You take hot peppers and mix them with salt and tuck them away and leave them for a while. As we meander around a portion of his 125-acre property in the valley, past the tasting room, the gardens and the chicken pen, we talk philosophy. They want to stay at a level in which they can control it directly and their wines are styled to reflect the potential of their property and not necessarily the demands of the market. Even though acquisitions and mergers of giant corporations have become common in Wine Country, and even though these big players account for the bulk of wine production, keep in mind the majority of wineries in Sonoma County and Napa Valley are still owned by the smaller guys, producing under 25,000 cases a year. In Sonoma County, more than half of this segment is boutique wineries, producing under 10,000 cases.
Boutique wineries thrive on limited supply because scant supply drives up prices.
He said he's tired of competing with the big boys like Fetzer and Kendall-Jackson for shelf space. With less wine, he says shelf space is less important, and he plans to focus his attention on restaurant placements, tasting room and local sales. Boutique wineries don't measure their success by the breath of their distribution. Preston concedes there was a time when he wanted his wines to be well-traveled. And one would say, 'I've got my wines in France.