Obscurity Cellars—How it all started

John and Susan Smith opened Oakstone Winery in 1997, next to a vineyard they bought in 1989 in the Fair Play area of El Dorado County, California. Oakstone’s business plan was to sell as much of its wine as possible from the tasting room, and to facilitate that end, they developed a notorious wine called Slug Gulch Red. It became known as “the wine that made mediocrity famous,” and helped to win both fame and awards for the winery.

As Oakstone approached 10,000 cases per year, it became obvious that more space was required for case goods storage, and they began to plan for a new facility on an adjacent parcel of land. Thinking about a new building coalesced with John’s desire to resume active winemaking, and the idea of a new winery was born. Since John has always had an interest in the more unusual and obscure varieties (see the first edition of our newsletter “Between Obscurity and Oblivion” or go to our “News” page for more details), a natural division of varieties between the two wineries evolved. The “oddball” wines with small production became the purview of Obscurity, and the mainstream wines that needed less explanation to customers in the tasting room remained at Oakstone (the 400th time that Oakstone tasting room people have to answer the question, “Now, just what is a Charbono?” they feel they’ve had to do almost too much wine education).

As the Mission Statement details, Obscurity will focus on wines “off the beaten path,” making excellent wines from the less well-known varieties, and doing our best to make them enjoyable to people who share our love of the unusual. The winery will make only 1,000-1,500 cases per year, and will sell to a mailing list and to our wine club. Due to zoning restrictions, there will be no public tasting room at the winery. A few receptions are held each year in Oakstone’s barrel room, across the street, when new wines are released, and selected Obscurity wines are open for tasting on the weekends. All of the Obscurity wines can be purchased there any time Wednesday-Sunday from 11-5. Those who sign up for the mailing list will be kept informed of releases and other events.