Lorenza Wine
Melinda Kearney and Michele Ouellet are the mother and daughter duo behind your new favorite summer drink, Lorenza Wine. Launching their brand Lorenza Wines in 2008 these women lovingly dedicated themselves to creating a Provençal inspired rosé made in California. Fourteen years later, the brand has grown with thoughtfulness and intention. Here these remarkable women share their insights into the world of wine making, the heavy bottle debate, and the response to their female led brand in a male dominated industry.
“We are a mother–daughter founded wine company.”
We make dry, crisp Mediterranean style wines from vines grown in sandy soils in the Lodi area since 2008. Our flagship wine is Lorenza True Rosé. We make a chic sparkling rosé in a can, Lorenza Spritz and we recently debuted our first white wine, Picpoul Blanc.
WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR STARTING THE LORENZA WINE BRAND?
We are both big fans of Provençal wine that elevates the conversation around rosé.
“We wanted to create beautiful, intentional rosé from California.”
Our other main objective in starting Lorenza was to stay connected as mother and daughter – 14 years on, we are definitely achieving that goal!
HAVE YOU HAD EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH WINE PREVIOUSLY?
Melinda Kearney: I’ve had a long career in the wine business starting in production in 1990 and as the head of a sales team for a larger winery in Napa for ten years. Two decades as a marketing consultant gave me the flexibility to operate Lorenza with Michele while also working with my clients.
“I absorbed a lot of information growing up in Napa Valley surrounded by vines and wineries.”
I was lucky to know so many people in the industry including my parents.
Michele Ouellet: When we began Lorenza I was just barely 21 years old, so like many, I learned on the job. 14 years later I consider myself a vintner.
HOW DOES THE LANDSCAPE AND SETTING OF LODI INSPIRE YOUR PROCESS?
“Over the years we’ve been lucky to source fruit from some of the historic old vineyards in the area.”
MK: The sandy soils of the California Delta are highly influential to the longevity of these head trained and own–rooted vines. Most of our vineyards are within 15 minutes of the winery which is a total luxury. We are fortunate to have the same terrific production team for years so we are finely tuned. While I live in St Helena just under two hours away, during harvest I am based in Lodi.
YOU’VE BEEN INSPIRED BOTH BY CALIFORNIA AND BY FRANCE. HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT CREATING A PROJECT THAT TOOK THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS?
“We believe at its best, wine is something that inspires connection, invites conversation and creates joy.”
MO: The French have brought this concept to an art form and we sought to make a wine that would bring a sense of joie de vivre to anyone who tries our wine.
MK: France without doubt set the gold standard for Rosé. Originally, our goal was to make a Provence-style rosé in California – and today I still take it as a compliment when someone says, I wouldn’t have guessed Lorenza is from California.
WHAT SETS LORENZA’S TRUE ROSÉ APART FROM OTHER ROSÉS?
“Lorenza Rosé is made with intention, by hand by mother and daughter.”
MK: We are small enough that we have our hands in almost every harvest bin. We are large enough that Lorenza has been served on a major airline. We are a woman–owned company. Melinda’s primary career is the wine business. Lorenza is not a pet project or a get rich quick concept. It is our livelihood and we know that we are so lucky to live this life. We are taking it slow, not giving up quality to 100x growth.
AS A MOTHER / DAUGHTER DUO, WHAT IS YOUR WORKING DYNAMIC?
“We work very closely. We share similar strengths and skills and bring perspective from different generations.”
MO: I learned from the best, my mom! We treat our relationships with our distributors and our trade customers like family and enjoy our visits with them. For many years we have been a two person operation, now we are expanding our team and that has freed us both up to think expansively for our brand. I take care of a lot of the creative and Melinda takes care of winemaking and operations. We are involved in all aspects to varying degrees.
WERE THERE A LOT OF BARRIERS TO BREAK DOWN AND GENDER STEREOTYPES TO OVERCOME IN THE MALE DOMINATED WORLD OF WINE MAKING?
MK: Of course there have been barriers. And we’ve been welcomed. There is no straight line to anything. But the thing we do have as two women with a rosé brand is a very unique opportunity to speak the language of love and beauty through our delicate hand made wine. Each vintage comes with a higher intention.
“Lorenza is a powerful calming antidote to the chaos in the world.”
CAN YOU SHARE THE SEASONAL PROCESS FOR CREATING A BOTTLE OF LORENZA TRUE ROSÉ?
Making Rosé through our lens is to successfully capture the growing season, harvest, fermentation, blending and bottling by the end of the year. It’s a race to excellence and we must be on top of it. Especially during harvest when the exact timing of hand picking is crucial in August when the grapes still have a lot of verve. Fermentation runs to the end of September and we make the blend soon after that. Glass and labels are secured in July (before harvest) for bottling in December and we begin selling in February in time for Valentine’s Day. The vines come out of dormancy a few weeks later and the life cycle begins again.
WITH WILDFIRES NOW SADLY AN ANNUAL OCCURRENCE IN CALIFORNIA, HOW HAVE THESE NATURAL DISASTERS AFFECTED YOUR VINEYARD AND PRODUCT?
MK: The terrain of the California Delta is largely flat, not mountainous, devoted to vines and not directly susceptible to fire.
MO: “Fire Season” as it's now referred to, is a very stressful time for all Californians. Our hearts go out to all those who have not been as fortunate.
“As devastating as the fires are, it has brought our community even closer with everyone helping each other out as much as possible.”
AS A BRAND THAT IS ROOTED IN NATURE FIRST, HOW DO YOU APPROACH SUSTAINABILITY IN YOUR WORK?
There are so many ways to make a positive impact in the wine business. Lodi Rules, a comprehensive program of sustainability, has led the charge with the growers in Lodi. All of our growers farm by these tenets. Some are also CCOF certified. Our bottle is lightweight and cartons are from recycled paper. We also offer alternate light packaging in aluminum cans with removable sleeves. Our DTC shipping is done using pulp shippers, not styrofoam. The winery holds strict practices re water use. We use no additives in our wines.
HAVE YOU SEEN ANY TRENDS IN THE WINE INDUSTRY AROUND SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES?
MK: One thing I’m so happy about is the awareness of the excessively heavy bottle and its lessened popularity. It requires massive resources to move around the world and is really quite unnecessary. Who thought that was great anyway?
THE PANDEMIC MADE HOME DRINKERS OF US ALL. DID YOU NOTICE ANY INTERESTING NEW TRENDS IN THE WINE LANDSCAPE FROM THE PANDEMIC?
MO: People became accustomed to purchasing wine online and joining wine clubs.
“We launched Le Club during the pandemic, sending regular monthly and quarterly shipments to our mailing list.”
Many people began to consider the types of products and brands they were consuming and supporting. The story, aesthetic and ethos of brands became more important.
MK: Consumers became more savvy and began to own their food and wine experience at home. It was a great time to be selling wine with this captive audience. Social and email became a lifeline for wine entertainment and information and as a result wineries became more sophisticated in their marketing to stay relevant and to keep up. Since then, some of the direct shipping trends are reverting back to pre-pandemic levels as we move around again more freely. But those brands that have finely tuned their methods will continue to benefit from the ongoing relationships with their customers.
AS A FEMALE LED BRAND, IS COMMUNITY AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF YOUR BRAND? HOW HAS YOUR COMMUNITY RESPONDED TO YOUR WINE?
“Community is everything to us!”
Our community has been very vocal about being happy to support women in wine and many of them love that we’re a mother–daughter business as well. They also are pleased to know it's actually us producing the wine – not a big conglomerate.
DOES SOCIAL MEDIA PLAY A ROLE IN YOUR SUCCESS?
MO: Absolutely. In addition to rosé being a highly instagrammable product, social media is a wonderful way to connect with our customers. As a small business it's such a direct tool to reach people and vice versa! We’re also able to be creative and show support to others in our business.
FOR FANS OF LORENZA WINE, ARE CONSUMERS ABLE TO VISIT YOUR VINEYARDS AND SAMPLE YOUR PRODUCTS?
MO: At the moment we can do small tastings in St Helena. In the future we hope to have a brick and mortar location to host guests! Watch this space…
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE MEAL TO PAIR WITH A GLASS OF LORENZA TRUE ROSÉ?
MO: For me, this is the summer of crudo and rosé. I also love to make a giant niçoise salad for friends.
“But really my forever favorite pairing is Lorenza and french fries. Simple, salty and perfect.”
© All Photo Credit via Lorenza Wine