Winemaker Interview: Mike Owen of Crystal Basin Cellars

Winemaking Style and Influences

California Winery Advisor: Can you describe your winemaking style for us?

Mike Owen CEO Crystal Bay Cellars: Non-interventional and self-taught.  If you strip away the acid and the tannin and the new oak – what is left over is the fruit.  Everything else is a mask.

CWA: What makes your wines unique?

MO: We use only El Dorado appellation fruit, harvest the grapes a bit riper than our neighbors and don’t add acid to the must during our winemaking process.

CWA: How do you select the vineyards you work with and how involved do you get in the grape growing process?

MO: We have long-standing relationships with our growers.  We sometimes find additional fruit sources from our network of farmers.  We don’t have much involvement in the grape growing efforts other than providing a target Brix for harvesting.

CWA: Are you influenced by other winemakers? Can you name a few that made an impact on you?

MO: Scott Harvey was an early mentor and he taught me to drop the pretense about having to produce wines that are 100% of a varietal.  His mantra was ‘create the best tasting wines possible.

The other winemaker I look up to is Steve Storrs.  He is probably the best technical winemaker out there.

CWA: Do you have a particular wine that you are the proudest of?

MO: Perhaps our MV3 from the 2013 vintage.  It was a lovely Mourvedre that expressed black pepper in a way that I have not seen before or since.  It won a gold medal at the SF Chronicle in 2016.

CWA: What are the last two wines you drank that were truly memorable?

MO: I really enjoyed the last bottle of Storrs Petite Sirah we had at my home.  We also found a great bottle of 1980 Bandol (100% Mourvedre) that we brought back from when we lived in France.

CWA: What was your biggest wine making horror story?

MO: We made a batch of Grenache Blanc and used an additive that clarifies the wine without filtration or temperature crashing.  However, the additive that we used had been ½ used and left in the refrigerator for a year.  We ended up with bottled with fuzzy flocculent in it.  Not commercially viable.  We ended up distilling it.  Watch for great eggnog this winter.

The Business Side Of Wine

CWA: How do you distribute your wine? Where can people buy it?

MO: We sell over 95% of our wine from the tasting room.  We do have a small distributor we work with in Northern Nevada to address the Reno marketplace.

CWA: We often hear that winemaking is a great way to lose money. How do you balance the art of making wine with the business side?

MO: By gritting our teeth.  There is NO financing for small wineries who don’t own real estate.  You can make a Small fortune in the wine industry by starting with a BIG one.

CWA: What advice can you give to winemakers who are just starting out? Is there a secret to success?

MO: Don’t get into it unless you are as committed to wine as Ozzy is to Rock and Roll.

CWA: Do you feel the tree tiered system is good for consumer choice?

MO: No.

CWA: How to you drive people to your tasting room?

MO: We use a lot of email blasts and social media and have a large wine club.  We host 150 live music dates each year as well as 2-weekend events per month.  4 years ago, we opened a Bistro next to  the winery that has been hugely successful, garnering us 5 stars on Yelp and TripAdvisor.

CWA: What do you think the biggest business challenge is for wineries of your size?

MO: Getting financing to grow the business if you don’t have real estate.

CWA: If you could change one regulation related to winemaking or sales, what would it be?

MO: Being taxed to create alcohol on top of all of the other psychotic tax load that we have as a California business is insane.  Also, having to wait for up to 9 months for a single form to pass through the Federal Government (TTB) is VERY small business unfriendly.

CWA: We are hearing a lot about organic, biodynamic, and sustainable wines and agriculture. What do these terms mean to you? What should they mean to consumers?

Mike's Take On Wine Trends

CWA: We are hearing a lot about organic, biodynamic, and sustainable wines and agriculture. What do these terms mean to you? What should they mean to consumers?

MO: Organic grapes are a fine approach but perhaps not profitable for the growers.  Organic winemaking is a marketing scam to get people to functionally purchase vinegar.

Biodynamic is like voodoo – you either believe that shit or you don’t.  There is no scientific substance for it.

Sustainable is a completely fuzzy term that does not have any meaning in the real world.

Example:  How can you possibly grow a vineyard with a 35 to 45-year life without taking a ‘sustainable’ approach?

Example 2:  How can you take an approach to making wine – an 18-month production cycle with an 18-month sales cycle – without being ‘sustainable’.  Silly stuff.

CWA: The Sierra Foothills are getting a lot of attention lately. Why the increased attention? Is it good to be labeled as “the next Napa”?

MO: I had the pleasure of touring Napa, Livermore, Gilroy and Sonoma in the late 1960’s and 1970’s because my parents were early wine geeks. (I’m not THAT old).  I learned a lot and created a huge influence for me.  Napa has become a lot like Disneyland in the last few years.  Example?  Has anyone ever seen a forklift in Napa?  Just think about it.  If the Sierra Foothills is becoming known for great wines, fun for guests and a lack of pretension – all good for me.