Augur Wine CO
EST. 2016
AUGUR WINE CO. was born in the summer of 2014 after a surf session I had at The Hook in Santa Cruz’s Pleasure Point. While sitting on the beach after my surf, enjoying a bottle of Clos Cibonne’s Tibouren Rosé from the Côtes de Provence, I had a premonition. Maybe it came to me because I was buzzing from the great session I just had. Or maybe it was because of how tasty that wine was with my proximity to the ocean. Whichever way it came to me, the tickling feeling was undeniable - I knew my path would lead to producing California wines that had a similar oceanic minerality. After visiting and tagging along with some of my favorite producers that were making wines from Santa Cruz, Sonoma Coast, and Santa Barbara during their 2014 and 2015 harvest, I decided to launch into my first vintage in 2016.
I chose the name AUGUR to elicit that feeling I had on the beach, of good omens, the foretelling of great events, and to evoke the poetic tether we each possess to the spiritual unknown. Viticulture and vinification has always been celebrated in mystical and religious ritual throughout time and to me the two are deeply intertwined. My mom, Tina, helped me understand this belief as she is an intuitive and clairvoyant who interpreted dreams and practiced Tasseography with an ethereal and potent accuracy. I consider myself fortunate that she bestowed onto me a regard and inner understanding to the relationship of the physical and metaphysical. It felt fitting to select AUGUR as a label name to pay homage to her and to my deep adoration to all things related to spirituality and wine.
My approach to winemaking is subtle and anchored in a natural process. I start by sourcing grapes solely from single vineyard sites in coastal and cool climate regions that are certified organic or practicing the same methods of vineyard care. At the winery, all fermentations are spontaneous with low intervention processing that centers on higher quality fruit, without putting in additions that would make the wines over executed or removing any parts that would compromise purity and integrity. Relying on intuitiveness to guide my practice, I produce my wines with a hope that they’ll be equally enjoyed at any dinner table, pool party, beach towel, river bank, campsite, festivity, or gathering that one, or many, can divine.
