Welcome to Wine Soundtrack USA. He was listened to the passion with which producers
narrate their winery and their world. In thirty answers discover their stories, personalities
and passions. Hello, friends and listeners of Wine Soundtrack. This is Alison
Levine and today I'm with Britt Richards, the winemaker of head High Wines in
Carnarows. Britt, Welcome to Wine Soundtrack and tell us a little bit about
head High. So head High is a brand that I started working with in
twenty eighteen, and we primarily work with pino and chardonnay, and we're slowly
branching into a couple other things, but our main main ideas pino for the
people. We really wanted to bring high quality wines at a lower price point
and so that was a huge diver for us and bring quality at that price
point, and so that's kind of what we're doing. So yeah, And
so do you own any vineyards? You sourcing all your fruit? Combination?
We are sourcing most of it. We are part of the Price Family group
and so we the Price Family obviously owns vineyards, but for the most part,
for head High, we are sourcing all of our fruit so from any
particular regions all over Sonoma County. We stick to Sonoma County and that gives
us a large enough bubble the source out of we're sourcing different vineyards every year,
and so we didn't want to kind of construct ourselves to a smaller pool,
and so it allows us a little bit more freedom. And what's your
total case production? We do about thirteen thousand cases right now, and we're
growing, so I think we're set to do thirteen this year and then we're
trying to bump up even more next year or so. Pino for the people
and your wines are available across the country or in specific markets. We're available
across the country in most wholesale channels, so people can find it because it's
Pinot for the full exactly the idea. So what is your first memory relevant
to wine? Oh? Man, I grew up raised Catholic, and so
mine was actually in church. So I mean I remember going and you know,
drinking wine and being like the only kid who was interested in that.
But yeah, I mean i'd say that that's really my first memory. But
as far as winemaking goes, I grew up and knew this family and the
woman who owned the winery was a winemaker proprietor, and I just thought she
was the coolest person, and it really is what got me into wanting to
be involved in wine. So I had never considered doing anything else, to
be honest, that's kind of cool because so many people don't know it's an
option in what they can do. And you had a model, a role
model at a young age. Yeah. I was always a kid who was
really active but also really loved science, and I was never were able to
kind of sit still, and so I knew I needed a career that involved
moving around and sort of being able to be outside as well, but also
included sciences. And so just seeing her, you know the idea of doing
that. And I had always really loved food and beverages and all of those
things. And so I did one internship in high school where I thought,
for a small stint, I would be a pediatric dentist, and I hated
every minute of it, mainly because you were just confined to a small space
indoors. And then I knew that's what I had to do as winemaking.
So yeah, well, so obviously you've moved way past the communal church wine
but I'm curious if there is a wine that stands out as one of those
AHA moments for a myriad of reasons. Whether it was the taste of the
wine or maybe what it said about wine, but or maybe it was just
the occasion. But is there a wine that comes to mind? Yeah,
so not any one in particular, but I in college was a wine steward
at a restaurant and I remember my madraha moment because I hadn't really liked chardonay
prior to that. It wasn't just a woman I was all that interested,
but I had had the Peter Michael chardonnay's and I was kind of blown away,
and it was sort of my AHA moment of like really where my interests
kind of lied, and like I went on to work at Peter Michael specifically
because I was like, I need to know the ways of the ways of
the God got you there. So I mean, it's it's really I always
think it's kind of one of those I really love making chardonay, and I
really loved turning people onto chardonay because for me, that's exactly what happened to
me, is I wasn't a chardonay lover and then I it is my favorite
thing to drink now. So and it just took that one wine that a
moment. So if we were to come to your home, what kind of
wines would we find in your seller? I mean, you're a wine maker
and you mentioned that your husband's wine maker. Is it all wines that you
guys make, or wines from around the world or certain grapes. Obviously we
have everything that we make, but I would say we both have a really
bad habit of buying sparkling wine only. And I would say that there is
like many other people who would say the same. And we were definitely white
wine drinkers in our house, maybe because we make so much red wine.
It's kind of refreshing, but definitely any spark anything that sparkles, we'll be
in our house. So and is there anything that you opened up recently that
you drink that you enjoyed very much? Oh, that is a great question.
I am not gonna be able to pull something to mind of recent,
but I would say, I mean, obviously it was it was a champagne
and I can't remember exactly which one it was because I wasn't the one who
opened it. But you know, those always impress me. I mean they're
just the way they age and the way they evolve is always interesting to me.
So yeah, So when it comes to wine grapes and being such a
fan of chardonnay now that you know it so well, but also working with
Pino noir, would you say that either of those are a perfect variety or
do you think there's a such thing as a perfect variety? No, absolutely
not. I mean they all are finicky in one way or another, And
I think it's just really understanding the finickyness of each individual grape and like what
they can handle and what they can't. I really I always find that like
relating grapes to people and gender, not genders necessarily, but just like but
relating them to people in circumstances is always really helpful for people to understand rather
than just like a varietal concept. So like when people are trying to understand
Pino, for example, I'm like, Pino is like a man who gets
sick, you know, like they just kind of like go role in bed
and they can't handle it. And always like chardonnay is like when it hits
heat, it can handle. It hacks its way through and then it comes
out on the other side. So I mean, I just people can really
and understand too a lot more of that than they can to like the actual
science behind why each individual grape is functionally able to handle one thing or another
better suited. Obviously, I think that the geography of where it's planted has
a big impact what rootstock gets on, and I just think that they all
have their different nuances. So I don't know that there is necessarily a perfect
grape, And it's also what you do with it, so absolutely well,
so on that with perfect you know, you were saying that describing a grape
and kind of what it's like, it's an interesting way for someone to understand
it. So what's your opinion on wine critics and scores? Are they useful
in people understanding How do you sort of look at those? I think it
depends on what you're looking at. I think that like wine critic in general,
for some people are really useful and they help you give descriptors and like
what wines you should be trying. But obviously coming from a background of like
wanting people to understand wine or understand it at a more basic level, I
always feel like you have to have some more human element to it for people
to understand, because I mean, I come from a family that isn't involved
in wine or doesn't know a lot about wine, and I meet so many
people out there, and I think sometimes they're overwhelmed by the information they get
rather than feeling like it is approachable. And so when people always say give
me a descript, I'm like, you tell me a descriptor tell me what
you think about it. Is it something that's pleasing to you? And everybody's
palates different. Everybody's tolerance of bitterness is different, everybody's tolerance of tannin is
different, or histamine. And so I think that it's really a person to
person dependent and I think that it's great to get like a really broad stroke
from like a critic and it's say, okay, so this is pretty good
in this range. But it's also good understanding what those numbers come from,
you know, and understanding that like at a at a higher price point,
you should be getting some of those higher scores obviously, but there you know,
what's a price point where what is the score that is considered good for
that? So you know, And so I think that some people just don't
really understand that. So while it's sort of helpful, I think that sometimes
just having more of a human elmment to the wines are better well. So
on that note of like a human element and tasting wines and describing what you
like. Obviously, one of the things that we love to do is pare
food and wine. That's obviously something that people aspire to do good pairings.
Do you have any rules that you follow, any tips or do you really
just say try it? If it works, it works, it doesn't,
it doesn't. I'm sort of a try it person and like and if you
like it, that's what matters. And so I mean personally being a white
wine drinker like I and in life I opt for things I really like high
acids. That's not to say that like things that I make are necessarily high
acid, but just in food, and so I always say, like,
okay, so you can usually have sort of a like higher pH wine with
something that has a lot of acid because they sort of balance each other out.
But I think that that's anything in life, right, because you're just
trying to find balance between what you're eating and you're what you're drinking. But
if it's something that you like and nothing is overpowering the other, then you
know, have at it, like you know, nothing should stop you.
So for somebody who hasn't had the pleasure to taste your wines yet, how
would you describe them? What would what are they missing out on? So
I think a vine is very approachable, and I also think that they're much
more fruit forward. I kind of seek out making wines that are very indicative
of kind of the grape itself. Like I'm not trying to overpower it by
anything. Particularly. I don't go heavy on oak. I don't try and
make it, you know, super acidic or you know, super high pH
I'm sort of like right in the middle, and I want people to get
an idea, and I think it is the idea behind people understanding our concept
is what a grape particularly taste. Like if I have too much joke in
something, you're gonna be tasting the oak. You're not going to be tasting
pino, you know. And same with chardonay. You know, I took
an approach with the chardonay. I always well wine was well. Chardonay in
particular was fermenting. I always really liked it during fermentation, and I there
was a point in that fermentation where I thought, man, if everybody could
just taste chardonay right here and you could bottle it, everybody would just love
it. And that's kind of where I took our chardonay. There's no mL,
there's no oak. It's really kind of a naked it's not naked,
but it's but it's still full bodied and there's still a lot of like aromatics
in there that aren't coming from like, oh, poor mL. And so
that's sort of where I wanted people to taste wine, right, because it's
the great expressing itself. Right. So how many different wines do you make?
So for Head High I make six now, so we're kind of veering
off and making smaller quantities of some other things that we're trying out, and
those will be available more in the fall, but right now we just have
the piano Chardnay and is in findel out there three wines? Three? Yeah,
And if space aliens were to land on your property, which of those
wines would you want to say welcome to Head High. I'd do the Chardnay
of course. So you know you're sourcing from all over the valley and from
different vineyards, and how much how much time are you spending in the vineyards
A lot, A lot, A lot, I mean a lot of what
we are doing because we are getting different vineyards every year is it's an iron
chef process. So I some of these I only see one year at a
time, and so it's really important once I have know where we're sourcing some
of this fruit, to spend as much time in there to understand it's evolution,
because that's maybe the only time I've got I don't have, you know,
past history of what's going on in there, and so I tend to,
especially you know, leading up to picking, kind of really try and
eyeball it out and taste a lot of what's out there because a little time
talking to the vines. Yeah, I let them sing to me a little
bit. Yeah. Sure, in the time that you've been making wine and
spending and living in this area, I mean, we know every vintage tells
a different story, and obviously the last you know, five or so years
have given us some pretty extreme elements. But in general, do you see
big variations from vintage to vintage you're more commonality in the region like this.
That's a great question. I mean, I would say that for me because
I am sourcing kind of all over and differently every year it is different.
I'm trying to make a pretty pretty consistent product year to year, and so
a lot of that is trying to take the parts out of it that are
going to change that and try and keep some consistency within my own winemaking practices.
And so while there is some and so while there is some things I
have to like veer off of, I try and make a consistent product.
I view wine, at least for head high, I view this much a
lot like a puzzle, and so I need to be building like a ton
of different puzzle pieces to be able to see what the puzzle picture is creating.
And so year to year those puzzle pieces might be different, but I'm
trying to create some consistency within our own portfolio. So yes, obviously there
is differences in variation in every vineyard, you know, and that's just agriculture.
I mean that is like if someone said no, I don't see any
difference, I would be like what, But I mean, yeah, that's
just the nature of our business. And it's actually just more it's more being
able to evolve with it rather than against it. So are there any sort
of signs or predictors that you look for that will give you a sense of
what you're going to get in a given vintage or from a particular vineyard.
After the last five years, I'm going to say, no, I don't
think we saw a lot of that coming. So no, I think you
have to just take it day by day. I mean, at least for
me, it's like, Okay, let me see what's out there. If
this happens, what am I going to do? I mean, it's just
I feel like it's a very much rolling with the punches an ideal really well
under stress, and so I think it's being able to how how are you
handling things that are thrown at you that kind of dictate what's going to happen
next. So yeah, So have you established any sort of rituals or protocols
that you do at the start of harvest to kind of kick it off one
consistent factor? No? Great? What? No? I feel like it's
been different and sometimes issues you don't know when it's coming. Is the other
side of that, Like, you know, I try and stay calm,
but you know, I just like I'm a keep calm person and I like
to check everything out. And you know, as long as I can do
that, that's I'm usually I Like I said, I'm really good at just
being able to be thrown things and deal with them. So yeah, that's
good to take things in strife. Yeah. So, I mean when you
were little, you've you've known from a young age that you wanted to be
a winemaker or was there ever other than your one short moment of wanting to
be a pediatric dentist. Was there with any other desires? No? Actually,
weirdly no, I never consider doing anything else. So I mean,
yeah, that's amazing. It's I mean, what a what a great path
that you've been on. Um. So when you're not working, how do
you spend your free time? Oh? Well, um, I mean I
have three kids, so a lot of it is spent with them. Um,
and we I have we have an acre that we garden a lot and
spend a lot of time on. But just um, I'm I love running,
so I run and cycle and you know, love to spend time outdoors.
But that's I mean a lot of it's just spend with family. So
yeah, So on the rare occasion that you're able to take a break and
have a romantic evening with your husband fit the three kids. I mean,
maybe you don't remember these, but what sort of wines would you with the
two of you open that that set a romantic mood for you and not just
an average night. Oh that's a good one, he would laugh if he
was listening to this right now, because I'm pretty sure most of the time
it's putting ourselves to about at eight o'clock with a cup of tea. But
um, I would say that, you know, usually it's involved a sparkling
wine and you know, just a glass of it is nice, and honestly,
most of it's just being quiet. I would say that the last time
we had a date night and he would kill me for telling her who this,
but we moved it a bathtub outside and it was we were we able
to take a bath outside with some champagne and it was lovely, just looking
at the stars and just having a nice night. So that sounds like a
perfect romantic evening. Yeah. So when you when you think about what you've
accomplished in your career, what would you say is one of your proudest achievements
to date? Yeah, I'm gonna say the head of High Wines just because.
And I so for having worked in a lot of high end environments and
making a lot of expensive wine, I realized, like making an expensive wine
in some facets really using and the challenge is making a really really good wine
at a lower price point. You know, there's many more restrictions that you
have. And coming from a household who could not afford the wines I used
to make, and making wines now that my family can't afford, or like
my friends could afford, to me as a bigger is the biggest accomplishment,
you know. And I had another winemaker say to me the other day the
proudest wines teammates were the ones where were the cheapest. And I could relate
to that because there's something about it when you're really passionate about it that you
know you've accomplished. You've accomplished this thing that you came out to do where
you know more people could it could be visible for more people. So you
know, I love that, you know, for the people. So when
you look back at your career, or maybe it wasn't part of your career,
but is there a piece of advice that somebody gave you along the way
that you carry with you that is part of how you live, or how
you think, or your work ethic or your life ethic. I don't know
that it is anything that anyone has said to me, but probably more how
I've ethically lived. I always really wanted to be a mom and be like
present as a parent, but I also am a really hard worker and I
really like working and I love my job and what I do, and a
lot of when I became a parent, I sort of had a I'm an
ass for forgiveness rather than ask for a permission, and it was being able
to show my kids what I do. And so they've always sort of tagged
along. As you can see they're here now with me. We have two
of the three sitting there quietly listening to mom. Yeah, And so they
get to see what I do, and I know that like growing up,
my dad brought me along to work and it actually stamped. I don't think
about it as much, but I did think about it the other day about
how much of a work ethic I got from seeing him work. And also
just you know, understanding what they do all day. I mean, as
kids, we forget, but like they don't really understand. So them getting
to see like why you're doing what you do and seeing that you're passionate about
it is really important to me. And so I would say that for me
that is like my biggest advice is like involving. I mean, it's not
for everybody, I'll be honest. I know that plenty of people aren't interested
in that, but I would say that for me it was like a big
driver is you know, getting to share my existence with them? So well,
speaking of sharing wine or sharing in existence, imagine sitting at a table
with an empty seat next to you, and your wines are on the table.
Who, from any walk of life, living or deceased, would you
want to share a bottle of head high wines with? Oh? My god,
that is such a tricky question. I haven't I have no idea.
Oh I don't know. Are we talking about like important? I don't know
if this is a great It could be personal, it could be famous,
it could be weird, it could be iconic, it could be whatever comes
to mind. Okay, I'm gonna say my grandfather Bob, because I never
got to meet him, but I heard so my mom always talks about him.
And also, you know what it always says she would have loved to
have him seen what I do and like met us. And I always think
about that because it's like somebody that would have been important to me, like
somebody celebrity. Wiys. I don't care about it, but like you know,
like yeah, see he came up with someone. I like that.
Now sharing you in showing family, that's that's amazing. So I want you
to complete the send this sentence. For me, a table without wine is
like prison. God help us. Okay, So I have you're doing really
well. You've been grady answers. But I got a couple of more like
tricky ones. These are like tricky, fun little ones. If you if
you were sent to a deserted island, what three wines would you want to
take with you? Oh? That is so tricky? Varietals? You mean,
I don't know, you can go specific, Okay, because I was
gonna say I would love to just take some diverts um probably some I don't
know, shardnay and some sparkling, like we're gonna go all whites here,
coverts interesting. Any particular regions or producers come to mind for any of those
wines? You know what Germany? Yeah, I just want something refreshing if
I'm stuck somewhere. Yeah, I like that. And then um, well
we you know, I want to talk about your wines. I want to
play a fun little game as we talk about your wines. And that's pairing
wine with music. I mean it is called wine soundtrack afterwards. So the
idea with this is that wine conjures up emotions and music makes us feel certain
ways. So based on the three wines that you make, if you can
tell me a genre, a producer, a song, an album, whatever
comes to mind. But let's start with your beloved Chardonnay. Oh, I'm
gonna say like a French music for Chardonay, just like feel good is for
sure. Yeah. And then your pinot noir, your pino for the people.
Oh, I'm gonna go to Texas the country music. Oh yeah,
okay. And then you said you do zinfandel, right, Yes, we
do so zinfandel. Let's see. Oh that one's trickier. That's a great
question. I'm gonna throw it back to country music and and I would say
that, yeah, we like to keep it easier on here. Accessible wine,
accessible music. There you go. Everybody loves the country music. If
anyone said they did, and I would be surprised. Well, Britt,
I know that time is very short for you because you've got two anxious little
ones that are patiently waiting for you. And it's been really fun chatting with
you. But I have one final question for you, and that is if
you could travel when you can travel again when you don't have little ones,
or maybe you'll take them. But what wine region in the world is at
the top of your bucket list? Portugal, port Yes, And then the
last part of that question is if people want to taste your wines, can
they visit you here in Sonoma? Can they Where can they find your wines?
How can they find head him? So if you you can email info
at head Highwines dot com um and you can taste with me or we have
other people who are pouring at our offices. But we are also happy to
take you out in the Veneer. It's too so it's all by appointment only
and not something people can just walk in. They plan ahead, correct,
yes, but you will get somebody real We are a very small team,
so you'll get one of us so to speak. So well, that's great.
So if you're heading into Sonoma and you want to taste head High Wines
and Wines for the People, Pinot for the People, Affordable delicious wines and
meat Britt. Come check out head head High Wines and Britt. Thank you
for joining us on Wine Soundtrack and I hope you had fun. Thank you
for having me appreciate it. Thanks for listening to a new episode of Wine
Soundtrack USA. For details and updates, visit our website Wine soundtrack dot com.