Red Car Wines and Carroll Kemp

Red Car in the Driveway

Carroll Kemp

Red Car's founders, Carroll Kemp and Mark Estrin, had no intention of starting a winery, but had an interest in wine and winemaking. The winery's inauspicious beginnings were in Carroll Kemp's Beverly Hills driveway. There, he and Mark filled two barrels with their fledgling vintage made from their first rudimentary harvest. That was in 2000 -- and in Carroll's modest words, "We were lucky that Syrah was our first wine type. It was surprisingly good." And how good was it? Well, Mark took a barrel tasting from their inaugural driveway wine to a blind Syrah tasting with wine-loving friends. And while they were surrounded by other impressive and noteworthy Syrahs, the Red Car surpassed all others and was the first in the tasting. With that encouragement, Red Car clanged its trolley bell and they were off and running. That first release in 2000 was called The Window, and it was a 100% Syrah from grapes in Paso Robles and Santa Maria. There were only fifty cases produced, with most gone and relegated to memory before the end of the year. However, in late September, an avid Red Car mailing list member introduced a bottle of The Window to the wine director at Napa Valley's Martini House. He took a fancy to the wine and called Red Car to order some for the restaurant. Word about wine travels fast in Napa Valley and in short order, three other restaurants called up Red Car. The fourth call was from Thomas Keller's The French Laundry in Yountville; fortunately there was enough of The Window left to share. Red Car was traveling through prestige country without even breaking a sweat. The moral of Red Car's story? Perhaps there are no guiding morals, but at least one shouldn't look at their driveway as just a place to park their car.

Red Car Wine Style

And what would be the best way to define the Red Car style of wine? Carroll described it as one that has "evolved over different vintages. At first the wines mirrored the extracted, rich reds that Robert Parker admires." This is evidenced by the numerous 90+ ratings that Robert Parker's Wine Advocate has awarded Red Car reds since their first 2000 vintage. Their early wines fit into this classic California mold of heavyweight Syrahs with deep and brooding fruit, and in many cases with a high alcohol level in the 14%-15% range. Popular with many, it wasn't Red Car's cup of tea and ultimate goal. And while the wine company is committed to Syrah it does not stand alone. Red Car introduced their first Pinot Noir in their 2002 vintage with their Amour Fou series which has influenced their winemaking style. When they started with Pinots, according to Carroll, "We made them like Syrahs. But then we flip-flopped and began making Syrahs like Pinots. We sought concentration without weight." He elaborated further on this point, explaining that Red Car's philosophy was to be "hands-off in the cellar to express the terroir of the wine and to bring out tertiary nuance. The cellar can obliterate the terroir with too much interference." Red Car's aim is to keep the hands in the cellar transparent and let the wine create its own expression.

A Shift in Style

Further to this point on evolving styles, Red Car has shifted to cooler Sonoma coast vineyards for their Pinot Noir wines to get bold ripe fruit that still retains balancing acidity to shape more complex wines. And while working in this cooler maritime-influenced climate creates more difficulty in labor and stress due to anxiety, the reward is a more nuanced and complex Pinot Noir and one more closely associated with a French Burgundy than a Californian. And the same principle applies to their Syrah orientation. While in the beginning Red Car was intent on producing high drama Syrahs with big statements, that inclination has shifted as well to cooler clime Syrahs that will produce a style more reminiscent of a Northern Rhône.

Vineyards

Red Car is an artisanal winery that crafts wines. At first, the neophyte wine company did not have a vineyard to call its own nor even a winery (Remember the driveway wine?). To make their wine, Carroll and Mark had to source their Syrah and Pinot Noir fruit from the best vineyards in California. These contracting vineyards are some of the usual suspects in Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Napa Valley, and Sonoma County. In one sense, sourcing grapes from a third party removes one headache from winemaking, the farming migraine. But contracting to third party growers reduces the control a winemaker has in his wine production. Carroll Kemp explained the frustration this way: "It is important to control the vineyards. That can only be done if one owns the vineyard. When contracting with growers, they don't care as much about you what you want—you contract for grapes and that's what they give you." Consequently in their effort to improve the quality-to-quantity ratio, in 2005 Red Car took their first step towards independence by purchasing property in the Sonoma Coast for their own vineyards. This is an area that has proven exceptional for Pinot Noir with many high profile vineyards. However, Red Car has accepted the challenge to grow Syrah here, planning to produce special wines with thrilling and earthy Côte-Rôtie-type characteristics. Their first harvest is expected in 2007, no doubt with much anticipation.

From Making Movies to Making Wine Stories

"One thing I believe is wine tells a story. Both Mark and I have worked in an industry where stories are the key. Winemaking is the same. Each bottle, each vintage has its own story to tell."

Prior to making wine, both Carroll and Mark were in the business of moviemaking, the former in producing and the latter in writing screenplays. The leap to making wine was not that difficult for the pair. There is a common thread connecting movie and wine making: they both tell stories—and that's what a bottle of Red Car wine does, tell stories. From the beginning, Carroll and Mark have created evocative stories with iconic and stylized graphic images for each wine and vintage to tell the wine's story and weave together all its background elements—soil, vine, weather, people, and place. This is a passion that can be seen in their Red Car name, wine names, wine novellas, labels, artwork, and newsletter. Everything stems from a storytelling angle. Pick up a bottle of their Amour Fou Pinot Noir and follow its snippet of a novella about an aspiring writer returning from the "Big War" and a woman who helps him get a break in Hollywood. It's a story with portent…just like the wine.

Red Car Origins

Two things are certain when trying to name something, whether it's a child, a company, or a product, it's difficult and it takes forever to decide. Red Car was no different. Both Mark and Carroll struggled for more than three months in search of a name. One day Carroll was at the Los Angeles County Museum and looking at some old photographs of L.A.'s Red Car Trolley. He'd always loved trains and the pictures of the Red Car stuck with him. Right after that, Mark called him with an idea he had -- "Get the Blue Train." Carroll told him about his "Red Car" and that's what they decided to call the company. To them it conjured up a romanticized vision of a 1940's Los Angeles aesthetic. And the storytelling behind the wines? According to Carroll, "Ideas just come in places and times when you least expect it. Mark and I were driving down to the Santa Rita Hills. We stopped and parked to take a break. We sat on the hood of the car just looking at the vineyards. The idea just came to us that winemaking was storytelling. And that's what Red Car does. The great thing is every year there's a new story."

Red Car Wine Series

Within this context, Red Car offers several lines of Syrah, Pinot Noir, and a Rosé. The Trolley series is their vanguard Syrah that represents their beginning heritage from The Window to their current 2005 release of Shake, Rattle, and Roll. There is also The Fight which are tough slugs of Syrah. The Amour Fou is their line of Pinot Noir that hints at the mysteries behind this seductive grape. Their Boxcar Syrah and Pinot Noir series are the more accessible and entry level Red Cars.

Red Car Running

Currently, Red Car does not have its own winery, but leases production facilities in Santa Maria. Their saga keeps unfolding and that can change. Highly rated wine reviews keep piling up, wine awards are rolling in, even winning a Top-Ten Wine Label award from the San Francisco Chronicle. Additionally, restaurants and retailers are lining up to sell the wine, they're showing up in auctions, and people are getting the word about the Red Car. They're not everywhere, but their presence is growing. And someday who knows, maybe the Red Car Trolley will start running in L.A. again and get traffic moving. And one last bit of advice, if you spy a Red Car going by you better hop on board and enjoy the ride.

Note in Passing

Mark Estrin passed away on May 7, 2005 from brain cancer. Red Car has memorialized his spirit in their 2005 Twenty Two Syrah. The bottle's label shows a young twenty-two year old Estrin and the back label is inscribed with words from Mark:

It is said that when we enter this world the soul shatters into twenty-two pieces. The quest to make it whole again is ours alone. Red Car is my twenty-second piece.

-Mark Estrin

Twenty Two has dense blackberry and currant fruit flavors, floral and earthy notes, and a rich and soulful presence to reflect its inspiration.

Related Links

To get the full story and the thickening plot, visit:

• Red Car Wine Company
• Syrah
• Pinot Noir