You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Tim Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio.
It is already well passed five pm somewhere, five pm here, and so it seems like the first perfect time to talk about the business is wine listen.
So it was five o'clock somewhere right, all right, We've got a great voice on it. Someone who has spent some of her growing up years. Sounds like a lot of them wandering among vineyards and sellers thanks to her dad, Jerry Lore, a real estate developer, agriculturist and wine grower with us as Cynthia Lord, the co owner and chief brand officer of Jaylaur Vineyards and Wines, joining us, by the way, one of Wine and Spirits Magazine's top one hundred wineries for the second year in a row, and
she's joining us on zoom in San Rafael, California. Cynthia is so nice to have you here with Simone and me on a Bloomberg Business Week.
How are you? I'm great, Thank you Carol and Simone. It's such a pleasure to be with you and I agree. It's five o'clock somewhere, so great time to be talking about wine.
Well, before we get to a couple of things, because you guys have a lot going on, tell us little bit about the history of the vineyard. Your dad very much a pioneer in developing California's wine world. Tell us about the family business growing up within it, and you know, we take it for granted today, but it wasn't always that way.
Oh, absolutely, what a great question.
You know.
My father grew up in South Dakota in a farming family, and he was always very much a man of the soil, out in the out farming and with his family tending to wheat barley Rye Trita Cayley, which is a little known soil amendment. So when he came out to California in the late fifties to pursue his PhD in civil
engineering from Stanford University. After he created his first building and development business in the South Bay of California kind of San Jose area where our first winery is located, he and his building and development partner found they had a mutual love of wine, so they started traveling to
California's central coast. First it was Monterey County's Arroyo Seco right near Carmel and in Monterey County and put their first boots in the ground, planting two hundred and ninety three acres across eleven different varieties, and then later found after some trial that cabernet and chardonnay did not grow well side by side in that cool climate region, So that took him an hour south to Passerobyls, where since nineteen eighty six we've been growing the bulk of our
red wine in Bordeaux portfolio. So we actually started out in Monterey County in the started planting in the late sixties, early seventies, and Passerobyls in nineteen eighty six, and we'll celebrate fifty years of our heritage wines in twenty twenty four.
So you have now over I believe, two thousand acres you're farming. Talk to me about some of the key issues that you follow every day as you're running now a quite large wine business.
Absolutely so across our three distinct appellations. Actually, for if you count Santa Lucia Highlands, we also grow on a small parcel in Saint Helena in Napa Valley. But all told, our four thousand acres are certified California Sustainable, as are our three wineries and by years and twenty seven of our approximately forty one wines. So for my brothers and my father and myself, we are truly family owned and
operated hands on day in and day out. My brothers and I all hold executive roles for the last twenty two years in our business, So we really embrace the vision that my father set forth so many years ago, and that was to truly be a sustainable enterprise. So everything we do is always with an eye toward resource conservation, optimization, innovation. Since they're always ensuring that we are doing what we can to influence the quality of our wines from vineyard to bottle.
And we're going to get to sample and check out the quality of your wines, which which we'll do in a moment. But I want you know when you talk about sustainability, we've had a lot of conversations over the years with vineyards, certainly in the California area, and just the challenges that are coming at you, whether it's because of climate change, it gets trickier and trickier. What have the last couple of years been like for you guys?
Oh, my goodness, full throttle into conservation efforts. So everything from our wastewater treatment program, which reduces the amount of water required to produce a gallon of wine to almost under two gallons, to practicing deficit irrigation, so we'll often mimic rain events and we'll irrigate continually in a vineyard for a period of twenty four hours and then not irrigate for two more months, or practices such as roll up doors, our solar tracking array, which powers more than
eighty five percent of our passerables facility. But now, as you both know, the new area that's of most concern is social equity. It's not just an environmental stewardship or financial resource. It's really about social equity. How do you care for your communities, How do you care for your people? How do you ensure that you're doing what you can to create a thriving and prosperous place where your employees live, work,
in play. So we're really focused on long term solutions for California's water crisis as well as just looking at how can we curtail greenhouse gas emissions in every facet of our business.
Can you get into the nitty gritty though, like what has become more difficult for you the most, the most, the thing that's changed the most, whether it's you know, climate wise or water or heat, what has had the biggest impact.
I would say for us, it truly is water, and here in California, tending to California's water crisis and being at the forefront of really finding some of those longer term solutions, whether it is blending recycled waste water with nearby Lake Nacimiento to ensure that wells and passerobles will have ample supply. It's really about finding those longer term solutions because honestly, climate chain will continue to throw many
weather events at us. We have to be prepared, but we also have to take the long tail toward convening leaders across all facets of government and city council to brainstorm these long term solutions. So I'd say that's what we're most focused on.
The business right now. Tell us about costs, wages, supply chains, How is all of that?
Yes, So the business for us is healthy. That comes from having the perspective of being a vertically integrated business. So we've had long term arrangements with suppliers or our leadership team. Many have been with Jaylare for over fifteen to twenty years. That includes our winemakers. But certainly we're seeing escalation of costs across in the entire supply chain.
But for jay Lore because we control facets of our business being a vertically integrated company, so growing and producing our own wines really makes a difference to consumers at the end of the day. And so that's where we sit differently from many in our competitive set is being able to take ownership of the costs our ability to keep them down so that that don't those costs do not translate to the consumer.
Cynthia laure co owner and chief friend Officer of Jlare Vineyards and Wines on Zoom and San Rafael, California and Sonia gave us the great backstory and history of your family owned vineyard. You also shared with us. Thank you so much. Some wine that I'm going to open up. I believe it is a cab Cabernet sauvignon. Tell us a little bit about the wines that you guys make in this wine that I'm going to open up. We're going to sample. I'm going to talk more about.
It perfect well. I'll need to know is it the hilltop or the signature Cabernet sauvignon.
I believe it's the hill It's the hilltop.
Yes, it is, okay, terrific. So j lor Hilltop Cabinet Sauvignon is a wine that we have been producing since nineteen ninety eight. It's ner j lor Ooh I heard that.
I popped it, and I'm actually gonna pour it too, So you're gonna hear that in the background.
Because oh, this is live because it's not quite my cocktail hour here in California, but five o'clock, I'm certainly with you, with you in spirit. So I'm actually so happy that you're drinking this particular wine right now because this is absolutely one of my favorites in our portfolio. And I'm not just just saying that. So since nineteen ninety eight, and this wine, like so many of our small lot production wines in our Jaylar Vineyard series Tier,
really exemplifies a deep sense of place. So there actually is a hilltop vineyard with panoramic views overlooking all of Passerovals. And what may this wine so delicious and so unique is my father's fanatical precision around selecting sites that are going to bring about the best varietal characteristics, whether it's through soil profile or the aspects of the growing region that have to do with how cool the climate is, or whether it's south facing slopes or dappled sunlight coming
across the vine. So it's really about site specific selections. And we at Jlore are fortunate to grow in about five of the eleven sub appellations. That essentially means that there are different microclimates that elicit these nuanced flavors that all contribute to just this one really supple expressive, bold, but super delicious, not well Cynthia profile at all.
But I have to say Simone and I both have sampled a little bit, and I'm a fan of cabs. It's one of my favorite to drink. This is a real smooth quality to it.
Mm hmmm mm hmm. And that's by design because our tannin profile and our red wines follows this winemaker philosophy. Our VP wine making Steve Peck says we are soft, dense and never green. So that applies to our our tannins, not our personalities, but our tannins. And so what that means is you get these really refined berry flavors in that smooth, supple structure, but also to growing what we grow.
So this is ninety five percent Cabinet Sagnon, three percent Pati Verdo, one percent mal back, and one percent Cabinet franc We have the ability to blend in what we call a spice rack of varieties to really land on just the perfect flavor profile.
It's really makes us wonder about like kind of consumer trends in general, right, Yeah, like what.
Do consumers want and how does that change how you're mixing your wine.
Absolutely, so some out there may say that consumers are gravitating toward more of a sweet flavor profile. Well, given that we are a vineyard driven company, given that we are farmers and agriculturists, at the end of the day, we're always looking at what do the vineyards give us, and then we craft our wines around what the vineyards give us. So at the end of the day, for us,
it's all about authenticity. It's about accessibility, it's about being available and conscientious not only for what our consumers might like in terms of fine wine or everyday occasion wines, but a flavor profile that is versatile, that's food friendly, that's consistent well, and it's pleasing.
It also sounds like we've seen a trend of you know, wines don't need to be fussy, wine don't need to be sotly. I feel like there's been this wonderful explosion. We recently talked about a story about Darden restaurants and they talked about how even their wealthy consumers were trading down a little bit when it came to their wine choices when they came in the restaurant. Give me an idea this economic environment, there's some uncertainty price point and
are you seeing any of that? Are you hearing that from any of your customers?
We certainly are hearing some of that. You know, we're in uncertain times right now economically, and I both know that you know so much about economics, try your backgrounds, and so I so appreciate that. But I think the beauty of being a family owned winery like jay Lore is that we have been crafting wines in seven distinct
tiers now for many, many years. So for those who wish to trade up for a special occasion, Jylor Vineyard Series and above is perfect for that or if you're going to your friend's house for Tuesday night taco or Wednesday night pizza, regardless of what it is, we have a wine for that particular occasion. So whether it's the fifteen to nineteen dollars price point at retail and you're just looking to bring a delicious bottle of wine to your friends, or you want to upscale a little bit,
we have that opportunity as well. So it's a little early to tell where consumer preferences lie, but just as during the pandemic, we're at that sweet spot and we're blessed for that interesting and it all comes back down to economies of scale, given that we are that vertically integrated at price.
Hey, before we go, we've got about a minute left here leading the way, tell us just quickly about this. It's a contest that's underway and it is until the end of October.
Absolutely, so it's all about the twus in this one. So we're talking round trip for two nights, five hundred dollars gift card in beautiful Passerobles And if you ladies have heard the buzz about the area, it is so replete with incredible wines, personalities, Vintnors and just all these fantastic places to dine. We're so excited to share some of our Passer Rebels excitement and our wines and our day Passerobels Wine Center with those lucky two winners.
Well, it's so funny knowing you were coming in and we were all prepping in the newsroom and you know, everybody's talking about who's been to California Wine Country because it really is something to experience. Cynthia, first of all, thank you for letting us experience a wine from your vineyard. We so appreciate it and look forward to checking back in the future on how things are going. Cynthia Laura co owner and chief brand Officer Jaylare Vineyards and Wines on Zoom in San Rafael, California.
I'm glad we're able to close out the day with the glass.
We're not done yet, and it's true.
And there's more coming up as well.
Anyways, our thanks, but we're getting there. Everybody the weekend. Just around the corner, Carol Masterson and foxmen and this is Blueberg Radio
MHM.