Winemaker’s Note: “Often people want to know what my favorite wine is. While I start by explaining that I don’t have ‘a favorite’ (because I am interested to learn from all thoughtful and good quality wines), I also like to present that the time period when I got into wine was very impactful. My interest and education in wine began in 2009 (in Burgundy no less) and the early 2000’s saw a massive spotlight shown on the variety Pinot Noir."

Florèz Wines was started by James Jelks in 2017. James grew up in the Santa Cruz area and was schooled in winemaking at nearby UC Davis. He worked in wineries all over the world for 10 years before returning home to make wine in the Santa Cruz area. He is farming some vineyards himself, always dry-farmed, and is also sourcing some fruit from organic and sustainable vineyards. He always works with native yeasts, does not use additives except for a minimal amount of sulfur at bottling, and does not filter the wines. The labels are Japanese-style woodcuts by James’s friend & tattoo artist Drew Nelson.