Ask any winemaker during the thick of harvest season what quenches their thirst after a long day of receiving grapes and processing, and the majority will tell you it is not wine. It is not a Gatorade or the latest energy drink or a special re-hydrating concoction. Most will just ask for a simple ice-cold beer. You see this trend industry wide this time of year as salespeople of wine making and production products blanket their sales territories with deliveries of beer as gifts to keep their winemaker/customers happy during the harvest season. It’s not a box of chocolates, or a delivery of junk food, it’s a case of beer. As the old industry adage says, “it takes a lot of good beer to make a great wine.”

Why do I bring this storied harvest tradition up? Well, as of four weeks ago, Roche Winery is now a small beer manufacturer! It is a long, roundabout story how we got here, however, let me try and make this long story short. Back in the early 2000’s, I attempted to try and serve beer at our downtown tasting room given it was a new location and I thought we would need the added attraction. However, California licensing at the time would not allow a winery to make beer and serve it at their wine tasting room. I gave up on those efforts, however, I learned it wasn’t really needed as our downtown tasting room has thrived just as a wine tasting room. Recently, I discovered, with some of the loosening of licensing rules during the pandemic (i.e. Restaurants being able to serve cocktails to go), wineries were also now allowed to make beer and serve it in their tasting rooms. Not knowing how long this allowance would last, we applied for our Small Beer Manufacturer permit, and here we are now, a licensed manufacturer with now having brewed our first two batches, our IPA and Blonde Ale! Both are available now for tasting and enjoying at our newly launched Tap Room area at our downtown tasting room in Sonoma. Very soon, our brews will be available for tasting at our Sonoma Winery as well. Is Roche now beer focused?

No, we are definitely not beer focused, this is just something new and fun for Michael and I to dabble in, now that we legally can. Will we can this beer eventually? Yes, that is eventually planned, but we are a winery first and our focus will remain on crafting our award-winning wines. Until then, please join us as we launch our beer venture this October with our planned “Rochetoberfest” festivities at our downtown tasting room during the month of October. These festivities include a special dark lager seasonal beer release, Rochetoberfest charcuterie board offerings, and Rochetoberfest food pop-ups with live music October 7th and 21st. If I won’t see you there I look forward to seeing you all at our Post-Harvest Party November 10-13th where you can have your first sample of our 2023 vintage. Until then, please enjoy your last shipment of 2023, and I wish you an early Happy Holiday Season and New Years!