Churchill Wine Collab Story
Churchill Wine Creative Director, Michael Dolan (churchilldesignstudio.com), couldn't shake his love affair with wine. Before becoming a full-time designer he spent almost 4 years of daily tasting, buying, selling, and consuming (a lot) as the founder and previous owner/operator of Wilmington Wine, a small wine shop and wine bar in Wilmington North Carolina.
"I gained almost all of my wine knowledge in person from wine reps, distributors, and winemakers. Tasting wine pretty much every day, probably around 100 wines a week for years. I feel extraordinarily fortunate to have had this crash course, immersive, taste centered wine education. It was a super small shop and these people invested a lot of time in me (thank you all). I learned what I like, and more importantly what other people liked, just from tasting, asking stupid questions, and recognizing specific flavor profiles and taste preferences. Wine is an intimate experience for me and I think it is really important for food and beverage purveyors to have tasted and personally experienced anything they want to share with the world."
-Michael Dolan.
Michael met Martin Guerrero of Guerrero Fernandez winery two years ago and the Churchill Wine project was born. After being introduced to Martin, and Olga Fernandez, at Wilibees wine shop and simultaneously tasting one of their cabs, Michael knew this would be the winemaker to work with in creating Churchill's first label, the 2013 Linked Vineyards, Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Martin's style of winemaking is classic, pure, and from the heart. He takes pride in his wine as being absent of taste-altering chemicals and additives, and places a high value on representing the true expression of select fruit. With his life long relationships and strategic alliances with area grape growers, he produces some of the best hand-crafted wine in our area.
Churchill Wine
2013 Cabernet Sauvignon
Tech specs
Winemaker: Martin Guerrero
Varietal: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Production: 66 cases
Aged: 36 Months French Oak
Appellation: Knights Valley, Sonoma California
