswinery.com/products/2013-sangiovese

Most people are familiar with Malbec but those are typically out of Argentina, why not try one from San Diego. Actually, fun fact, Malbec originated from France but was never super popular until it was planted in Argentina where it thrived. Malbec can be rich and robust and I am personally finding that the Malbec grape is the most influenced by that years climate, heat, and rainfall. Which means, at least at Little Oaks, the vintages (or different years) of Malbec are greatly affected by that years weather and temperature. Little Oaks’ Malbec is dark, rich, and sultry. There are flavors and aromas of vanilla, blackberries, black cherries, leather, and tobacco. Our Malbec tends to be full bodied with lots of tannin and big finish. This is your steak dinner wine! https://www.littleoakswinery.com/products/2015-malbec?_pos=1&_sid=8705f59c4&_ss=r

One more thing that I think makes Little Oaks so unique is our size. We are a small boutique styled winery making less than 10,000 cases a year, which we make way less than that. But at those levels I can personally attend to each individual barrel, be truly hands on, and make a very special vintage each year. These are the great benefits of working for a small winery. There are also some challenges which include expanding your market, ie who you sell to, money for big equipment, we often find ourselves fixing things, buying used equipment (which is smart in my opinion), and actual wine processing may take a little longer than at the big wineries. As with everything, where there is a will there’s a way and here at Little Oaks we are driven with ingenuity and passion to make the best possible wine.

“I think our focus on good grapes, local terroir, meticulous adjustment care of the chemistry and fermentation biology, and small vintages are what allows us to make quality wines and blends that are unique for their flavor and enjoyment.”

-Dr. Rich Sportman

Hope I’ve caught your attention with this small but meaningful winery. Little Oaks is a great story, and is made possible with amazing people. When you try your first sip of Little Oaks wine you can taste quality, love, and passion. Cheers!