Nothing pleases me more than supporting small wineries and when I heard about Tobacco Road Cellars I was thrilled. Why? To begin with their juice is out of this world but the cherry on top was that the founder of Tobacco Road Cellars, Jason, lives right here in my town of Raleigh NC!

My first exposure to Tobacco Road was in February of 2007 at The Triangle Wine Experience in Raleigh. They donatedPreview two signed bottles of their ‘05 Private Reserve Cabernet for the silent auction. I am not sure if Jason remembers this but I recall walking along the tables deciding what to bid on. I stopped at the Tobacco Road and was very intrigued, something pulling me to this label, and let me share with you, there were three full tables of wines to choose from to bid on but for some reason, I stopped at this one. I have not heard of them before and as I picked up a bottle to read the back of the label Jason came up to me and introduced himself and told me a little history on his wine. He was charming and professional and I could sense his passion so naturally I bid on the wine….and got it! Later that evening as I brought home my treasure which was delightfully placed in separate boxes, I quietly stored the wine and displayed the boxes on my bar. As time passed and each occasion I opened my wine refrigerator I felt a pull to try this wine but patiently waited ….until one special day I had some friends over for dinner and together we tried Tobacco Road for the first time. Drinking wine like this truly is a special occasion in and of itself. As I love to say….love at first sip!

Fast forward to October 8th 2009. My dear high school friend and fellow wine lover joined me for Tobacco Roads rooftop party downtown Raleigh, entitled “Bacchanalle“. Perfect evening complete with an art showing, catered food, clear skies, Mother Nature’s sunset and their exclusive release of the 2007 Vintage of their Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Vitality, Tradition, the Private Reserve and “07 V” honoring former NCSU basketball coach Jim Valvano with a portion of the proceeds going to the Jimmy V foundation.

So who is this North Carolina southern boy who founded Tobacco Road Cellars? I know, you think of North Carolina and what comes to mind…….BBQ, Great Smoky Mountains, The Wright Brothers, Krispy Kreme Donuts, sweet potatoes, Pepsi-Cola, Duke University, Biltmore Estate, tobacco, Dale Earnhardt, moonshine and that sweet Muscadine wine. Well let me tell you, thanks to Jason you will soon be thinking fine elegant wines as well!

Meet Jason…..

Tobacco Road Cellars’ co-founder and Principal, Jason Earnest, knows how to make things happen. Originally from Charles County in Maryland, he has now found his home in Raleigh NC where he was a partner of Boylan Financial Group, which he recently sold to devote his time to Tobacco Road Cellars. Since his first sip of a 1978 Chateau Palmer, his eyes were opened to the essence of what it means to taste a superior and elegant wine. This in turn peaked his interest of the complexity of wine and the industry as a whole.

After a trip to Napa, Jason came up with the idea to create a special and unique gift for his clients and business acquaintances. Since wine represents relationships and celebration, he decided to make his own wine from Napa, just 50 cases, to give away. As it turns out, a customer who received this wine gave a bottle to a friend who owned a restaurant, who in turn shared with a distributor who then called Jason to ask him if he could purchase his wines. After a short conversation Jason grew to like the idea, gathered together his resources and started Tobacco Road Cellars.

Well aware of the fact he wasn’t a grape grower or wine maker, he knew he had to rely on others talent. His goal was to make the best cabs from Napa, but where to start? Jason knew in order to make this vision a reality; he needed time, the best soil in Napa and solid relationships with those he respected in the industry. He hired Mitchell Klug, Director of Vineyard Operations at Premier Pacific Vineyards. Krug’s tremendous talent to create the highest quality wines with his zeal for meticulousness viticulture was just what Jason was looking for. Another driving force behind Jason’s inspiration to start the winery was Dave DelDotto, who opened his eyes to the true difference of wine making and well…uh…exception wine making! Interesting thing is Dave has a very similar story to Jason, whose career began out of love of wine and a trip to Napa in 1988. While there on vacation he spontaneously purchased a 17 acre estate in St. Helena off Zinfandel Lane and two years later started to grow Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Sangiovese. It’s only natural that those two would bond!

Next thing Jason knows, he is making wine and loving the new challenges and rewards. “This is so different from any other business. You have to anticipate so much 2 years prior. You can either roll the dice, invest and hope you build a demand or just grow slow and see how it goes. I took a chance, put it out there….”

So how does he do it, not living in “wine country”? Tobacco Road buys their grapes from only the best property in Napa, and they have complete say over every aspect of the vineyard. They hold long term contracts with each property where the fruit comes from with control over specific blocks, so they know exactly what they are getting. They oversee every aspect from vineyard management, planting of the fruit, irrigation, pest control techniques, how and when the fruit is picked….you name it! Jason also works very closely with their master winemaker, Kian, who has over 10 years under his belt making wine, four of which were spent learning cabernet winemaking at Opus One. They use only French Oak barrels (which I personally prefer as well) as Jason likes the vanilla characteristics the barrel gives. They last longer and have a tighter grain which does not overpower the juice, almost like a slow drip on the wine. He does not like the minty characteristics that the American Oak barrels can sometimes give. Jason is also very excited because they now own 2 of 10 in the country of an exclusive barrel called the “X Blend” from French cooperage Radoux. This luxury barrel is made from French Oak from a secret forest and the oak’s toast is determined by the buyer. Although it is double the price of a normal barrel it will more than double the quality of the juice. A maximum of 100 will be made each year. This is going to make his 2008 Private Reserve Cab a real treat. Just thinking about his juice sitting there in these barrels makes my mouth water. How I would love a barrel tasting right now!

When you sit and think about all of this, it’s quite clear. To utilize the capital, they buy only the finest fruit and work directly with only those who share the passion and contribute their talents. They don’t waste money on machines, expansive tasting rooms, staff or related overhead but instead outsource as much as possible. This makes perfect sense, by using the money at hand to simply make great wine you, in turn, get an exception wine from the finest fruit available. Small boutique wineries out in Napa operate the same way, Jason just happens to live in North Carolina! After all “the end result is what is in the glass. It is the quality you claim it to be”

As Jason pointed out, Kosta Browne, producer of Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, is known as one of the Top 100 wines and again, very similar story to Jason’s. Kosta Browne began as a dream shared by Dan Kosta and Michael Browne. In the summer of 1997, while working at John Ash & Co. restaurant in Santa Rosa they decided to venture into winemaking. They saved tip money for two months and eventually had enough to buy a half ton of Pinot Noir, a used barrel and an old hand-crank stemmer-crusher. Since that day they have nurtured relationships with the best growers and honed their winemaking skills, making sure to focus on the vision and values with which they began.

So what’s next for Jason in 2010? Aside from keeping his southern roots intact, he plans to expand the brand while maintaining high quality wines and even higher standards of customer relationships. “We will never go above 5,000 cases” explains Jason. “It’s important that while sharing the brand in new markets we not forget where we came from and stick to the high customer service standards of Southern hospitality. Our main market is the Southeast as we branch further out in North Carolina into Ashville and outside our local footprint into Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. We are found in local wine shops and restaurants and proud to have our wine served at fine establishments like Palm Beach Gardens Capital Grille, Boca Raton Resort, Del Fricsos in Charlotte NC and Angus Barn in Raleigh NC.” You can also find his wines at Seaboard Wine, a local retail wine shop and tasting bar in Raleigh NC. Although their niche is the Southeast you may be lucky and find his wines elsewhere and I encourage you to join their “Regency Club”. Unlike some wine clubs that make you commit to monthly shipments and possibly filled with wine that isn’t their best, Tobacco Road offers you flexibility to choose from their premier wines. They currently ship once a year, around April, with your choice of a mixture of 3, 6 or 12 bottles. Jason in considering making this a 2x a year shipment, with the second shipment coming to you around October, just in time for the holidays!

Jason further explains that everyone has a place in the wine industry. Your every day bottle or first bottle may be a Yellowtail. You can’t drink $60 bottles every day, and these wins can also serve as a gateway to other finer wines. There’s allot of great values of wine out there so he encourages people to go find their own way, discover what your own palate is. Complicated wine ratings have their place but don’t depend on them to find what you enjoy, what pleases your palate. He encourage people to take an aroma class, know what you like….in turn, if you know what YOU like than all those crazy ratings go out the window and you can simply sit back and enjoy. Heck, I know there are quite a few movies out there I have loved that got awful reviews and visa-versa!

“Drinking good wine is an experience, something special; it’s a celebration of sharing, connecting with someone and making memories” Jason has not and refuses to lose sight on what brought his vision to where he is today. He plans on keeping Tobacco Road Cellars very intimate, keeping it a one-on-one personal experience that is so lacking in today’s world.

So when you think of North Carolina, now what comes to mind? Handcrafted premium wines of Pinot Noir, Syrah and cult Cabernet? That’s what I thought!

Note: Operations based out of Napa with the fruit coming from some of the best soil in Howell Mountain, Pritchard Hill, Oakville, Rutherford and others areas in the Napa Valley. The owner, vision and business is in NC.

Cheers from The Traveling Grape